Chinks of light in strange places...

I photographed this abandoned barn near Trumansburg, New York just over a year ago... I was struck by the interplay of light and shade and the shapes and forms that made an abstract composition.

Today, some more crucial parts of our jigsaw puzzle have fallen into place and, just like the light shining in unexpected places, today, we can rest a little easier.
At times the last year has been such a roller coaster of highs and lows its difficult to believe so much has happened and, is about to happen. We will be meeting with friends over the next few days and saying goodbye...and, tomorrow, the last of our orchids will find a new home.
Outside in the garden as I write, the birds are as crazy as ever. We have a new visitor; a lone magpie who seems a threat to nesting birds and so we see him off at regular intervals.... and, we saw our frog the other day.


Nicholas

We were in the ruins of Melrose Abbey, in the borders of Scotland and this was our view as we were exiting the ancient place of worship. As you can see, it was incredibly dark inside and then...through the gentle archway...life was there, beautifully unfolding before us, the greening...our only responsibility was to step over the threshold.


And, as we did then, so we shall now...


Tonight is my last book club, I have been filled with joy to meet with 5 incredible women from the Mews nearly every 6 weeks for the past 3 years. They have had children, fought physical and emotional battles, had great successes and challenges, and one has now moved away from our little community of Mewsters...but together we have joined in a circle and discussed stories-ours, and those we have experienced in the books we have chosen. Together we have borne witness to one another's lives and helped one another perhaps much more than any of us may fully realise. I shall miss them incredibly.


The book I chose for this week was The Glass Painter's Daughter by Rachel Hore. It is a wonderful book about the craft of painting glass and, like the title, it speaks of broken bits of individual lives and relationships, that somehow, miraculously find their way to wholeness and become greater than the sum of their parts. I hope my life is like that; that each person who has touched me can somehow find themselves reflected in the life I lead, in the light I hope I share each and every day, and I hope that they know I could never be exactly who I am had it not been for the moments we have shared.


Judy