Hangin' with Harley

We were down to the last couple seniors of the calendar year...

And then came a couple more...

A couple Matta Bros., that is.

Mama Maria gave us a jingle and set up sessions for her twin boys, and while my long standing policy of giving every individual senior their own session wouldn't allow us to do both in the same day... we did get 'em in under the proverbial 2015 wire.

First up was second born, Harley.

Just two minutes less time spent on Earth than older brother, Andrew, Mr. Harley paid us a visit in early December... and he brought an old friend with him.

Work schedule didn't allow Maria to make the session (Andrew claims it's because she loves him more), so the obvious solution if mama can't be there is for a young man to trust in his main squeeze.

That responsibility fell to none other than Harley's two-and-a-half year amor, Alma Pesina.   I photographed Miss Pesina three years ago as a member of the South Tama County Class of 2013.   It wasn't long after that that these two made it a steady thing... and it was good to have her along for the ride that Thursday morning.  Two and a half years is a long time at any age... let alone for a couple of teens

For those that know the easy goin' Harley, they will find it as no surprise whatsoever that the young man had a hard time pulling off the B.A. serious look when asked to do so.   The task becomes even MORE difficult, however when his girlfriend is constantly GIGGLING over my shoulder.

Maybe she WASN'T that much help, after all?

:)

For the most part, then... it was all smiles... all the time... with the one obvious exception being the basketball collage that Harley requested.   He might be one of the nicest guys around... but we still  had to make #51 look tough for THAT, at the very least.

Harley informs me that he'll be attending the University of Northern Iowa in the fall and he was definitive in his plans.

"Whatcha planning on doing," I asked.

"I'm going to UNI... and I'm gonna be a Spanish teacher."

Done deal it sounds like... and I'll just go ahead right now and predict that not only will he follow through... but whatever school district he lands at... Mr. Matta will be the most popular teacher in the building.

I haven't know him for very long... but it wasn't hard to figure out... to know Harley Matta... is to like him.

That's all the Matta that I have for now... stay tuned, however... because after a brief message, we will return to our regularly scheduled Matta programming.