For anyone who might possibly be reading this blog, you have probably noted that there is a long gap between entries at one point - from June of 2007 until early January of this year. There's a reason for that, and that reason is deeply entwined with the very nature of public blogging sites.
I learned, in a very painful way, that whatever I write in this space needs to be as free from reference to other people as possible, even when those others have a dynamic impact on my own life. I learned this particular lesson the hard way by unintentionally causing pain to people I care about a great deal, so I am trying to be much more circumspect with what I write, keeping things as personal and ego-centric as possible, mentioning others only rather peripherally and with great care.
That's hard for me. Because writing has become my primary means of processing a whole lot of what happens in my life.
With words, I can wrestle and muse and ponder and rage.
With words, I can sing and shout and praise.
With words, I can think more clearly, find answers more readily, be more comfortable with the times that answers don't come.
With words, I can more easily locate the center - of a problem or a puzzle or an indescribable joy. Words.
But I also love pictures, photos, actually.
Taking them, studying them, pondering them as I remember where I've been and where I'm going. Last December, I very tentatively began to open this site again. At that time, I tried to post some newly shot photos, taken at the beach that has become my refuge, my home-away-from-home, my centering place, my reminder that the universe is an immense place, that my worries and fears - overwhelming as they are at times - are so tiny in the grand scale of God's creative genius and love.
But it had been a long time since posting anything and I forgot how to get those photos into the essays - in fact was stunned to see them show up as computer geek language rather than actual pictures, at least on the draft page. But now, some two months later, I've finally figured out that that strange language on one page of the blog magically transforms into pictures on the actual site - who knew??
So, I'll try and post those beachside photos from last fall here, toward the end of winter, as I joyfully and gratefully approach the beginning of longer light each day. Hooray for daylight savings time! (A couple of these have appeared in posts between the first attempt at this one and today's second attempt.)
This is where I most often park my car - to be quiet for a few minutes or to eat my lunch or to read or...
It's at Butterfly Beach, 5 minutes straight down the hill from our home, across the street from the stately and beautiful old Biltmore Hotel. This view is looking south and to the east. (That's right, we have south-facing beaches on our funny peninsula here in Santa Barbara.)
This view is still looking south, but more directly to the west - where, as the two photos below will attest, you can actually see a sunset during the winter months.
Looking in the same general direction as the daytime photo above.
Close-up of a beautifully striped sky.
