Both a viewfinder and a point of view.

This is one of the many pictures from our Memorial Trip to Saralynn's graduation party. A gift that keeps on giving. My son picked up the camera and had me stop mid-turn to get the shot.

What's so cool and so wonderful, is that I did the same thing with my very first Pentax ME 30 years ago. My dad had taken me on the beautiful drive to Occidental and Freestone in Northern California because my photo trigger finger was terribly itchy and he knew just what I'd like.

At some point I'll get into the photo boxes from those days and scan and post the pix together.

Our eyes see beauty through the viewfinder. And sometimes we behold in simultaneity.

Quotable Sunday ~ Henri Nouwen

The Dignity to Give and Receive

"Nobody is so poor that he/she has nothing to give, and nobody is so rich that he/she has nothing to receive." These words by Pope John-Paul II, offer a powerful direction for all who want to work for peace. No peace is thinkable as long as the world remains divided into two groups: those who give and those who receive. Real human dignity is found in giving as well as receiving. This is true not only for individuals but for nations, cultures, and religious communities as well.

A true vision of peace sees a continuous mutuality between giving and receiving. Let's never give anything without asking ourselves what we are receiving from those to whom we give, and let's never receive anything without asking what we have to give to those from whom we receive.
-Henri Nouwen

Waking at the Beach

I love the beach. The sound, the smell, the view. I love the changeable nature - the tide, shifting of the sand, a shell, a rock. The beach.
On Thursday, Mary suggested we drive down and join her at her family's beach house for the afternoon so we did. When we set out we had beach towels and a bag of fun groceries and pjs, for the drive home.
The kids swam and played beach badminton, we all ate beautiful pasta and haricot verts then swiftly dismissed the idea of going home, settled in to watch Chocolat and drank in this life before the ocean.
We took up space in a beautifully appointed bunkhouse. A room with three sets of white wood built-in bunk beds, each set with it's own Ralph Laurenesque bedding. I chose the vintage yellow, swiped a pillow from the missing bunkmate above and fell to sleep with the vague fragrance of saltwater on my skin.
My dear friend Mary is blessed in many, many ways. She comes from a big family where her mom and dad are to this day, each others best friend and romantic entanglement. She herself is quite crazy about her husband, and he her. She's interested, interesting, well-read and artistic in a range of executions. She's also a great friend with a the-more-the-merrier attitude about small and large gatherings.
After a morning's stroll along the beach searching for the right shaped rocks, we headed home along the coast highway. As we drove, we'd call each other to point out things along the way that related to our pasts or some delight we wanted the other to see.

This little trip over two days has become one of those reminders:

          Friendship is as essential as water.