Reason To Believe

If I listened long enough to you

 I'd find a way to believe that it's all true

 Knowing that you lied straight faced while I cried

 Still I look to find a reason to believe

 Someone like you makes it hard to live

 Without somebody else

Someone like you makes it easy to give

Never think of myself

If I gave you time to change my mind

I'd find a way to leave the past behind

Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cried

Still I look to find a reason to believe...
--lyrics from the song, Reason to Believe by Tim Hardin

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I took these photos last week while on the road to Texas--a state I'd never visited before. It was a very long road trip through parts of old Route 66 and smaller state highways where bits of the old and forgotten were everywhere. On the trip back, this quiet radio program called Hand Crank Radio in Arkansas played a song written and sung by Tim Hardin and somehow, the passing scenery paired with his sweet sadness stayed with me long after it ended. So I'm including it to go along with this little series.

Not Knowing

Which Way From Here  2018

What the soul is,

I believe I will never quite know.

Though I play at the edges of knowing

truly I know

our part is not knowing,

but looking, and touching, and loving.

--Mary Oliver

Glittering Rooms of the Heart

 You still love the ones you love,

back when you loved them--

 Books, records, and people

 Nothing much changes in the glittering rooms of the heart

 Only the dark spaces half re-claimed

 And then not much,

An image, a line,

sometimes a song...

--Charles Wright, from "15" in Lightfoot: A Poem

These are some photos from a trip back to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, where I saw some of the damage from Hurricane Maria. I learned of the passing of an old acquaintance, and found a few places shuttered, or gone altogether. But still, the church bells rang in the morning, along with the crowing of the proud island roosters. I rose early just to watch the sky change from night to day, made a few silent wishes and gave thanks: for the world as it continues to turn, for the love of my family, and for the kindness and friendship of so many people, including and especially you, my dearest blog friends, who continue to be my supportive companions in all my creative quests. May the renewals of the day last us all through the year!