The end of summer

Last year we marked the end of the summer with a day at Crane’s Beach.  It was my plan to return there, but I realized that meant an extra two hours of driving in a set of weeks that have held a lot too much driving already.  So we went south, and spent the day at a water park near my parents’ home.  Not as scenic as Crane’s, by a long shot, and the pictures aren’t as spectacular.  But the point of the day held, and held fast: a day for that I spent just with the children, just for the children, to celebrate the turning of the seasons.  We had the most wonderful time.  And just like the last time the three of us bobbed in a wave pool, I was strangely moved by the experience.  They faced the waves without fear, with wonder, with delight.  And because of them, I can do so too.  Onward.

Our real journey

This is the board above my desk.  I look at it all day long.  It holds pictures of those I love most, a few notes from family, and a small set of prayer flags.  Some have noted with surprise that there is only one quote on the board.  This seems strange, I guess, for someone who loves words, quotes, poems, and lyrics as I do.  I think it just shows how I value these lines, possibly above all others.

It may be that when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work.
And that when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

– Wendell Berry

 

Playground rainbow

Yesterday afternoon was Grace’s first soccer practice of the season.  Whit and I dropped her off and headed back to the car through the playground by the field.  I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this rainbow shimmering through the water from the fountain.  And I thought: isn’t this what I want to do, more than anything, on this blog, in my life?  See the rainbow on the playground, the magic in the mess, the glory in the grubbiness.  Yes.  Yes it is.

Nantucket still life

As we recalled last Saturday, it is in this exact spot, on this precise porch, that I took the picture of Grace that was our holiday card the year she was one.  The world turns and turns, and we watch.

Flags

The beginning of a glorious sunset on an outrageously gorgeous evening this past weekend.