manifesto monday: "i am an emotional creature"

this weekend included highs and lows, and everything in between.

there was frustration, anxiety, sadness, stress...

and there was inspiration, love, awe, and mystery.

i attended a memorial service for a friend's mother who lived and passed in uganda.

what an amazing woman she must have been...i wish i could have met her.

her wonderful daughter called her the "village keeper"...always caring for others.

we were all reminded that you don't have to be rich before you can be infinitely generous.

grandsons spoke of being born of the same tree--

an image i will never tire of.

hard work and generosity are this family's mantra.

i want those very things for my little family.

i cried and celebrated with this family.

an honor and a privilege.

we saw many friends, and met new ones.i am always a bit timid and awkward at meeting people,

but i make my best efforts to get to know kind and good people.

i am grateful for the hospitality of so many.

we heard a young boy tell a crowd about his experience with anger...

he told us, with a sincere heart and tears in his eyes, lip quivering, that anger

is a cancer that can eat you away--he made an effort to forgive his friend who took his toy.

we spent time at the sea.

i did indeed feel awe there...

watching the waves begin to build underneath the water, rolling into little liquid hills

before giving in and crashing down, washing the sands of land.

i watched the birds sitting on the water taking deep breaths before diving deep for bits and pieces of meals.

i watched the birds fly together in flocks and alone with the wind.

i was sad to not take more photos.

i wanted to capture ceej and i enjoying our time there.

i wanted to show you the glowing purple thistle against the deep gray sky.

i wanted to remember the tiny summer flowers that have captured the roadside farms.

i wanted to document the historic farms, some abandoned, some occupied but still very used indeed...

with worn-out paint on every wooden barn and homestead,

and grass growing tall and freely, dancing this way and that with every breeze of the wind.

this weekend surprised me in places i didn't expect.

i was filled with both joy and heartbreak.

i am an emotional creature indeed.

this i believe.