The sunrise, and your need to recover from the semester, made me recall your saying that you'd probably quit or suspend the newsletter after the Inauguration, since you couldn't imagine doing it along with the demands of your day job. This is to say thanks for keeping on with it. Our mornings would be poorer for the lack of your steady efforts.
It is raining here today. Just grey with big drops blowing down. Sitting here post bilateral mastectomy with drains still in but very little pain or disability I contemplate this beautiful photo. It simply is. The notions we apply, the symbolism, aren't anymore real than our thoughts. Much of my life’s experience has been spent between the influence of thoughts and the hard facts of what is. At times it has seemed that there was a relationship, that there is cause and effect that extends beyond the hard facts of the physical and yet our powerlessness is also strongly represented.
This may be my last morning to comment so perhaps I am using it improperly. There should be a place for hope and for continued commitment to the future. I haven’t found much hope in my short foray into daily politics. The summary of my observation is closer to simply understanding that we haven’t the position in history yet to actually rise out of the place where we find ourselves. We haven’t the actual fortitude to know that even if there was a bipartisan commission honestly trying to uncover the truth of 1-6 through testimony those individuals who were involved and hence don’t want honesty would just lie. Yes, they would, just as they proved with their votes.
So, we will allow the bullies on the playground to run rampant because truthfully there are no teachers. There is just us and we, the majority, will allow it because we just can't bring ourselves to think in any other way. Time will churn on and it will become the past where things are more easily rewritten. This has been the broad course of human history and it is compressed into our present moment unchanged.
I do thank HCR and all of you for my education. It is all so well done regardless of the results.
Patrick, try not to despair. True, we grasp at straws, hoping for a better reality, but perhaps that, in and of itself, helps to produce positive results. I've never suffered your unique struggle, so I can't presume to empathize, but I wish you well, and will miss your presence here if you decide to leave. We would like you to stay, as we've all benefitted from your wisdom and intelligence. Get well, and keep hoping for better days.
The rain, the drains, thoughts, facts, influence, cause and effect. Powerlessness, morning, hope, understanding, rise, ourselves. Fortitude, honestly, truth, testimony, votes. Bullies, teachers, majority, think, time, churn. Education. I learned a lot a couple of days ago from a teacher here.
Patrick, I felt you searching and the poetry in your words. We do know. The commission took place during our observation, reading, thinking and in our sharing. We are not powerless. We are weak and strong, hurting and determined. I hope that you will come again.
Thank you, Diane. You have all touched me this week more than ever. Our support for one another is part of our mission for justice, equality, care and Democracy.
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Each of us must believe in our contribution. I always told my students, long before it was a popular slogan. “We are all in this together. There is enough to go around. TOGETHER, EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE!”
As someone who had their own mastectomy (not bilateral, but modified radical right) I understand the place of contemplation you have achieved. I am reminded of another musing that a friend of mine made as he walked his transitional path: there are no answers, only questions.
I wish you well, and I hope that you continue to remain here. I do not think your commentary is improper for the day. It is your truth, as it is.
Thank you for sharing your truth of the moment. It is wise to support your wounded body right now with whatever brings you joy and strength to assist in healing.
We will miss your wise council and hold you in the Light until your return.
I hope you rejoin when you can. This octogenarian wishes he had you among his friends; the kind with whom you might spend a Sunday morning mulling over, well, the ideas bouncing in a shared atmosphere and the tangles of lives and events playing out, just out of reach of wisdom, perhaps. I had two friends like that. Nearly irreplaceable.
Patrick, I hold you in the light, as we Quakers say. I reread what you wrote several times, because though there was a hint of despair, you also wrote something very profound and full of more hope than perhaps you realize- at least to my ear. You wrote: "...we haven't the position in history yet to actually rise out of the place where we find ourselves." That's just it. We can only see what our limited view of the present allows us to see. And the future is not part of it. We guess at it, wanting to know, but it simply isn't visible yet. I think there are teachers, but we sometimes don't recognize them ahead of time. I see people, especially young people, who are beginning that journey. I celebrate them, and choose to ignore those who would use our current uncertainty to take away our hope, and thus our agency in our own future.
