Category: General

I had a doctor’s appointment at the same time as the eclipse, so I was shocked on the drive to Saratoga to see almost no cars on the busy road there. Our busy world emptied out to look at the sun.

I was listening to the radio and hearing the excitement. When I pulled up in the parking lot, a young couple—Skidmore kids, I think—approached me as I got out of the car.

“Did you see the Eclipse?,” they asked, concerned. “No,” I said, “I was driving.”

“Here,” the young man said, “borrow ours.” He showed me how to put his protective glasses on over mine, and I saw the very end of the eclipse, which took my breath away. So did his kindness.

The was black, with a crescent yellow around the sun’s right side. I only looked at it for seconds, but I was as touched by these kid’s generosity as I was by the eclipse itself.

When I got home, I had a photo of Robin, my granddaughter, watching from the subway as she came home from school. The eclipse was beautiful in itself, but it reminded me once again how different people are when they actually do something together and face to face. I stopped on the way home for some ice cream, and Maria and I sat outside until the wind got cold. She looked for shadows but didn’t find any.

Emma said Robin really got into it. No surprise.

Maria needs a museum fix; she is hungry for a dose of art. I love going to museums with her. The Williams College Museum in Massachusetts has a beautiful, quiet space for meditation. I’ll be there after a walk around the museum.

We’ll be back this afternoon, except for a good morning hello. I’m taking Sunday off, so I’ll be only book reading and photo taking. More later. We had a great brunch this morning at the local diner with Cindy and Larry Casavant (she is the goat lady, and he is the goat man).

Still life, firewood for the wood stove.

“We are all children of the earth.  We rely on the earth, and the earth relies on us. Whether the earth is beautiful, fresh, free, or arid and parched depends on our way of walking. Please touch the earth with mindfulness, joy, and concentration. The earth will heal you, and you will heal the earth.”   – Thich Nhat Hanh.

Zip ate some fresh salmon skin for breakfast this morning.  He had first dibs on Maria’s gourmet snack trek every morning, luck creatures. The donkeys and sheep got older vegetables, carrots, and egg shells. Zinnia scooped up anything that hit the ground. She does her share of vomiting at night.

I want to take a Fate At Rest photo almost every day; there is something iconic about the way she rests. More are coming. If I ever do a photo show again, it would be photos of Fate at rest. (And I won’t be doing any photo shows, BTW.) But I won’t stop taking pictures of her at rest.