This slide show may take a while but it’s the best way to really appreciate this work of art from a dear friend, Virginia. Working with ceramic and gold leaf, she sculpted this in honor of one of her beautiful and wonderful hospice patients, Peggy, who took a very long time, longer than medically possible, to make her decision to die. Virginia described Peggy’s process as one of deep, and conscious contemplation. I hope you enjoy the slides.
(actually, it’s not letting me do a slide show AND it is cutting off parts of the “featured image” so I am going to post them all in a row as “individual images.)
This first shot (below) I did not take (obviously, because I am in the the photo, but it is one of my most important photographs. It’s a picture of me with my very best friend, taken by my other very best friend.
We are all gathered on the beach in Port Townsend to do a Good-bye Ritual for my three pets, all gone withing two months of each other. This beach was my 16 year old purebred German Shepherd’s favorite place to run free.
This next photo I caught by accident many years ago but to your eye, the true subject matter might not be obvious. This is my very precocious 16 month old grandson, who has come upon his mother, washing her hair in the huge spa bathtub, in a beautiful mountain cabin we had rented. He is mesmerized by what he sees through the door crack and stays frozen in this position, watching, for 5 full minutes (an eternity, if you have ever been around toddlers).
These two are of our kitten Lucy. Neither really captures her essence but I thought the photos were kind of interesting.
Boy, I am realizing how poignant photographs From the Back can be…at least the ones I have taken.
The one below is of my son, his wife, and their boys, on what would turn out to be their last Family Outing…EVER.
A few weeks ago, the photo above of my family would have been one of my saddest ever, but my beloved 18 year old Heart Cat just died so this last picture, right below, has usurped that position, for a while anyway…
His reflection “From the Back” in that glass cabinet
really gets me…
**The “featured” photo at the top is my son, with his son, walking in the woods on San Juan Island.
Posted these recently for the theme of “action” but it was so delightful watching these two “flower girls” burn off some energy waiting for the dang wedding to start, I thought I’d share them again for movement.
I made the mistake of looking further in my files and found this…
And this…(not a very clear shot but I have waited for YEARS to see one of our wild turkeys fly!!)
But then I remembered the wonderful train trip we took from Seattle to San Diego…
Can’t stop now. This challenge had stimulated some serious movement in me!
Next, I found this,,,
Normally quite docile, this batch of my bugs is very fast moving and cleaning their home has become a two person job. James has to watch them while I refresh their terrarium!
They usually just wait patiently on the screen lid while I clean, except when..and I’m not making this up…I play Pink Floyd. Then they line up like these guys, and no kidding, will sway in time with the music. Little line dancing Extasotoma’s!! (One time I even tried posting a video of this dancing phenomenon on YouTube. Hey, I thought it was cute. But was turned away because I didn’t have the rights to Comfortably Numb. I didn’t know. It was just playing on Pandora while I was cleaning.)
And then there is the movement you don’t want to see!!
Or lastly (honest,) the movement that absolutely CANNOT happen!!!
I come alive around the water. I grew up on the beach in San Diego, so I am particularly fond of the Pacific Ocean.
Living in the Washington State for more than 45 years now, I have had to be creative in fooling my psyche into believing all water is the same…beautiful, calming, energizing, inspiring.
I’ve actually done a pretty good job. Of course, the Pacific Northwest is a water paradise
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
But occasionally, I still need to travel in search of water…
Mississippi River in NatchezA Lagoon in AlabamaPensalcola
And if I can’t get to a large body of it, I’ll settle for anything…
Street Anemones
PS I apologize for my complete lack of restraint!! Picking just one of almost ANYTHING is just too big a challenge for me these days.