Yes, Annie. I read your reply to Patrick a couple of times because something you wrote was forward looking in a powerful way, and here it is :'... our agency in our own future.'
I love this: "The summary of my observation is closer to simply understanding that we haven’t the position in history yet to actually rise out of the place where we find ourselves."
What gives me hope is daring to imagine that Pelosi and Schumer knew all along a bipartisan commission would never fly in the Senate and that its expected failure has been anticipated with some hefty strategizing. An outcome that MAY come about is that this failure might be that so-called "inflection point" (I am beginning to tire of that phrase) which pushes out the obstructionists and enters in a period of progress. But as you noted so eloquently, we don't have the long perspective and so will just have to wait in the moment and see what unfolds.
All that aside, your thoughts and words here are so valued by so many of us, I hope you will be able to stay longer and gift us with them. Be well, my friend in this HCR community.
Dear Patrick, please know that you are TRULY in my "thoughts & prayers" (hackneyed and trite as that phrase has sadly become). I totally understand where you are coming from and am full of hope that somehow the ship can be righted. We are ALL with you and will hope and pray that all will be well, "and every manner of thing shall be well." Courage and strength to you, my friend...and healing and peace.
No pressure, but I do hope that you will return here. Your openness, as well as your perspectives and insights are so important for us to read and consider.
Patrick, it's raining here also, and cold, not even 50. But I rejoice because we so desperately need rain here. It's very, very green as it should be in late May. I should not have to water my gardens this time of year, but they've needed it. I've been worried about a forest fire here in NH, of all things, a thing that never crossed my mind prior to the last few years of drought.
I'm sorry for your surgery and wish you all the ease and speed possible with your full recovery. I wish you didn't have to go through it.
I really value your writing here, as I've commented before. Your calls to action, your questions and wonderings, your clear and detailed descriptions of what you've seen and experienced in the health profession. When you despair, rather than cause me to despair, it validates my similar feelings and is a comfort to know someone else is willing to give voice to their truth even when it's not "positive". I get so tired of the pressure to put a positive spin on things that just aren't. I very much hope, without pressure as Rowshan noted, that you will continue to share here, when you are up to it. For now, I hope you will take deep and sweet care of yourself and let others care for you as well.
Patrick, I'm hoping you heal quickly, and that you stay with us here. We all benefit from your posts and your perspective. You're facing a challenge, to be sure, but those of us who appreciate your wit and insight are all holding you in the light. Hold steady, and stay strong.
Sunrises & the work of democracy is never done. When President Obama took office, for eight years, it seemed, Americans took a vacation thinking the country was in good hands, that he would do the work. I hope no one is taking President Biden and our democracy for granted. Certainly everyday with Trump, FOX along with present day Republicans, the US is still in the early days of the American Civil War.
The most beautiful sunrise is still an awakening warning of America's red blood that Conderates are willing to spill for their minority oppressive slave state autocracy over more populace free states.
We need both words and action to preserve our Union. But more importantly, to preserve the truth of democracy for us and the world.
Oh, so many approving comments about Buddy's photography today. I hope these critical eyes are quickly returned to the challenges to democracy described above. With the help of what used to be the Republican Party, the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch seem to be more applicable to what is going on in our nation today. Start out with his "Garden of Earthly Delights."
Jack, I think it is good to look away from time to time, to focus on something simple and beautiful. It clears our eyes and mind of expectations we carry around unconsciously - so that we when we do turn our eyes back, it is with more clarity and often more understanding. That sunrise is as real as the soft rain outside my window right now. Both nourishing and needed.
I'd like to echo Pam's comment. My wife and I start our day by reading your daily letter, and it is always interesting, educational, and well thought out. Thank you so much for continuing with it. Our mornings would indeed be poorer but for your steady efforts.
Thank you so much, Dr. Heather, for your Letters, and these images you've shared with us from time to time! Please take as much rest as you need, even if it means Letters less often, because we'd all rather have fewer than none at all. Your time and efforts are so appreciated, as you've helped us keep our sanity over the past year+ but of course we don't want you to burn out. 💜
A beautiful photograph evoking Frederick Church's painting.
