Today 1/10/15

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Happy Birthday...belated

So last week was his birthday and it's been seven months since he's been gone and it seems more impossible to believe than all the months before.  He was such a presence, a unique, and a beautiful man.  It's hard to believe that such a force is no longer present within our lives. He was a loving, a passionate, a gentle, and a fearless man.  We met on the set of the play Zorba and he had a soul, a spirit, that outshone even that namesake...and that's just how I felt when I was angry with him.  At first sight you might have thought "what a tiny fellow" but it would have been the last time you thought of him as small.  He was one of those little Italian men that could move mountains effortlessly.  He was loud when he was happy and louder when he was not.  He cried openly, without shame, he fought city hall (and won).  He had an encyclopedic knowledge of history, geography, religion, and politics following the threads of current events to their origins in ancient Rome or Athens or the sands of the Holy Land.  Where I don't follow any events local, national, or international, he devoured his New York Times, listened to the BBC and NPR.  He was an artist and a draftsman. There really wasn't much he couldn't do. He was my courage, my very best friend, and the love of my life.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

Happy Solstice!

I've been playing around with processing, and not just my life, but the photos I take.  I'm always trying to learn new skills and techniques.  This is a detail from a photo I posted, in it's original color form, just a few days ago.  I'm in danger of converting all of my photos to black and white!

Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice!  It's like having New Year's every six months, Earth's solstices.  Capture all the light you can.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

A Celebration of Life

 

My life closed twice before its close-

It yet remains to see

If Immortality unveil

A third event to me

So huge, so hopeless to conceive

As these that twice befell.

Parting is all we know of heaven, 

And all we need of hell.

                                                                                    -Emily Dickinson

and

Because I could not stop for Death-

He kindly stopped for me-

The Carriage held but just Ourselves-

And Immortality.

We slowly drove-He knew no haste

And I had put away 

My labor and my leisure too, 

For His Civility-

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess-in the Ring-

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-

We passed the Setting Sun-

Or rather-He passed Us-

The Dews drew quivering and chill-

For only Gossamer, my Gown-

My Tippet-only Tulle-

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground-

The Roof was scarcely visible-

The Cornice-in the Ground

Since then-'tis Centuries-and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity-

                 

                                                                                   -Emily Dickinson

Last night was the Celebration of Life for v, my beautiful man.  I am overwhelmed with the turnout.  Above are two of the readings I chose to formalize the occasion, as well as a reading of the 23rd Psalm (a new interpretation of that psalm).

The readings were followed by an amazing hour of people stepping up to speak of what v meant to them, of their fondest memories, and their grief in his passing.  If only the dead can hear what we say of them after they have left us.  He would have been as tearful as many of us and so very, very honored.  He was a loved man and has left many a hole in lives that won't be filled.

In honor of v, actor, painter, carpenter, waiter, artist, teacher, cherished friend, beloved father, adored husband. 

A brave and courageous man.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)