Astonishment

Today began a new regime: Bella visits me on Thursday afternoons. We found an astonishment of cherry and apple blossoms, an astonishment of sunshine, an astonishment of squirrels chasing each other madly round an oak tree (which is what Bella was watching when I pressed the shutter for this shot). We went to the park twice, where she hurled herself onto the swings and flung herself down the slide, bounced on big springs, practiced jumping, climbed ladders, and draped herself over chains till she was worn out. At my place we ate dried cherries and blueberries, drank milk, read books, danced and sang to the music of Philip Glass, and made paintings. Between the park and my place we stomped our feet and blew dandelion stars all over the world. There was nothing left to do by the time her mom came for her. 

Before that all happened, I was part of another grand event. This morning I had the privilege of being the external examiner in a PhD process. The candidate wrote a fine dissertation that took her a decade to complete and was so powerful that it moved me to tears with its wisdom; she made a grand oral presentation of her work; we asked her questions designed to allow her to strut her stuff; and at the end, we welcomed her into the community of scholars just in time for her to celebrate her seventieth birthday. I was sobbing with happiness. What a day, coming on top of yesterday, which was another mountain-top kind of day. I am still reeling from the pleasure of talking on the radio with B. and G., and from the strength of Frederick Douglass Brown's story and the beauty of his weathered face.

This is my 499th Blip, and I need to catch my breath before I post my 500th. The project for documenting the lives of unhoused people is soaring--I'm getting calls from several agencies in town who want pictures taken and have people with stories to tell, and it looks like there is as much good work to do with that project as I will have time for if I live another hundred years. I may not blip tomorrow, as I'm feeling overwhelmed with emotion and possibility. I don't think life has ever been this good before now. I am stretched tight and about to pop with happiness. I want to catch my breath and exhale before my 500th. Thank you for all the love.