I'm going to go all African Studies on you and call it a modern reflection of Thomas Baines's painting of Victoria Falls, between Zambia and Zimbabwe, also from the mid-19C. (The local name is much better: Mosi-wa-Tunya, "The Smoke That Thunders.")
Since this is a "letter" with no real topic, we in this community can then turn to each other. I did want to let everyone know I am okay. My mom's death this past Tuesday hit me very hard as it really was sudden and unexpected--well, as "unexpected" as it can be when one is 97--and I have been very deeply grieving, but also reflecting on her life and rejoicing in it. The outpouring of sympathy and love from people here in this community has been wonderful and affirming. There was a lovely article in our local paper about her, as being about the last link to the old medical community here that were pioneers in building the medical centre into what it is now, THE central medical institution in this part of the state. Talk about a life of service!! She really "walked the walk"--literally--when it came to helping her fellow human beings. She hardly set foot in a church, but I defy anyone to find a more Christ-like figure in what she did with her life. How many countless lives did she save, help, and comfort! She was a living example of service. Service given out of love. These unnoticed, unnamed "angels" ARE walking among us, quietly, unobtrusively going about their work of helping others. That was my mom. We owe them SO much, and, sadly, often don't know of them until they pass away.
I may be back in fine fettle soon, ready to take on the world again, but right now news/politics/stuff is the furthest thing from my mind. My mom's service is this Wednesday (6/2), and once that is passed and things settle down I'll edge my way back into things. God bless you all on here, and God bless Heather Cox Richardson for her Letters and for creating this little community. Take care and "see" y'all soon.
Bruce, it seems odd in the contemplation, but not in the experience: no matter how old we are when a parent dies, it feels like being orphaned, abandoned to the universe. My mother died relatively young, before we really got to know each other as equals, and I confess I envy that you had yours so long. My fortune was having a relative who became my "second mother"and showed me the way into old age with grace. She died just 3 months short of her 100th birthday, and I still grieved, feeling abandoned until acceptance set in and all that she had taught me wrapped me up in comfort. My goal in life is to live with her grace. She was Buddha, but didn't know it, just lived it.
A church is only a building - what someone is and does throughout their life outside that building is far more important. As Annette D said - a special angel.
Bruce, such wonderful thoughts about your dear mom. What you described...not setting foot in church but living the life that Christ exhorted us to follow...is truly a tribute to her. Being the antithesis of those that "preach" but do not live the truth puts your mom in a very special place. I wish we had more of these special angels in our lives. God bless and I will be thinking of you and your mom on Wednesday.
There is never enough time. The loss of such a strong, loving presence like your mother leaves a terrible void and it takes time to feel whole again. May you find comfort in your memories and friendships.
I am so very sorry for your loss. I will be thinking of you on Wednesday. That is the birthday of my late husband and when he passed away, I chose that date to celebrate his life. I will be thinking of him, of you, your mom and all those angels you mentioned on June 2nd.
That was my dad's birthday as well. I have always chosen to celebrate his life on that day, and now I have others to think of also.......your husband and Bruce's mom. Thanks for that thought.
Thank you, Bruce. I don't know you and didn't know your mother (though when it comes to walking the walk without setting foot in a church, I'm pretty sure I know some of her kindred spirits), but the last two weeks have hit me and my communities with some big losses (starting with singer-songwriter-lesbian activist Alix Dobkin) and some bad news, so the reminders about angels among us and (as I think of it) recommitting ourselves to their work however we can are taken to heart.
Heather and Buddy, thanks once again for raising our spirits and giving us evidence that, even though our country is not yet back where we'd like it to be, we have hope that it is on the rise and we have hope. Catch up on your rest. We love you.
This photo is so moving to me, and I'm certain to many, many others. Thank you, and thank Buddy for both your abilities to transcend the (often discouraging if not downright depressing) moments we are all living through and transmogrify these
(Oops) moments into a kind of magical mystery we are all attempting to rise into/above/beyond together. I swear I'm not on any drug, only rising into a kind of hope, that thing with feathers Emily wrote about...
