Thursday, February 28, 2013

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Gualala memories / Robinson Reef view



Just came across this video.  After my sisters and I grew up, my parents had a house in Gualala, California, for 25 years until my mother's death in 1994.  The first part of the video shows where I used to walk in Gualala Point Regional Park.  It was about a 3-mile walk south from my parent's house to Gualala Beach.  I would see grey whales, pelicans, sea lions, wild flowers, ice plant, crows and ravens, phoebes, rabbits, squirrels, and lizards. Looking at the video footage reminded me how much love I still feel for that landscape and how much I enjoyed visiting with my parents in those years.  I haven't been there since September of 2001.

My sister brought this to my attention:



That is the lot in front of the house my parents used to own.  A two-story house would likely block the splendid view from that small one-story house.  Hard to imagine that someone would buy a lot and build a house that would block the view of their close neighbors in an isolated and sparsely populated coastside community.

On the other hand, that lot was for sale when my parents bought their home in 1970.  Many people must have thought twice about building in front of someone else under those circumstances.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Monday, February 18, 2013

Ceremony / To Try To Have Some Healing



Listen to the entire story.  It takes some time.

"Great Spirit, Great Mystery, the things which are thine are powerful and numerous."
(song from "Dakota 38")

Silar Hagerty:  With Smooth Feather Productions, when we decided to give these films away, no strings attached, when we made that shift, it did feel like in some way the universe supported that.

Silas Hagerty:  For me, the word ceremony means calling in help from something greater than yourself.
(from "To Try To Have Some Healing:  A conversation with Silas Hagerty," Parabola magazine, Spring 2013)

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentines Can't Buy Him Or Her / Remembering my Richard (1949-2008) and Bob Dylan's Suze Rotolo (1943-2011)




Double self-portrait of am and R in early 1971.  R set up the camera.  It had been only a short time since his return from Vietnam. We were walking across a meadow to a small pond to the west of Skyline Boulevard and to the east of Half Moon Bay, California, as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean horizon several miles away.


"... you're the missing verse in my song ..."



Listen
"Love waits forever for one and for all"
(Bob Dylan, lyrics from "Beyond the Horizon," from "Modern Times")

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

My father would have been 99 years old yesterday


That's my father in the middle.  He had two brothers and two sisters.  His youngest sister had her 90th birthday in December.  They all grew up in Minnesota.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Birds singing in black and white in Bellingham / 24 hours at Westminster Abbey -- just across the border in Canada



Westminster Abbey in Mission, B.C., has hosted retreats for Zen Buddhists from Vancouver, B.C. as well as retreats for AA groups from the United States.  I have no religious affiliation and felt welcomed and at home there.  The meals, prepared by the monks, are delicious.  The atmosphere is peaceful.  The property is beautiful.  A true refuge.  My simple private room looked out across the Fraser River valley to snowy mountains.