portland views

a few images from our time last week in portland, which was unreal - gorgeous weather, wonderful company and much promise for the future. the rest of the photos are here .

commemoration/memory

a year ago today, drew and i were just beginning our exploration of greece, and of married life. we'd left baltimore on the 11th, flown to athens via london, and missed the last ferry of the evening to the island of hydra, where we were spending the first week of our honeymoon. so instead we were happily, wearily enjoying our first greek meal, in a tavern in the port town of piraeus. like any grand adventure, that trips seems like it happened both terribly long ago and just yesterday.

five years ago today, i woke up with an urgent need to pretend that the day before had never happened - and, of course, it was almost unbelievable, to think that the world trade center was just...gone. on top of the irredeemable sadness that came with thinking about the as-yet untold thousands who were dead and the sudden vulnerability we all felt, i had a boyfriend who had declared it "no big deal." he didn't know anyone in new york, somerset county or the pentagon, and those who had died in the wtc were all rich investment bankers anyway. i doubt he's since changed his mind, even though we now know what a toll that day took on first responders.

it took me more than a year after that to figure out just how much of a misanthropic jerk he was, and almost as soon as i did, i met drew, who is one of the warmest, most genuine men i know, and not at all a misanthrope. thank goodness for him. and for us. and september 11, 2005 as one of the happiest of our days together.

and is it too much to hope that some of those who were much more deeply afflicted by september 11, 2001 then i have managed to make something else, something happier, of 9/11, as well?

more time spent in the nest

yesterday the sterling silver wire i'd ordered arrived, so made a silver ring for my mother, along with a nest necklace framed by yellow jade, white and multicolored pearls, amazonite and garnet, which is her birthstone. i'm working on earrings. these nests are a lot less messy than the first i did, and therefore less accurately bird-like.

i'm not sure about the ring, but i like the necklace, and hope she does, too. (and hope she doesn't look at this before i give them to her).