The sunrise, and your need to recover from the semester, made me recall your saying that you'd probably quit or suspend the newsletter after the Inauguration, since you couldn't imagine doing it along with the demands of your day job. This is to say thanks for keeping on with it. Our mornings would be poorer for the lack of your steady efforts.
Could not agree more. Thank you for continuing HCR. We rely on you during these very fraught times.
❤️
"Steady" indeed! Possibly an unintentional coincident choice of words but the only other person I follow/subscribe to is Dan Rather, on "Steady." 😉
And he wrote a strongly poignant piece today.
“Steady” as we go. I love, too, that it is a unfiltered sunrise picture. Colors and timing are amazing.
Yes!
Beautifully said. I love the word 'steady' for some reason. I don't use it enough!
Adding more agreement to the gratitude!
So well said!
❤️
What she said.
Ditto!
❤️
This photo is exquisite, as so many of Buddy’s are.
You can go all American Studies on us because that’s where we are too! Thank you for giving me a lift.
It is raining here today. Just grey with big drops blowing down. Sitting here post bilateral mastectomy with drains still in but very little pain or disability I contemplate this beautiful photo. It simply is. The notions we apply, the symbolism, aren't anymore real than our thoughts. Much of my life’s experience has been spent between the influence of thoughts and the hard facts of what is. At times it has seemed that there was a relationship, that there is cause and effect that extends beyond the hard facts of the physical and yet our powerlessness is also strongly represented.
This may be my last morning to comment so perhaps I am using it improperly. There should be a place for hope and for continued commitment to the future. I haven’t found much hope in my short foray into daily politics. The summary of my observation is closer to simply understanding that we haven’t the position in history yet to actually rise out of the place where we find ourselves. We haven’t the actual fortitude to know that even if there was a bipartisan commission honestly trying to uncover the truth of 1-6 through testimony those individuals who were involved and hence don’t want honesty would just lie. Yes, they would, just as they proved with their votes.
So, we will allow the bullies on the playground to run rampant because truthfully there are no teachers. There is just us and we, the majority, will allow it because we just can't bring ourselves to think in any other way. Time will churn on and it will become the past where things are more easily rewritten. This has been the broad course of human history and it is compressed into our present moment unchanged.
I do thank HCR and all of you for my education. It is all so well done regardless of the results.
Patrick, try not to despair. True, we grasp at straws, hoping for a better reality, but perhaps that, in and of itself, helps to produce positive results. I've never suffered your unique struggle, so I can't presume to empathize, but I wish you well, and will miss your presence here if you decide to leave. We would like you to stay, as we've all benefitted from your wisdom and intelligence. Get well, and keep hoping for better days.
The rain, the drains, thoughts, facts, influence, cause and effect. Powerlessness, morning, hope, understanding, rise, ourselves. Fortitude, honestly, truth, testimony, votes. Bullies, teachers, majority, think, time, churn. Education. I learned a lot a couple of days ago from a teacher here.
Patrick, I felt you searching and the poetry in your words. We do know. The commission took place during our observation, reading, thinking and in our sharing. We are not powerless. We are weak and strong, hurting and determined. I hope that you will come again.
Beautifully expressed Fern.
Thank you, Diane. You have all touched me this week more than ever. Our support for one another is part of our mission for justice, equality, care and Democracy.
Perfectly and sensitively put! As moving as Patrick's own words!😉 A delightful and insightful response -- I'd come running back❣️
Oh, Rowshan, may Patrick hear your sunny song.
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Each of us must believe in our contribution. I always told my students, long before it was a popular slogan. “We are all in this together. There is enough to go around. TOGETHER, EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE!”
That’s a team,
Like this stream!
As someone who had their own mastectomy (not bilateral, but modified radical right) I understand the place of contemplation you have achieved. I am reminded of another musing that a friend of mine made as he walked his transitional path: there are no answers, only questions.
I wish you well, and I hope that you continue to remain here. I do not think your commentary is improper for the day. It is your truth, as it is.
