This morning I thought we could revisit the joys, for there are many, of living a life. This post is just Photos That Called To Me as I looked through the media posted here over the past 10+ years, and also a statement of meaning and intent.
First. A birthday present from my dear best friend who left us. Hello Kitty, in gold and diamonds, whiskers extended to feel everything.
I love my family, the California sky and the wide, wide sea.
We can consider the light of another country in the afternoon,
and celestial phenomena, with good friends made over technologies that did not exist when I was born, or when I was young. The Internet didn’t come to my attention until I was in my 40s. Everyone should see a total eclipse if they can. Transporting.
How about holidays? The joy of mixing different patterns in colors that get along with each other.
All rise for flowering dogwood. No context needed, just some peaceful fractal geometry.
And please, a hand for my mom, who remained optimistic and loved me until the moment she drew her last breath by my side. The infinite promise of reconciliation.
Art. By my son.
Art, by rock, rain and the passing of time.
Art. By hope, a good pruning, and regularly applied fertilizer.
Never forget to appreciate failure in the company of friends. In the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns, everyone was baking bread. I tried my hand at it. Complete disaster, but we were all in it together at the start.
The list continues, to my great good fortune.
How I learned to love. Children. My children, other children.
Passionflora. Refuses containment.
Deep root rot. Only when something is gone do you understand how much it brought you. Take care of your roots.
Wait. More friends! We had so much fun, up in Vancouver.
Audacity. This was the time I campaigned for Ray-Ban. They sent me a pair, maybe two, of glasses. I got up before sunset and drove over the hill to Half Moon Bay to catch the sunrise. The ocean caught me instead. It was great. I can still recall the sound of that whooshing foam.
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Handwritten good wishes.
New York Fashion Week with humidity hair. What an adventure that was! Sue and I outside the dinner where Jon Hamm sat and Tom Ford’s creations wandered by.
Speaking of fashion and brand campaigns, anyone remember when I was working with Blue Nile and held a lot of giveaways? I loved that.
Domestic life. Two very different and necessary seasonings.
Two people in love on their way to get married.
Banquets.
One little fuchsia flower, all by herself and also one of a veritable colony of blossoms.
Someone reacted to my last post saying they were disappointed I’d talk about politics here. I’d posit that anyone who regularly tries to do a good job (which often involves admitting to one’s flaws and trying to correct them) and believes in generosity and family and beauty, anyone who can’t help but thrill to the simple universe, will feel as I do. It’s all connected. That colon may be incorrect. Feel free to let me know.
So I’m going to channel Nancy, my mom, and try to share her optimism. There’s no special keyboard character for that, no emoji that I know of, so I hope you can find it in the spaces between the lines.
*edited to add and also posted as a comment below*
A friend who’s a good lawyer messaged me to say this: “Also, as citizens of the USA we have the privilege (a nod to your blog’s namesake) of talking about politics. The 1st Amendment implores us to grapple with issues, all of which are political at their core, and disagree with each other but not shut one another up.”
Implores us to grapple with issues without shutting each other up. That’s a core hope of mine, and something I work hard at as I age. Hearing people out. Thanks for the message, it’s really heartening to be reminded that this kind of talk is our Constitutional right.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, everyone, everyone, and here’s to the good stuff.
