Experiences...

It's a simple ferry trip across the water from Bolivar Peninsula to Galveston Island. I have been known to drive the 50 miles to the coast just to drive or walk onto the ferry and stand as these people are, feeling and smelling the salty breeze and watching the horizon for ships coming into the port. Hoping to see dolphins running alongside and waiting for the random spray that happens when the ferry crosses the wake of another boat on the water.

It occurred to me today, as I was loading the dishwasher and de-cluttering the countertops in order to spray them liberally with disinfectant spray/degreaser/de-everything-else (and going through in my mind all of the other chores that need doing) that one attribute of our family that seems to be a constant over the generations is that we value all sorts of experiences. We value a good adventure, and love to make record of it. I think what brought this to mind was the knowledge of the 25- 30 photo boxes of prints lurking on the upper shelf of our hall closet, put there years ago to protect them from the possibility of flood waters during/after a hurricane, and then left there as it seemed a practical place in the end. This is what happens when you love to take pictures, your parents love to take pictures and you marry someone who also loves to take pictures. The wonderful thing about the digital camera is that you don't necessarily have to print every single thing. Thus, the volume of prints has managed to decline remarkably since we all bought into digital wizardry.

The point though is that I need to go through those boxes, narrow the field, and scan those favorites into digital images in order to consolidate for an eventual move out of a 3 bedroom house into an apartment. So, how does one decide what to keep. Well, of course, there will always be captured expressions about which you'll say, "Well, that is a keeper." And there will be some that illustrated the releationships we had with those now departed from this life. And then there will be the ones that capture the essence of experiences we shared - times of being together outside of the everyday, learning together, laughing together, feasting together...our adventures that contributed to making us who we are.

It will be a difficult thing, perhaps, because I hold all of it dear, but now that many years have passed, I find some of those experiences have crystalized into a purer form. Perhaps it will be easier than I think.

Tangled...

Recently, one of my picture-taking themes has been branches. I can only give credit to my plant-loving mother for this, as it came up while I was taking her for a wheelchair ride through the gardens of Clarewood House. She does love to get outside, and to watch things grow. It is truly painful to her to see a plant neglected to where it dies. She was commenting on a stately oak tree on the grounds, one of many, whose huge branches spread so gracefully that they become subjects for artists in residence who still practice their skills.

The next chance I had, I ventured out onto the path leading from our new visitors' center down to the historic property, taking pictures of every interesting view of branches I could find. Of course, we all are taught of the basic symmetry of nature, and the way trees' branches erupt is a perfect example - and each species and each tree has its own symmetry. But what of this tangle above? Each of the parts has its own life entering the fray. Each is healthy on its own. Each comes out healthy on the other side. Kind of like a family.

I would not go so far as to say our family is "tangled", as for some reason, that might have a negative connotation to it. But there are many variables in each of our adult lives right now, all to be worked through in the next 5 years or so. It's not a bad thing to have a tangle as long as you can be gentle finding your way out of it. It takes lots of patience, and no rash moves.

Setting the record straight.

First thing this morning, a certain eldest child of mine e-mailed me, winking smiley-face in tow, to gently chastise me for saying that my blogging was the fault of my children. Ah...must have been a poor choice of words right off the bat!
Let's say that they helped lead me to it. So much talk about My Space, and then Facebook, and then lots of parents getting on Facebook, and now everyone Twittering about. What a revolution in personal communication! So it's all about trying something different. Since I tend to get reflective when I'm writing, might as well blog. Not the fault of the kids, just about learning the technology in order to keep up communication. Also makes it easier to keep up with lots of other fun people!
For many, many years, my mother's family had a "round robin" letter which followed a route from family member to family member from East Coast to West Coast. When it came, there was great rejoicing to look at new pictures and once again try to decipher Uncle Hal's handwriting. All of the women's handwriting was beautiful because practically all were teachers. The letter was fat and always required multiple stamps, and took two months or so to make the loop back around. She kept every one of the letters she ever wrote, so we have a wealth of family history and crazy stories and philosophy. How are we going to record that for the next generations...