Thank you for sharing your truth of the moment. It is wise to support your wounded body right now with whatever brings you joy and strength to assist in healing.
We will miss your wise council and hold you in the Light until your return.
I hope you rejoin when you can. This octogenarian wishes he had you among his friends; the kind with whom you might spend a Sunday morning mulling over, well, the ideas bouncing in a shared atmosphere and the tangles of lives and events playing out, just out of reach of wisdom, perhaps. I had two friends like that. Nearly irreplaceable.
Nice sentiments, Fred. We are spending Sunday morning with friends, sharing ideas and resources but not germs.
Long deep talks with friends are one of life’s greatest joys.
Patrick, I hold you in the light, as we Quakers say. I reread what you wrote several times, because though there was a hint of despair, you also wrote something very profound and full of more hope than perhaps you realize- at least to my ear. You wrote: "...we haven't the position in history yet to actually rise out of the place where we find ourselves." That's just it. We can only see what our limited view of the present allows us to see. And the future is not part of it. We guess at it, wanting to know, but it simply isn't visible yet. I think there are teachers, but we sometimes don't recognize them ahead of time. I see people, especially young people, who are beginning that journey. I celebrate them, and choose to ignore those who would use our current uncertainty to take away our hope, and thus our agency in our own future.
Bless you. May your recovery go well.
'...and work together to achieve positive outcomes.
Yes, Annie. I read your reply to Patrick a couple of times because something you wrote was forward looking in a powerful way, and here it is :'... our agency in our own future.'
Good healing, Patrick. I, for one, hope you will stay and that you will keep commenting. You’re a beautiful writer.
I love this: "The summary of my observation is closer to simply understanding that we haven’t the position in history yet to actually rise out of the place where we find ourselves."
What gives me hope is daring to imagine that Pelosi and Schumer knew all along a bipartisan commission would never fly in the Senate and that its expected failure has been anticipated with some hefty strategizing. An outcome that MAY come about is that this failure might be that so-called "inflection point" (I am beginning to tire of that phrase) which pushes out the obstructionists and enters in a period of progress. But as you noted so eloquently, we don't have the long perspective and so will just have to wait in the moment and see what unfolds.
All that aside, your thoughts and words here are so valued by so many of us, I hope you will be able to stay longer and gift us with them. Be well, my friend in this HCR community.
Dear Patrick, please know that you are TRULY in my "thoughts & prayers" (hackneyed and trite as that phrase has sadly become). I totally understand where you are coming from and am full of hope that somehow the ship can be righted. We are ALL with you and will hope and pray that all will be well, "and every manner of thing shall be well." Courage and strength to you, my friend...and healing and peace.
No pressure, but I do hope that you will return here. Your openness, as well as your perspectives and insights are so important for us to read and consider.
In the meantime, sending you healing thoughts and strength.
Patrick, I’ll also miss your words, your voice. Thank you for your many intelligent and thoughtful contributions to HCR’s letters. Best, Don
Patrick, it's raining here also, and cold, not even 50. But I rejoice because we so desperately need rain here. It's very, very green as it should be in late May. I should not have to water my gardens this time of year, but they've needed it. I've been worried about a forest fire here in NH, of all things, a thing that never crossed my mind prior to the last few years of drought.
I'm sorry for your surgery and wish you all the ease and speed possible with your full recovery. I wish you didn't have to go through it.
I really value your writing here, as I've commented before. Your calls to action, your questions and wonderings, your clear and detailed descriptions of what you've seen and experienced in the health profession. When you despair, rather than cause me to despair, it validates my similar feelings and is a comfort to know someone else is willing to give voice to their truth even when it's not "positive". I get so tired of the pressure to put a positive spin on things that just aren't. I very much hope, without pressure as Rowshan noted, that you will continue to share here, when you are up to it. For now, I hope you will take deep and sweet care of yourself and let others care for you as well.
It's true, Patrick -- many people want to be lied to (hopefully not too many). That was a main lesson learned from the Reagan years.
