Diana, the huntress

I have begun to read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology again.  It’s been a long time.  I had forgotten the grace and power of Professor Hamilton’s sweeping treatment of the great stories.  We should reread these stories regularly.

As I approach the last quarter of my life, it seems that I still have much to learn.  Or maybe much of which to be reminded.  It is my hope that Edith Hamilton and the Greeks can help me.

One year ago today, I last saw my mom alive.  She was in hospice care, in the final stages of liver disease brought on by prescription medication.  It was a sad, sad time.  She was suffering.  My dad was suffering.  I guess we were all suffering.

In the afternoon of March 15, 2011, I leaned in close to my mom and said, close to her ear, “I love you , Mama.  I am praying for you.”  She whispered hoarsely, “I am praying for you, too.”  That’s the last thing she said to me.

In the year since, I have missed her enormously.  And I have often thought of her last words to me.

In the nearly ten years we lived in Virginia, my mom came to love pink dogwood.  As fate would have it, there are two pink dogwood just behind the building in which I work.  So, Mama, this is for you —

I miss you.

Can it be?

National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London

 Must be one of the best places in the world.

Almost nothing better than this:

I can hardly wait to go back there.

One never knows what one might see at a local eatery —

Fortunately, this didn’t appear until after lunch.

Of course, the best place in the world changes, probably rapidly, for every person.  I have been so very lucky in my life to have had the opportunity to visit a number of places that I have come to love.  While “the best” does change, this place remains toward the top of the list at all times:

This photo, as all familiar with Paris will know, was shot from atop Montmartre.  Facing roughly the opposite direction, one can see:

It’s that way all over the city.  Find a remarkable site (or sight), then turn around for another.

I hope to return there soon.  It’s been far too long.

Where I came into this world – – – –

Saint Louis Cathedral, New Orleans

(I was born in New Orleans, but not in the Cathedral.)