What's on my mind

What a difference a week makes. Seriously, every day helps get us closer to realizing who we truly are, together and apart. Or as Jim Harrison once said, "I once wrote in a poem about reaching the point in life when I would have the courage to admit my life."

Taking leaps of faith.

Accepting the impossibility of resolution.

Beers on the deck at Kitty's with a dog at my feet (or wandering over to say hello to all the other patrons) and Elly and Paul chatting about Berkeley's architecture programs. "We joke that Serbs and the Swiss should never date," said Paul. He seemed very happy, as did Elly. I wallowed in the guilt of being the only person there who didn't bike, though I was taking Oz to the Bowl afterwards (cheap excuse).

Waking up in a sleeping bag next to someone I love under the big walls of the Canyon.

Summer dresses for Jazzfest.

My overwhelmingly white limbs. Thanks for pointing that out, Rick.

Using the farmer's market strawberries in a rhubarb tart.

Pleasant conversation with dog owner at sunset.

Everything so full of promise and potential.

Taking the mis- out of understanding.

Forgiveness and sea change.

The trajectory of a red wing blackbird in a blue sky. Black wings against blue. The settling of bird on fennel bush, the sweet sounds of that bird, my memories of that sound coming from the cattails at the pond on the farm when I was five years old.

Mistakes seen not as mistakes but as a wayward and useful education.

The sound of your voice at three in the morning as I stand on the deck, looking out over the lights of the city, promises that I will come back to bed, soon.

Welcome warmth in your limbs upon bed return.

Outfitted in fits and starts.

The welcome arrival of a late birthday card from my grandmother, sent to a long ago San Francisco address. "We celebrate your birthday every year, just as we celebrated your birth those years ago," written on a post-it note inside a Hallmark card.

A friend's welcome voice on a noontime phone call, three thousand miles distant, yet so close and so full of love.