But for all of its swift passing it was in fact a truly magical and wonderful summer for us. Much of the summer was taken up with preparing for our son Asher’s marriage celebration to Kristen Jamieson, a coming together of two families and a host of friends. The day was a gift, from sun up to sun down and well beyond and it was so good to be with all these people that have meant so much to the two of them. We enjoyed a few days of camping on the Oregon coast with children and grandchildren, a few days meandering along the country roads of Jenny’s childhood on Vancouver Island and many days in the garden and yard preparing for the wedding, including moving a four ton wood fired pizza oven from Surrey to Swallowfield.
But it was a also a summer of unimaginably deep sorrow because of the sudden death of Levi VandenBrink, his days disappearing all too soon. How does one recover from such deep loss? Our life is a mystery and maybe that is what I feel most intensely at this time of year. What I hope for is echoed in John O”Donohue’s words:
May you have eyes to see
That no visitor arrives without a gift
And no guest leaves without a blessing.
I feel like each visitor to Swallowfield came with a gift this summer, mostly the gift of themselves, their presence, their words, their life. I trust they left with a blessing.
N.B.
I am picking up the writing again after a long silence. I was experiencing all kinds of issues with group emails through my gmail account. I am trying this mailing through a new Shaw email address as you will notice. If you no longer wish to receive these blog notices, please let me know.