Take A Picture

We go for rides. 

We ride, talk, listen to music, listen to books and just explore. We regularly watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean or drive to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Solvang, about an hour and half up the coast. It’s relaxing as we talk of what was and what is and what will be. 

Yesterday we went south east towards Los Angeles, with no destination in mind. We got off the freeway in a city called Westlake and started heading back towards home. Suddenly we both spot water.....what a surprise. So we checked it out. Turns out a big wig from Lockheed bought a large piece of property in the 40’s and ranched it until it was bought by a developer. That developer dug a small lake and built 750 homes around it and the surrounding area and called it Lake Lindero. There are boats but, in reality, it was not really big enough to get single man racing shell to full speed. It's a tiny body of water.

Turning a corner we were on a street with run down condos. Out front, in the shared grassy area, we spotted a small group of people. Getting closer, it was evident that a small family was celebrating a child's birthday COVID style.

The family looked to be on the lower end of income levels. The oldest child, dressed as a princess in different shades of sparkling blue, was maybe 4 or 5. There was a toddler boy and an infant being held in mom's arms. They were all dancing around to music we could not hear because our windows were rolled up. Dad, looking more than a little uncomfortable and toddler son were each wearing what appeared to be a blow up airplane around their middles, making them look like pilots from a cartoon. It was the sweetest of scenes and I hoped that mom and dad committed it to their memories, that moment of free spirited joy, to cherish as the children grow up and eventually leave.

The Boy Scout prodded me to go back and take a picture but I felt it would be an intrusion. I will remember though.

The most beautiful moments always seemed to accelerate and slip beyond one’s grasp just when you want to hold onto them for as long as possible.
E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly, 


Comments

  1. Margaret (Peggy or Peg too)February 23, 2021 at 6:35 AM

    What a great moment to have captured!

    ReplyDelete
  2. anne marie in phillyFebruary 23, 2021 at 6:37 AM

    a cute moment in the time of the COVID.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marie SmithFebruary 23, 2021 at 8:05 AM

    Oh so true. When you’re in those moments, you don’t always realize their importance. Living in the moment is the key to a lifetime of memories. While you may forget the details, the memory of family and the love shared stay in your heart.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JeanieFebruary 23, 2021 at 12:29 PM

    That is a beautiful moment. Boy Scout was probably right -- but oh, it would be fun to see. Alas, it remains a photograph of the heart.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BillFebruary 24, 2021 at 1:31 PM

    What a wonderful life moment. If you took a picture, you wouldn't have captured the moment you experienced. The family would have acted different too. As much as that would have been a great photo, I would pass too. You'll remember that moment for a very long time because it was special. Enjoy your day, Linda.

    ReplyDelete
  6. gayleFebruary 26, 2021 at 10:07 AM

    I hope this is not a rude question but I thought you were alone now. Your writing is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Linda devFebruary 26, 2021 at 12:57 PM

    My marriage ended 7 years ago. I’ve have the Boy Scout for about 6 years. We were very rocky for awhile but finally god some healing and help. Life is pretty good.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

What do you have to say about that?

Popular posts from this blog

A Journey To Home

Image
My tender hearted girl decided she wanted to foster an old lady. Selkie is 14, is nearly deaf and nearly blind, has a hard time walking and uses her bark to get her needs met.  She got her home, took her for a bath and then basically loved this old girl for three weeks until the property manager decided that it wasn’t a good match (barking too much AND because she is a pit bull).  My girl knew it was probably temporary but she gave that dog a comfortable loving home, away from the chaos of the shelter, for a short time.  Ideally, she would have walked her home but that’s not how it worked this time.  Last night she stood and ugly cried on a strangers shoulder after giving her back.  I love that girl and her sweet heart.  I wish Selkie a new final home full of love. 
Read more

Private Eye

Image
We pass by the house frequently since it sits on a busy thoroughfare. We know to look every time we pass and guess what will we see. Will it be the two Dalmatians, sitting on the couch that backs up to the giant panel window, waiting for their human to come home? Or will it be their human, sitting slightly to the right of middle (allowing for a better view of the giant mounted tv across the room) of the said couch. They are never there at the same time. It’s one or the other. One sleepless night, when my body was willing but my brain was not, I did a little sleuthing. It’s amazing what you can find out about a complete stranger.   His name is Gary and, from what I can tell, he’s never been married. He has worked his way up in a air duct company. He’s now the senior VP but it’s a small company and he still goes out on jobs, judging from  the reviews on Yelp. I know he has two siblings and that their father passed away in 2018. His memorial was held in a Buddhist temple and Gary...
Read more

Go!

Image
 Vai. E, se der medo, vai con medo mesmo. When one is raised in an angry family, it’s not enough to say I don’t want to be angry. You must learn how to do it differently. That’s no easy task. If judgment and self hatred became a way of life, a new way to live has to be taught. There are many ways to do it. Reading, writing, sharing, practicing all help the change. Counseling, psychoanalysis, religion, meditation, gratitude, have the ability to transform but I needed to see it in action, it needed to be more tangible, visual, accessible. I needed to understand the possibilities. There is a YouTube channel that I watch over and over again in order to absorb how to live more fully, more open and from the heart. One of the first episodes that I stumbled on is this…. The channel is Reflections of Life and through it we get to meet people who are doing life a little differently, often more soul based. People who are living life, healing wounds and finding what is truly important.  I...
Read more