Loveland Pass, Keystone, Colorado, Canon Digital Rebel

Highlights from a wedding in the mountains of Keystone, Colorado:

Taking not one, but two gondolas up a mountain to where the wedding was held. Dressed in our finest, we climbed into the little pods, so high we were above the trees. We were at about 12,000 feet and got winded every time we hit the dance floor!

Seeing the groom, my dear friend Ric, fill his pockets with kleenex before the ceremony {and remembering how easily he is moved to tears}

Seated outside in big wooden chairs, we covered ourselves in blankets to shield ourselves from the rain. Every guest looked like a little monk in a cranberry shroud of fleece, only their tear-stained cheeks emerging.

Mountain biking with the boys the day before, remembering the tomboy in me, as I stood on my bike and pedaled between rocks and mud on a gorgeous trail in the woods.

Coming back late at night from the mountain, back in our little pods dangling above the trees. The sky was thick black and sprinkled with stars, and everything was still and silent as we floated through the sky. The big dipper was directly in front of us and has never in my life looked quite so big and beautiful. It was as if that high up, we were that much closer to it.

The newlyweds, Ric and Rebecca, Canon Digital Rebel

Their wedding truly was loveland. Congratulations Ric and Rebecca!

caterpillar, Canon Digital Rebel

This is maybe the most magical photo I’ve taken in a long time. I didn’t realize how extraordinary this little guy was until I got home and zoomed in on the image. He is simply dazzling!

People always celebrate the butterfly {and then he turned into a butterfly!} but I’ve always been a fan of the caterpillar. In between, in process, on his way to glory, and utterly beautiful.

May we all remember the beauty of the inbetween and to honor & celebrate the process.

P.S. Thank you for all of your wonderful comments, stories {and even poems!} this week. I am so moved by you. Your kindness and compassion filled me up and made me feel very lucky.

Limantour Beach, Canon Digital Rebel

This was once a love poem.

Before the routine set in, before the bed got too small and sweaty, before the mosquitos buzzed overhead. This was once a love poem.

Before the sadness arrived each morning, the tightness in the chest and the furrowed brow. Before the loss of hope.

Before the cheerleaders put down their pom poms for the lost cause. This was once a love poem.

…

I went to a class on Monday and our assignment for the week was to live in the perspective of, “This is it and I’m satisfied.” And if you really step into that, if you really get present to what that means, you see that this is in fact how it all turned out. Like if I ever wondered, “How will it all turn out?” well, now I know. This is it.

This is it and I’m satisfied.

I said this out loud and something about it made my shoulders drop, like maybe I don’t have to try anymore. Like if this is it, then maybe I don’t have to have a baby at all, we can stop worrying, the efforting can stop.

And for a moment this made me happy, this lack of desire, this tiny suicide, this dream dissolving like sugar in a glass. Like, if I can see that everything ?s okay now, there is room for a love poem or two.

red puff ball, Canon Digital Rebel

I’ve been tagged by Mati to write five idiosyncrasies about myself. Here are 5 of the many!

1. I hold my right elbow parallel to the floor when I brush my teeth. I don’t know why or when I started doing this, but it feels strange to do it any other way. Matt always jokes that I have “good form” when I brush.

2. Whenever I see 2:52 on the clock, I get really, really happy. AM, PM, you name it, I get happy. I even like 2:52′s fraternal twin, 11:52. I call it my magic time… and when I catch the number I feel like everything is going exactly as it should, like everything is right with the world.

3. I color coordinate my food to go with my dishes. Did I mention this before? I also do this with beverages and get very excited when the turqoise fiesta ware cup is clean and I can pour that pretty caramel colored coffee into it.

4. I am an obsessive seatbelt user and bicycle helmet wearer but every once in a while I spontaneously make up a rule like, “If I don’t wear my seatbelt now and make the whole trip without dying, I will never die in a car accident.”

5. I usually don’t use an alarm clock, but simply tap my forehead a certain number of times indicating the time on the clock that I wish to wake up. For example, just as I rest my head on the pillow, I tap my forehead with two fingers and say out loud “1,2,3,4,5,6, 7″ and then a tap with one finger “30.” My “clock” is now set for 7:30. I swear it totally works.

Now I tag you!

peachy dewy thing, Canon Digital Rebel

One of the best gifts I gave myself all weekend was getting up early and going to Golden Gate Park in the misty fog. I had heard rumors that the dahlias were in bloom and I was so excited I sprinted to the garden with my camera.

dahlia garden in fog, Canon Digital Rebel

When I arrived, there were already five photographers there shooting. It made me grin as we all quietly moved around them, examining each one so carefully, then click-clicking with our shutters. It was wonderfully peaceful there with these wild, colorful creatures. Every once in a while a jogger or some other new person would arrive, and we would all sigh, “They’re so beautiful, aren’t they?”

I realized I was a part of a sweet hidden community here in San Francisco that I had never distinguished before: The folks who photograph the dahlias every August. The dahlia lovers.

It made me think of all the hidden communities in the city: the people who walk their dogs on Bernal hill every morning, the people who watch the sunset at Chrissy Field each evening, the people who never miss the third Thursday art walk downtown…

We create community in so many places in our lives. And even if we don’t know these folks, it gives us connection and meaning.

Where are your hidden communities?

“If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony.”
– Mitsugi Saotome

P.S. It was my husband Matt’s birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Matt! Thank you for being the very best partner and friend in the whole wide world.