Best wishes for a swift, full and affordable recovery. Looking forward to more comments from you whenever you wish.
Patrick, I'm hoping you heal quickly, and that you stay with us here. We all benefit from your posts and your perspective. You're facing a challenge, to be sure, but those of us who appreciate your wit and insight are all holding you in the light. Hold steady, and stay strong.
Take care, Patrick
Sunrises & the work of democracy is never done. When President Obama took office, for eight years, it seemed, Americans took a vacation thinking the country was in good hands, that he would do the work. I hope no one is taking President Biden and our democracy for granted. Certainly everyday with Trump, FOX along with present day Republicans, the US is still in the early days of the American Civil War.
The most beautiful sunrise is still an awakening warning of America's red blood that Conderates are willing to spill for their minority oppressive slave state autocracy over more populace free states.
We need both words and action to preserve our Union. But more importantly, to preserve the truth of democracy for us and the world.
Oh, so many approving comments about Buddy's photography today. I hope these critical eyes are quickly returned to the challenges to democracy described above. With the help of what used to be the Republican Party, the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch seem to be more applicable to what is going on in our nation today. Start out with his "Garden of Earthly Delights."
Jack, I think it is good to look away from time to time, to focus on something simple and beautiful. It clears our eyes and mind of expectations we carry around unconsciously - so that we when we do turn our eyes back, it is with more clarity and often more understanding. That sunrise is as real as the soft rain outside my window right now. Both nourishing and needed.
I'd like to echo Pam's comment. My wife and I start our day by reading your daily letter, and it is always interesting, educational, and well thought out. Thank you so much for continuing with it. Our mornings would indeed be poorer but for your steady efforts.
Thank you so much, Dr. Heather, for your Letters, and these images you've shared with us from time to time! Please take as much rest as you need, even if it means Letters less often, because we'd all rather have fewer than none at all. Your time and efforts are so appreciated, as you've helped us keep our sanity over the past year+ but of course we don't want you to burn out. 💜
Have a restful Memorial Day weekend.
You give us all hope. Thank you, HCR!!
A beautiful photograph evoking Frederick Church's painting.
I'm going to go all African Studies on you and call it a modern reflection of Thomas Baines's painting of Victoria Falls, between Zambia and Zimbabwe, also from the mid-19C. (The local name is much better: Mosi-wa-Tunya, "The Smoke That Thunders.")
https://eclecticlightdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/bainesfallssunrise.jpg
WOW!
Wow. It’s so much in one painting.
Wow. Another astoundingly beautiful image from Buddy.
And yes -- we have to think of our colors/country rising against the forces of darkness.
We do. And it will.
Since this is a "letter" with no real topic, we in this community can then turn to each other. I did want to let everyone know I am okay. My mom's death this past Tuesday hit me very hard as it really was sudden and unexpected--well, as "unexpected" as it can be when one is 97--and I have been very deeply grieving, but also reflecting on her life and rejoicing in it. The outpouring of sympathy and love from people here in this community has been wonderful and affirming. There was a lovely article in our local paper about her, as being about the last link to the old medical community here that were pioneers in building the medical centre into what it is now, THE central medical institution in this part of the state. Talk about a life of service!! She really "walked the walk"--literally--when it came to helping her fellow human beings. She hardly set foot in a church, but I defy anyone to find a more Christ-like figure in what she did with her life. How many countless lives did she save, help, and comfort! She was a living example of service. Service given out of love. These unnoticed, unnamed "angels" ARE walking among us, quietly, unobtrusively going about their work of helping others. That was my mom. We owe them SO much, and, sadly, often don't know of them until they pass away.
I may be back in fine fettle soon, ready to take on the world again, but right now news/politics/stuff is the furthest thing from my mind. My mom's service is this Wednesday (6/2), and once that is passed and things settle down I'll edge my way back into things. God bless you all on here, and God bless Heather Cox Richardson for her Letters and for creating this little community. Take care and "see" y'all soon.
Soli Deo gloria.
