Reflections

First, I must unequivocally write that I love my wife with all my heart.

I told her that as we sat in the room this past week, a fire in the fireplace, wine in our glasses, watching the Pacific Ocean waves roll over the breakwater, assaulting the jagged cliffs, crashing and cascading over the rocks, spume blown high by the rough winds as the sun began to set.

This was a celebration of our first anniversary together. I told her two very necessary things: I wish I'd met her earlier in life -- (what an adventure we could have had to this point!) and that the best thing I'd ever done in my life was to marry her and commit to her.

The past week seemed simply to fly in a literal rush. I've noticed this to be so true: the older you get, the swifter Life appears to thrust precious moments by your face. We try to savor and open ourselves to each an every experience but, upon reflection, those memories are more fleeting with every year. Such is the nature of aging.

We drove back to my cabin last night with some additional passengers (that story being saved for another post!) and, after the requisite unpacking and laundry, my wife had to drive down the hill for her own home in the valley today. Even before she left, I missed her.

Life is fleeting and it but so precious. She asked me earlier in the relationship: why so many photographs when we go on a trip? I replied then and now: memories. When I no longer may have my internal images, I will have these external images to help me smile. And recall. My cabin is festooned with photographs of trips with my elderly father, my older brothers, and a myriad number of images of my wife. Because that is how I want it to be.

It had snowed some more while we were gone, and we heard the plow truck making its rounds very early this morning. I got up once last night: the thermometer read 25-degrees. Today, Saturday, never became bright; the precipitation alternated between fine mist and slanting rain. Even as I write this post gazing out the second floor window, I can see the rain transitioning to puffs of snow. Even in the most recent few minutes, these puffs have gotten fluffier and thicker. No mistake: the snow is falling, much heavier now.

Some images from my trip to the Fornicalia coast on my first anniversary:

BZ