We celebrated three birthdays today. My dtr/law Nicole is due August 13. She looked fantastic in a long purple gown and flipflops. August 13 is also the date I married my former husband.Favorite foods include:
Sweet n sour meatballs
Pineapple bread pudding
Watermelon and cant elope
Sweet n sour cucumbers
Rhubarb cake
After dinner, Donna, Ellen and I had a deep conversation w/Patrick, age 6. Two years ago, his neighbor Isaac passed away. Isaac was only 7 and confined to a wheelchair from muscular dystrophy. Patrick and his brother Quinn attended the funeral with their parents.
I think if you listen to a child, I mean, really listen, you will enjoy insights you never expected. You'll walk away amazed as I did.
Here's Patrick's mom, Nikki, a schoolteacher, next to my sister Lynn and her boyfriend Neil. Remember the old Ivory Liquid commercials? Who was the mom and who was the daughter? Do they still make Ivory Liquid? 
On my way home, I passed Masons Mill Park, and a Sunday nite concert. Rolled down my window and the singing was unusually good! Parked and listened to husband and wife team -- The Arringtons -- play bluegrass. I'm a huge bluegrass fan and stood there wide-eyed with my feet tapping away. Then I snapped Letitia's photo.
Standing there in the waning light of the evening, I closed my eyes and realized this is what life is about...precious moments that will never come again. In the long wail of the universe, a woman named Ruth Deming has never stood on the wet grass and listened to Mark and Letitia play, as was happening at this very moment.
"Kvell!" as the Jews say.
Ever meet someone and click instantly? That's how I felt about Letitia. At concert's end people passed her by and said how much they enjoyed the show. Reminded me of New Directions when people tell me the same thing. She was very gracious and lovely.
I saw a couple in the audience that I remembered from our New Directions' Family Member Group. I went up to them and started to say, Hi, I'm Ruth from New Directions.
Fortunately they recognized me and said, HEY! You rode with us to Pennypack Park last week. Yes, they were Ethel and John, fellow members of Pennypack Trust, not New Directions. They should only know!
The ride home from the bluegrass concert was beautiful. I carefully stopped in the middle of the road to photograph the canopy of trees. Yes, it's an awful picture. I don't understand my camera at all. First, it takes a red picture at the family gathering, then it takes this lousy picture of the bucolic scenery.
What have I done wrong, dear God?
In my own opinion - and it is a studied one - you are doing some damned amazing things with your camera. You have just picked it up and, yes, you are shooting snapshots but some of them are amazing snapshots. I like the canopy picture - it probably turned out better than if it had turned out.
ReplyDeleteAnd that picture of Patrick with his phone OMG!
And the Gazeebo!
And Letitia - maybe you didn't want the red eye, but in this case there is something about it that works.
ah, you raised my self-esteem, dear bill! i want you to know that whenever i hesitate photo'g something, i ask myself, what would bill do? you would've def'ly snapped the concert photos above, which i would've never have had the nerve to do w/o you as my guide!!!
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