Bruce
Bruce, it seems odd in the contemplation, but not in the experience: no matter how old we are when a parent dies, it feels like being orphaned, abandoned to the universe. My mother died relatively young, before we really got to know each other as equals, and I confess I envy that you had yours so long. My fortune was having a relative who became my "second mother"and showed me the way into old age with grace. She died just 3 months short of her 100th birthday, and I still grieved, feeling abandoned until acceptance set in and all that she had taught me wrapped me up in comfort. My goal in life is to live with her grace. She was Buddha, but didn't know it, just lived it.
A church is only a building - what someone is and does throughout their life outside that building is far more important. As Annette D said - a special angel.
My sincerest sympathies to you, Bruce. Your mother sounds extraordinary. Sending you strength and comfort.
Bruce, such wonderful thoughts about your dear mom. What you described...not setting foot in church but living the life that Christ exhorted us to follow...is truly a tribute to her. Being the antithesis of those that "preach" but do not live the truth puts your mom in a very special place. I wish we had more of these special angels in our lives. God bless and I will be thinking of you and your mom on Wednesday.
There is never enough time. The loss of such a strong, loving presence like your mother leaves a terrible void and it takes time to feel whole again. May you find comfort in your memories and friendships.
With the description of your mom and her fabulous legacy, you def will be in “fine fettle” soon. May she live on in you, Bruce.
I am so very sorry for your loss. I will be thinking of you on Wednesday. That is the birthday of my late husband and when he passed away, I chose that date to celebrate his life. I will be thinking of him, of you, your mom and all those angels you mentioned on June 2nd.
That was my dad's birthday as well. I have always chosen to celebrate his life on that day, and now I have others to think of also.......your husband and Bruce's mom. Thanks for that thought.
Thank you, Bruce. I don't know you and didn't know your mother (though when it comes to walking the walk without setting foot in a church, I'm pretty sure I know some of her kindred spirits), but the last two weeks have hit me and my communities with some big losses (starting with singer-songwriter-lesbian activist Alix Dobkin) and some bad news, so the reminders about angels among us and (as I think of it) recommitting ourselves to their work however we can are taken to heart.
Heather and Buddy, thanks once again for raising our spirits and giving us evidence that, even though our country is not yet back where we'd like it to be, we have hope that it is on the rise and we have hope. Catch up on your rest. We love you.
Thank you for all that you do, the beautiful photos you post, and have a restful and peaceful weekend!
BEAUTIFUL.. Bravo to Buddy. BTW you have a new reader in Berie, Ontario, Canada. Have a great holiday weekend.
Welcome aboard! I think you'll like it here.
Always welcoming new folks to this community!
Welcome, neighbor! Glad you’re here.
Welcome!
Thanks y'all for the welcome and likes, however it is my friend in Canada that is the new reader. Im a veteran lol
Welcome, Jesse(Ken)! We'll break you in gently, as always.
NB, I looked up Berie, as usual when presented with a new location. Perhaps it's Barrie, please? Couldn't find the other spelling.
Yep it is Barrie and Im not new its my friend who is new. Thanks
Welcome, bienvenue, bienvenida!
Wonderful photo, once-in-a-lifetime shot--and with an iPhone!
Also grateful for Professor & Patriotic American Richardson; eclipsed Crevecouer's place in American letters in your first year.
We shall overcome!
This photo is so moving to me, and I'm certain to many, many others. Thank you, and thank Buddy for both your abilities to transcend the (often discouraging if not downright depressing) moments we are all living through and transmogrify these
(Oops) moments into a kind of magical mystery we are all attempting to rise into/above/beyond together. I swear I'm not on any drug, only rising into a kind of hope, that thing with feathers Emily wrote about...
Thanks, Buddy. (I love that Frederick Church Painting.)
Let's take a peak at Frederic Church's romanticist painting, "Our Banner in the Sky."
https://www.wikiart.org/en/frederic-edwin-church/our-banner-in-the-sky-1861
Thanks for the link!
Thank you for the link, the name of the painting and the nudge that there is no K at the end of Frederic.
I had not noticed the no K, so inadvertent!
Thank You Ellie!!
Very cool! Yes, there is a semblance!