Photography is a way of feeling,

of touching,

of loving.

What you have caught on film is captured forever

it remembers little things,

long after you have forgotten everything

aaron siskind

This weekend I have the incredible opportunity

to attend a photography workshop.

It is being held by Donna Boucher.

I found her blog, Quiet Life.

She captures the soul of her subjects. 

The magic.

Her ability to find

the light

amazes me.

I want to be able to do that.

It is a talent.

I am blessed

to learn

from her.

http://www.donnaboucher.com/

Please visit her site

So—people a thousand years from now—this is the way we were in the provinces north of New York at the beginning of the twentieth century.—This is the way we were: in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying.

Thornton Wilder

Our Town

1938

I grew up in a small town north of Boston. 

I went away to college I told people

there were no stop lights and no painted lines on the road

in my town. 

It was a beautiful place.

I now live in Rhode Island.

The town has a familiar feel.

No stop lights.

No painted lines.

Men and women who have so much wisdom to share,

if you just take the time.

There is peace and simplicity 

of life here.

I am blessed.

By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea! You and me, you and me, oh how happy we'll be! When each wave comes a-rolling in We will duck or swim, And we'll float and fool around the water. Over and under, and then up for air, Pa is rich, Ma is rich, so now what do we care? I love to be beside your side, beside the sea, Beside the seaside, by the beautiful sea! 

BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA From the musical "For Me and My Gal" (Harold Atteridge / Harry Carroll) (1914) 

The truth is, I have always been fortunate to live by the sea.

Growing up, I thought everyone came home from a day at the beach,

only to pack the car for the next day.

As teenagers we would ride our new 10 speed bicycles to Crane's Beach,

with it's glorious sand dunes,

and as new drivers, we would venture even further....

Rockport, Good Harbor, wherever we could get permission to drive.

At that time in our lives, it was about getting a tan.

Baby oil, and iodine gave way to Bain do Soleil

(orange gel, of course)

College and sumer jobs and ultimately a "real" job changed some of that.

But then came children.

I was blessed enough to be able to take time off,

and then work only two days a week once I had Alexandra and Graham.

I had beach babies

.

I am sure they consumed more sand than anything in the summer...

They survived, and thrived.

Our beach friends would scoop them up and spoil them. Loving them to bits.

My children are adults, now.

They have their own lives, not alway here.

I still spend time at the sea. I go to the same beach. There are new generations of children.

We are now the older ones, who are loving the little ones to bits.

How lucky I am....

all photos by cheryl sparks

all photos by cheryl sparks

In truth a family is what you make it.

It is made strong, not by number of heads

counted at the dinner table,

but by the rituals you help family members create,

by the memories you share,

by the commitment of time,caring,

and love you show to one another,

and by the hopes for the future

you have as individuals and as a unit.

Marge Kennedy

Rituals sometimes need to change.

We are in the process of helping each other do this.

It isn't always easy.

Change never is.

But the thing is,

we will get through this.

Together.

As long as it takes.

Creating our new rituals.

Knowing we have amazing memories.

We will look to our future

knowing we have each other.

The Chapel of St George

Top of Lycabettus Hill

overlooking the city of Athens

photo by cheryl sparks

I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful;

but I have never read in either of them:

Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

Saint Augustine

photo by cheryl sparks

One day Alice came to a fork in the road

and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.

Which road do I take? she asked.

Where do you want to go? was his response.

I don't know, Alice answered.

Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.

Lewis Carroll

just out for a drive around the neighborhood

and this is what I saw

Lewis Carroll was right

if you don't know where you want to go

it doesn't matter which road you take

To a wonderful man~

I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me,

I'd like to be the help that you've been always glad to be;

I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day,

as you have meant dear friend of mine,

to me along the way.

unknown

all photos by cheryl sparks

This weekend we celebrated Kenny's birthday.

These are just a few of the pictures.

Some I didn't put up because people might not have been happy with them.

I get that.

It was a wonderful celebration with everyone.

Happy Birthday Kenny

LOLA

photo by cheryl sparks

Whatever Lola wants

Lola gets,

Take off your coat

Don't you know you can't win?

You're no exception to the rule,

I'm irresistible, you fool,

give in!...Give in!...Give in!

Damn Yankees

“It's spring fever....

You don't quite know what it is you DO want,

but it just fairly makes your heart ache,

you want it so!”

Mark Twain

all photos by cheryl sparks

She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
"Winter is dead."

A.A. Milne

I always knew I wanted to be a mother

I never questioned that

I will always be a mother, a mom…

It is the thing I am most proud of

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis said,

""If you bungle raising your children,

I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much."

I tried not to bungle it

I have been thinking a lot about the difference

between being a mother and mothering

There is a big difference

My children are now adults

They no longer need mothering

This is a natural transition in most families

Not in ours

I am still mothering

I am mothering their dad

my husband

I know it flows over

and I continue to mother my adult children

That part of my brain has never been able to shut down

I will work on this

i am a fan of matchbook magazine

and I might just be a matchbook girl

I can recite this by heart.. and I still love it as much as I did when I was a child The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,	5
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—	10
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down! Robert Louis Stevenson

photo found on google.com