When I was around the age Julien is now, my brother Tony and I were on the Bozo the Clown television show in DC. Playing Bozo then, way before he became known nationally, was Willard Scott. Although I don’t recall all the details, I do remember that we were supposed to be sitting in some sort of circle—and that I wasn’t very interested in sitting. I kept getting up and jumping around, looking over here then over there, which prompted Willard Scott to remark, “Oh, we’ve got a wild one here!” Nowadays, I don’t jump very often—not physically, anyway. My mind, however, keeps making these leaps. Some of them are pleasant, some of them aren’t. And now Julien seems to be taking after my younger self, constantly moving, looking over here then over there. Being still, for him, is a dreariness he’d rather not experience. And experience, as far as he’s concerned, is best gained by staying in motion. In this photograph, taken two years ago in Ohio, I was trying to take a picture of him with his great grandmother on Heather’s side, but he wouldn’t keep still. As usual, he just wanted to move. And me, I like being on the road, going with my family from one place to another. Because although we have our house, home for me is also a place in my mind where nothing keeps still. And where everything glows the way the sky glows in those receding moments before dusk.
-Jose Padua
Photograph by Jose Padua