Local Colors

I took a little bike ride around the neighborhood in the morning, and I came across some local foliage that is still spectacular. It's early November. The bulk of the pretty leaves are down now, and it's tough to see and admit it: Autumn, the last, best, colorful fancy dress ball for the trees, is nearly done. But you can still find some standouts here and there. I like to celebrate them as I discover them!

The afternoon and evening would bring hours and hours of soaking, much-needed rain that would help put out the wildfires, thank goodness. I sat in the bedroom in a favorite chair and listened to the rain; in the evening, I opened the window so that we could hear and smell the rain even better. I have always been a girl who loves the rain.

I spent a few hours working on my next photo book, book 39. All photos will be from 2022, the last full year that we had our parents with us. I've got about 89 photos picked out; many of those were my "best shots of the day" which you saw right here on Blip. Typically, I include 80 to 85 pictures in a 20-page Shutterfly square photo book. Making such books used to be a lot of fun for me, and some parts of it still are. 

I used to include in my books photos from Barb's and my big adventures, and a few pics of Mom & Dad. The back cover always featured a silly or adorable photo of Dexter, who has been gone for four years now. Transitions are hard. Loss is hard. Remembering is a mixed bag. Walking through that year's photos brought both pleasure AND pain.

But mostly, I look back on that last year, and I cherish the smiles and the happy times of my parents. I celebrate their love which they wrapped around each other and all of us kids. I am glad we didn't know it all was soon to end, though there were times we suspected it. Such knowledge is bittersweet: to love that well which thou must leave 'ere long.

But looking back, now I know. I touch their faces in the photos. I think of them and smile. I remember. I was part of something special. I was cherished. I am grateful for all the time we had together. I wouldn't have missed a second of it. Not one second.

Our soundtrack song is Garth Brooks, with The Dance.

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end
The way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance