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They Travel With Me

Today I went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to make photographs. And I found a kind of quiet joy waking up in my soul, the longer I spent in the beauty and nature of that lovely place. And I realized that I had been feeling a kind of low-level grief about life and everything after the loss of my beloved cat and a dear friend. Part of me felt like giving up and giving in to thoughts like, “This might be as good as it gets,” or “It’s all downhill from here.” I even wished that I could leave this Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Three Crows

Yesterday during my short walk in the neighborhood I felt like I was being followed by Three Crows. They flew and cawed overhead, leaving and returning, leaving and returning, cawing and cawing, until finally, at the end of my walk they landed in the tall bare branches of a nearby tree. I photographed them there though you have to look very closely to see the 3 crows in the photo at the top of this post. Strangely I felt as if the crows were accompanying me on my walk, signaling me to look up and notice them. There are many Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

All About Love

The older I get the more I believe that this life we live is All About Love in one way or another. Love is the simplest word to speak and maybe one of the hardest ones to act. In this week when many celebrate Valentine’s Day, I am thinking a lot about love and loss and the why of it all. There is a huge difference between falling in love and simply being in love, or even more simply being love. Grief is a natural part of loving someone or something deeply. Whether that love is for a spouse, child, Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Today I am declaring this year’s season of amaryllis beauty and photo play over, so I say Sic Transit Gloria Mundi or in other words, “Thus passes the worldly glory.” I am sad to see the flowers all faded and dry. But to be truthful, I am also running out of enthusiasm for photographing them after over a month of almost daily practice doing so. Earlier this week we had a rainy day—in early February!—that felt so weird for this time of year. In fact the winter we have been having is feeling wrong to many Minnesotans. Though I personally Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Benediction

I discovered a poem by Mary Oliver this morning that I’d never read before and it felt like a Benediction this damp gray unusual February day. White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field Coming down out of the freezing sky with its depths of light, like an angel, or a buddha with wings, it was beautiful and accurate, striking the snow and whatever was there with a force that left the imprint of the tips of its wings — five feet apart — and the grabbing thrust of its feet, and the indentation of what had been running Read more…

By Marilyn, ago