The Blur

Hello, Friends.

I've missed you!

By the time I've

posted these thoughts,

our holiday at my 

parent's will be behind 

us.  The kids will be back

in school.  The house

will be quiet and little

Gracie and I will look at

each other as if to say,

What happened?

But right now.....

right

now

I've got my back

against a sea-worn,

driftwood log and my

toes in warm sand.

The Pacific is blowing

her own salt-tinged 

sweet scent against my

face.  The waves sparkle

and I want to remember

this moment forever.

But there's a funny

thing about moments ~

about hours and days,

weeks and months,

about seasons 

and years.

They start to blur.

And while some 

moments or days or

seasons stay crystal

clear in our memories,

others fade or simply

melt into one another,

until words like summer

or Christmas, school

or vacation seem to 

become one entity,

instead of the individual

moments they were
built upon.

Perhaps that is why

so many of us have

become ardent about

our cameras.  They allow

us to try, try, to capture

these moments ~ these

seasons of our lives ~

so that when we look

back, summer isn't a

speeding blur of compressed

images, but little freeze

frames of memory......

The heady fragrance of

ripe blueberry bushes

The toes in frosty water

The awe of kites aloft

The soul-stirring sunset

The leisurely walk after dinner

In the fast-forward 

world of the 21st Century, it

has become a practice ~ an

art ~ a mindfulness ~ to

recognize these moments

and breathe thanks for

every one.

My fervent wish is that 

each of you has had a 

summer strung with your 
own special pearls 
of memories.

And, as you prepare to

lay that strand down in

your mind next to the 

one from last summer, 

and the ones that came 

before, that it shines in 

its own distinct beauty, 

rather than getting tangled 

up with all the summers 

of your past.

As for me, I plan to

rage ~

rage!

{as poet Dylan Thomas

so passionately penned}

against

the blur.

Which moments made

your own heart sing

this summer?

I'd love it if you'd 

share a pearl or two 

with me : )

xo

Suzanne

Postcards from the Edge....

{The old library, via Instagram.}

At our house,

it's the far edge

of summer and

the closer edge

of autumn.

Only a few weeks

left until a new 

school year 

begins.

{Lake Minnetonka,  my Instagram}

And with that

beginning, there

will also come an

ending, as our

oldest starts her

last year of

high school.

It's been a summer

of record-breaking 

heat here in our

state, but it has  

also been a wonderful

season for collecting

memories.

{Ice cream truck, via  Instagram}

One of my favorite

ways to document

some of life's small

moments is 

through my camera
phone and

Instagram.

Every photo that

I've taken and then

uploaded to Instagram

has been like a little

postcard.  Some of

those postcards are the

Wishing you were here

 type, but mostly, they

 record that

We were here.

{Cycling with my hubby, via Instagram}

Here in the summer 

of 2012.  Here with two

teens and a dog in the

house.  Here visiting

friends or there visiting

family.  Here really 

seeing

the blessings of 

this life. 

Here.

{Hanging with my nieces & nephew, via Instagram}

I'd heard of Instagram

long before I figured

out how to join or use

this very fun photo

application.

But, I had no idea of

what it was or where

to begin.

{My twinkle toes, via Instagram}

So when my friend

Becky posted about

staying in touch with

her blog readers through

Instagram when she

was traveling, I 

really wanted in.

I turned to my 17 year-

old for help, and within

minutes was up and

running.

{Antiquing with visitors, via Instagram}

Voila! I was on

Instagram.

I have been playing

with this app for about

six weeks and it has

been a real joy to share

small moments with a

handful of followers,

as well as admire 

many sweet moments

taken by others.

{Cherries for lunch, via Instagram}

I'll be away from the

computer for the next

few weeks, cramming in

the last beautiful days of

this season with 

my family.

Living on that final 

edge of summer.

{In the country, via Instagram}

If you'd like to take

a peek, I'll be sending my

own postcards from the

edge via Instagram.

If you don't have an

Instagram account, it's

simple {and free} to

join if you have an iphone,

smart phone or ipad that

has the camera feature.

{Hunting vintage treasures, via Instagram}

My username is 

privetandholly.

Or, you can check out

my photos here, on

Ink361.  Simply mouse 

over each picture to

read the captions.

I'll have a link

on my side bar,

as well. 

I'd love to have 

you

join me,

on the edge : )

When summer gathers

up her robes of glory,

And, like a dream,

glides away.

~ Sarah Helen Whitman

xo

Suzanne

The Greatest of These

It's been a summer

of visiting or having
visitors

and always,

always ~

each stay teaches
me something
special.

Last weekend was

no exception.

One of my best

friends drove in

from Chicago, sans

husband and kids,

as she needed a

mini-break and

some time to simply

be a friend visiting

another friend for

a few days, setting

her other roles aside,

just for a while.

One {of the many}

things that I love

about Kathleen is

her faith.

She speaks as easily

about praying for

you as she does about

sending you a text

message.

And she refers to God

 so comfortably that

you might think He

is the neighbor 
next door.

From her lips, it

sounds so natural.

As someone who

did not grow up

speaking about my 

faith, I don't have her

frank, effortless way

of communicating

about it.

But, it's there.

I think a lot of people

interchange the words

hope and faith, but it

seems to me that they 
are two distinct 
things.

I hope it doesn't rain

on my wedding day ~

is not the same thing

as

I have faith that the sun

will rise on my wedding

day.

And

I hope my tulip bulbs

come up next spring ~

is not the same thing

as

I have faith that spring

will follow winter.

Faith, to me, is an inner

certainty, whether

it be that the sun will

rise, that my family will

always be there for me

or whether there is a

loving God.

Even if I don't 
say so,

out loud.

Two years ago, when

Kathleen and I were

on a trip together, she

received a diagnosis 

of breast cancer over 

the telephone.

Amazingly, words did

come, in response to

her shocking news,

from my mouth.

Words about one day
at a time, about medical 
advances, prayers and
 yes, 
about hope.

But mostly, my words

were about love and

how she would have

mine every step of 

the journey.

She taught me a lot

about faith that first

year, as she endured

the stress and the many

indignities that come

with such an illness.

Like the way that its 

enduring conviction 
can sustain and light a 
path for the soul, even in
 the darkest of times.

Her faith was a 
life boat on the 

stormiest of seas.

Now that Kath is once

again sailing through

calmer waters, I am

still learning so much

from my dear friend, as

she embraces this

beautiful life that she
will never take for 
granted.

And while love may,

indeed, be the greatest

of these, I have to think

that faith is a very

close

second.

But now faith, hope,

love, abide these three;

but the greatest of these

is love.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:13

With faith and love,

xo

Suzanne