A day at the beach

Strolling through dunes by the Pacific, I recognized Hieracium or Hawkweed, which until this year I would have called dandelion. The change in my perception comes from following an entangled bank, the blog on plants of the Languedoc and jazz kept by Chaiselongue's husband Richard, who she playfully called Lo Jardinier or LoJ. His writing and photographs have led me to a new mindfulness about life underfoot and around me all the time.

Last month he and she were strolling together through dunes at Marseillan-plage, where he got down on his knees in the sand to take pictures of ecosystems that, as he says, most of us would dismiss as a "patch of dried-out weeds."

Tomorrow her funeral will be held in Béziers. Barrioboy and Digitaldaze drove from Barcelona to Narbonne today so that they can attend. I am still trying to comprehend how this can be. Her love for her husband, for their adult children, for her friends both virtual and face-to-face, for food and wine, for literature, for world events and for social justice--all that love remains. She died in a whirl of activity filled with the happy expectation of more delights, more good work, more writing and photography, more of all that she loved. That's what I know best, without any doubt: that she loved. So the best way we can remember her is to love more of all that we love.

I loved the Pacific Ocean and the people on the beach at Seaside, Oregon today. Eight more pictures of the little town are here.

Update: Barrioboy just posted a truly remarkable account of the funeral here.