Gettin' Lowe...

Austin Lowe paid us a visit a couple weeks back, and while I was familiar with his mother Brenda due to her visit a few years back with brother, Dylan... I had some figurin' out to do with younger brother.

So what did I learn?   Several things.

First off... I've often said that you don't play linebacker without bein' a bad man... with bad intentions... at least between the lines, anyway.  So I knew I had a tough nosed kid on my hands.   In addition, I was informed that he's also been snappin' the ball on the offensive side of things... Throw another log on the fire of impressiveness as he's playing both ways... at a 3A school... and oh by the way...  they just so happen to be undefeated thus far this season.

He'd probably be the first to admit that he's a little undersized for both positions, but to me... that just makes it all the more impressive that Coach Hoskey thinks enough of his mettle to put him there.

Tough as nails... check.

Ok... so Mama Brenda had a couple of outfits that suited her wants... Ya know.. the jeans and nice shirt act that all the guys have to suffer through at their senior session.   After we got past THOSE, however... everything changed.

It seems as though Mr. Lowe is doing his very best to keep Phil Knight and the Nike Corporation in business as aside from his South Tama sports gear, the remaining outfits were urban hip hop and hightops in nature.

Dude seems to have a matching pair of high tops for every outfit in his wardrobe... an I'd be willing to bet that classmates at STC would attest to this.

A quick glance at those ensembles told me we had to get out of Montour and into Marshalltown for some looks that would give him some more street cred... so off we went.

Digs his sweet kicks and urban swag... check.

The discussions were filled with lots of football talk... both STC and I was glad to see that Austin roots for the right team in the Iowa Hawkeyes.   A lot has happened in the two weeks since Austin's session... some good... STC now 3-0... some not-so-good.   Iowa now 1-1.   We won't talk about the "1" on the right side of the ledger there.

Moving on...

After tearin' up the streets of M'town and successfully guaranteeing that Austin's pics would look nothing like his big brother's... we headed back to the studio to finish up with another of our patented sports collages.   Again... I probably wouldn't have pegged Austin as a discus thrower in track... but it seems that nothing would surprise me with this guy anymore.

Breaks the mold... check.

I had asked, like I do with most seniors, what the college plan was... Austin laughed an admitted that he didn't have much of a plan.   He had told me that quite literally, big brother Dylan was gonna end up being a brain surgeon... and while it sucked admit it... little brother got the short end of the stick in the smarts department.

Delightfully self deprecating.... check.

Finally, the Lowe's were telling me about their finalization of adopting a young man from Africa.   Seems as though both boys have been to the far off land as part of mission trips to less fortunate countries... and if I have my story straight... after six long years... they finally have their new addition to their family home in Iowa.  How cool is that?

Big heart?.... check.

Another amazing day at the studio was in the books... I think I got Austin figured out... and had a great time in doing so.

Check.