Writers' Block

They say the best solution for writers' block is to write; so I write.

Allow me to share a really great experience: I spent the weekend with three generations of family surrounding me. The variety of experiences and emotions is just wonderful.

Elders gathered around a 110-year old piano to recall songs from just that long ago, taught to us by our folks and passed on down through generations; children from 3-weeks-old to 14 renewing and, in some cases, initiating connections too long dormant; brothers and sisters of the present parent generation, on the one hand continuing relationships long developed at home, and on the other hand caring for each others' children as if they were there own, establishing a whole new family tree: all this coming and going over 72 hours, coming in and going back out like the tide, until it all returns to the way it was, like an empty beach at twilight.

This is the fabric of family. Sometimes it's hard to see or to keep track of, but it's there. The lesson of this weekend is that, like anything else that grows, it must be nurtured. When you do, it flourishes; if you don't, it withers.

So simple.

End of ruminations for today, Sunday, 8/20/06 Stay the course; fight the good fight.