what we ask

post #498
       
         We ask
                 will kids go to regular school in August? or
                 will the virus thrive in that shared air?
                 will they work again from home?
                 will their spirits support each other, 
                         day by day, and in the years ahead?
        
        What will they learn? How about us, who cry at night,
                   from exhaustion, from these questions,
                   from those who are afraid and not able to act,
                   from what our world is teaching us, if we listen.
            
         What of this will the children remember next year, or
                    fifty years from now.  

          Can it be that they'll know
                   we love them and we did what we could?


      Today, in honor of kids I know, I just wanted to go through my images and pick out a few of the kid photos I have made over the years. Some of the kids are related to me, some are not, all are known to me.  Many have been on one of my posts over the past ten years -- so many are older now than they were then! Enjoy!

  

Mountaintop Removal Rally

measuring the milkweed

some Feb. 24s

post #420
          Last week's picks from exact years ago was so much fun for me that I am going to do it again. It's actually helpful to review these earlier moments and be reminded that some things stay the same and some things change. And I suspect that's what the rest of my life will do, as each year becomes part of whatever path I'm busy discovering I have been on.
         In any case, here's some of the fun:

2018, February 24 --

This photo is at my gallery house the same day as the next four photos taken by my daughter at what is now her house.

photo by Rebecca

photo by Rebecca

photo by Rebecca

photo by Rebecca

THE YEAR BEFORE, 2017:
 

creek training, while I was photographing near the waterfall

NOW another year earlier, 2016: 
 

I now have a car that has room for bumper stickers. I will try to find this one in my piles somewhere and paste it on. Please, everyone, trust in the wisdom of this proverb.

This barn stood for ages while becaming increasingly wobbly. One day on my drive to town, soon after taking this photo, I found the barn demolished. There is now an empty space. I often see the shadow of its stories when I go by, the years of hay or cattle or horses, and the hard work of farming not occupying the same place in the lives we currently are leading. I love the lines of snow on the roof, like in a poem.

ONE MORE YEAR BEFORE, this time 2015:

These steps make up for all the work they require by being very photogenic....

I remember distinctly being totally taken by the way the shadows of the trees worked with the bare tree trunks, providing there was both sun AND snow at the same moment in time.

sharing the woods with others

         On a personal note, I would like to pay tribute today to my step-sister Haven, on her birthday. She passed away last month after many years with a less common kind of breast cancer that she took to task with every means possible over 8 or 9 years.  She was a tiger, and she had earlier written several books on how to live a saner, healthier life.  And she loved California where she had lived for almost 50 years.  I send my love to her husband, Robert, and to her son, Steve, his wife Piper, and their two very young children whom Haven was grateful to have been with as much as she could.

kids will be kids

post #391
            I wanted to do something today to join in the voices speaking out against the inhumane treatment of children we've recently become acutely aware of. Of course this means, by definition, that their trauma is also extremely harmful to their families. 
           Using small children as pawns in some larger immigration debate is wrong. Clearly and despicably wrong. 
           I decided I would simply show some photos I've made over the years, of children, without giving their names or their stories. (I don't actually know the names of some of them myself and the names don't matter for this particular post. I did take each photo, mostly during the past 10 years.)       
          Being a child is never all fun and games, and their needed nurturing can be hard work. But it is what we humans do for each other and for the future of the human race. Kids are learning all the time. Each is a unique person. None of the world's children does well being treated with cruelty or being used as a hostage.

 

I'm ending today with a big splash of grandchildren, in awe of all kids in all places.

winter, travel, family, holidays in December, 2012

post #117
       Keeping it simple today, thinking of the world with all its variety and machinations, while I continue to try to figure out how people can all get along and how the planet can let us see clearly what we need to do.  I guess the answers are not so simple, actually.  But I am currently with family in Massachusetts, enjoying grandchildren, exchanging minimal presents, eating well and all together, seeing two of my sisters as well as other family, and being grateful.  It is a privilege to be thinking about other peoples in this world in addition to the ones near me, and about the planet we share while I am happy to be in this one place.  I do realize that thinking by itself does not do much, but visualizing the possibilities of change can be strengthening for our collective hearts.
        I give a special shout-out to the loyal readers of this blog, whoever you may be, and where ever you are.  Thank you!  Here are three photos in honor of this season and of this time of gatherings.  

I have always thought this stump a place of elegant feasting, even if it be in the forest.

This photo of friends, from three years ago, continues to amaze me.  Once again, I thank each one for being willing to put up with what it takes to get such a good group photo  -- which mostly means that each one did his or her part for the good of the group.  This year's holiday gathering will be smaller, since many of us will not able to be there.  I am so glad we made the time and effort for this photo when we had the chance to do so.

Warm holiday greetings from this "well red" cardinal -- and from me, Ann