Facts:

This summer has had some hard stuff mixed into it. Some of it has been beautiful. Some of it has been incredibly painful. An overlying theme has been a lack of “enough-ness” from me personally. Messages that I’m not enough in this area, or in that. Some of these messages have been internal from me-to-me, and some of the messages have come from the outside in. Some of those messages have shown up at the very worst time.

Further Facts:

It’s ok to have a rough summer. Things will get better. I am enough. I am doing enough. I am listening to my body. I am healing in the every-day. I am choosing to have compassion on that woman in the photo above, because she is doing the best she can right now. She’s not perfect, but she’s brave.

❤️

Lately I’ve been grateful for friends with adorable babies, for summer breezes, and for food-truck dinners.

I’ve been especially grateful for my bearded man who sticks with me through the fun stuff, the hard stuff, the easy days and the hard nights. Through thick & thin, hot and cold, winter or summer — I’ll always love you, babe.

How ’bout you guys? How is your summer going so far?

“Once upon a time, there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.”

—Nicole Krauss, The History of Love 

“Love is, in fact, an intensification of life, a completeness, a fullness, a wholeness of life.”

— Thomas Merton

Congratulations to Carol Anne & Kendall…  May your journey be filled with many magical days.

Wedding Photos by the incomparable Kristin Faye.

I don’t have many photos from our family Messianic Passover Seder, but what a wonderful night it was! 22 seats were filled with family and dear friends.

Scott did a lovely job leading the Seder. Arabella asked the Four Questions beautifully, and received a hefty cash prize (collected on the spot from the Seder participants) for returning the afikomen. Mom made braised beef and Autumn brought matzoh ball soup, while Dana decorated the tables and I lit the candles and arranged the Seder plate. As my Dad likes to say, “A good time was had by all.”

Resources:

• We used this Messianic Haggadah.
• And this Horseradish made our (very spice tolerant) eyes water.
• If you’re thinking of making some matzoh ball soup, this vlog has some great tips.

Happy Passover, friends! Dayenu, indeed.

Lately I’ve been grateful for new trails, sturdy hiking boots, and Saturday afternoon family time.

I’m also grateful for 35mm film in an old green Holga, and the fun of teaching analog skills to kids in this digital age. Neither G-man nor Bella had ever used a 35mm camera. The trickiest part was learning to “wind” the film to prep for the next shot. They both had a hard time remembering this step, so I’m looking forward to some “artful” double-exposed images!

Happy March, friends. Have you been hiking lately?