foggy beaches

I think beaches are just as lovely on the foggy days as they are on the sunny ones.

may flowers and a new favorite poem

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—
    equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
    keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be
    astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
    and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
    to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
-"Messenger" by Mary Oliver

sunshine endings

A sweet and sun-filled ending to another chapter in my life.

lessons on leaving

I don't know if there's any trick to leaving well. The day is coming, whether we like it or not, and the best we can do is make sweet memories while we can [like these ones].

 
I had a whole roll of beautiful film memories which mysteriously did not develop, but we at least have some digitals to hold on to.

"...there is everywhere the luminous sprawl of gifts,

the hospitality of the Lord and my

inadequate answers as I row my beautiful, temporary body

through this water-lily world."

-Mary Oliver, from “Six Recognitions of the Lord”

the sea in between

Good music which everyone should listen to.

 

"Slip Away"

Josh Garrels performing with Mason Jar Music

a good word and a good memory

“We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.” Madeleine L'Engle

Good words to carry through the day. And some good pictures of good memories from this year's easter festivities: 

reflections on refractions

I'd never really noticed before how beautifully the sun comes through the trees at the house I grew up in. Focused on the fact that we could not see the sunset itself, I didn't see those rays of sunlight that graced the trees on the rooftops right around me. And yet here they are: