Friday, October 25, 2013

TGIF

It's Friday and I've already done a typical 'weekend' thing.  Stayed with a friend in St. Helena (Napa Valley).  We took a walk yesterday around the nearby vineyards, and today a walk through the Catholic Cemetery near his home.  Here's the view out the back about 7:30 a.m.


The entire valley is a beautiful place; St. Helena exceptionally so.  And the front and back yard of this house is like a healing sanctuary with water sounds and plenty of birds.

This morning we walked the cemetery wherein lie some of the revered of St. Helena - the famous old wine families that have been there for generations.  Lavish head stones and crypts.  Being there got me thinking, and us talking about how we think our lives are so very important and in the end we end up dead - no more.  My friend recently lost his mother to cancer.  It wasn't a sad conversation, just an acknowledgment that we all end up "six feet under" and that this life is likely all we get.  I started thinking about all the years of blogging I've done, and, oh my gawd, what if all that blogging got erased by the Internet?  Maybe I should print the whole thing out?  And then...I thought...what does it matter?  But then I remember the memoirs of one of my ancestors and her family life homesteading with her husband and children in 1910.  Rich memories of every day occurrences.  Barn dances and barn burnings; neighbor helping neighbor; the sod house which was their first dwelling.  It meant a lot to me to read that.  They are no more, but their lives live on through their stories.

So, a lovely, albeit short, visit with a good friend.  Thoughtful conversations, watching the night sky from the hot tub, sleeping like a baby.  As they say, "Priceless."

Hope you have a lovely weekend and appreciate this life we have.  We have it good, my friends.




3 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful view there. Looks like a very lovely, contemplative place. I've also thought about printing or somehow saving all the blog posts. It would be such a bummer to lose all that writing. I'll look into it. I think there may be a way to save it all.

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  2. We now have a huge pdf of our entire blog. It's beautiful. Go to blogbooker.com and it will walk you through how to do it. It's really so f*cking cool. Thank you for the impetus to get started.

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