A few days ago, my sister suggested we swap a daily photo via email, so I’ve been looking around to see what I can capture with my camera.
I used to take lots of photos of my kids. They’d be there somewhere in the picture. A beautiful scene and a person: that was my favourite kind of photography. But these days, when I’m ready to take photos, no one else is. Life is no longer as free as it used to be. At least, it isn’t for my girls and husband who all have jobs.
So, I’ve been taking photos of things and places instead of people. And I’ve discovered something good about doing that: I’m recording the backdrop of our everyday lives as I snap our church, our dog-walking bush, the lake close to town, our village where we have our hair cut and post our mail, and the outside of our house from every possible angle.
I’m planning to take my camera into town and capture the shops along the main road. Perhaps I’ll snap our small sandstone library, which I haven’t visited since the beginning of the pandemic. And then when I’ve finished with the town closest to home, I’ll move on to the next one where our second church and bookshop and our favourite gift shop are. Unfortunately, I’m too late to photograph some of the buildings along the road that runs through the centre of this town as I remember them. Last week, a fire spread through a restaurant, a bank and a few other shops.
Sometimes unexpected things happen. We miss our chance. Life has moved on.
Yesterday, as I strolled through the bush close to home with my camera, I thought about the days when my girls and I would get up as the sun rose and run together along the tracks. We’d encourage each other as we challenged our bodies and then walk home arm-in-arm feeling satisfied and ready for breakfast. We’d say, “Aren’t we fortunate to be out here in the bush with the kookaburras and kangaroos and each other? Most people are heading off to work or school, but we’re here doing what we want. We can choose how we spend our days.”
The bush is still here. It burnt during the summer fires of 2019/2020, but it’s recovering. And sometimes, I still run down the main fire trail but not with my girls. Those days came to an end. I don’t remember when.
One day life changed. But that’s okay.
When I’m tempted to look back and wish things were still the same, I think about what we have today. Today is good. How could it not be? It’s built on the foundation of yesterday, which was very good indeed.
Sue! I am so happy I found you again. I have thought of you so often throughout the past 18 months and when the fires were raging in Australia. I hoped you and your family were safe. It is good to see you are still here at your blog. I cannot believe Gemma-Rose is 17. I watched your children grow up for about the past ten years, They are all beautiful and you had so many adventures together. I hope they are all doing well. We are fine. No one got sick and my beautiful granddaughters are now 7, 5 (next month) and 3. They are the joy of our lives, and we are blessed to spend a lot of time with them. My husband is retired and I seem to stay too busy to write for now, but hope to get back to it eventually. My sister is doing well. It has been 5 years this September. Her faith sustains her. We all miss Mark everyday. I saw some of your youtube videos. You look so cute. You never age. The girls are lovely and have so much personality.
It is so good to say hello again. Stay safe and well. Love to you and your beautiful family. ❤️
Patricia,
Hello! I was so excited to see your comment. It’s been far too long since we last chatted. I often think of you and Nancy and our former blogging and Fountain days. Actually, I was talking about these times with Imogen just before you commented!
The last 18 months have been full of drama! Yes, we had bushfires to deal with. And before we recovered from that, the pandemic arrived, and we found ourselves locked down. But then we had a good summer with no fires which was just as well because it’s hard to social distance in evacuation centres! We’ve all been well. Despite the lockdowns, Australia has very few cases of covid. I’m so glad to hear you and your family are well too.
It’s good to hear news of your granddaughters. I can imagine how much joy they’ve brought to your life. I’m glad your sister is doing well. Grief is so difficult. It never goes away though we learn to cope with it.
As you can see, I’m still blogging though I keep thinking that I’ve written my last post. With all my kids just about grown up,
I keep running out of things to write about and think I should move on. But somehow I can’t quite let go of my blog. Today, I’m so glad I wrote a post because you read it and now we’re chatting again!
Patrick, thank you so much for your kind and beautiful words. Stay safe too! Sending much love to you. xxx
Beautiful Sue!
Sarah!
It’s so lovely to see you here. Thank you for stopping by. I hope all is well with you and your family! xx
“And sometimes, I still run down the main fire trail, but not with my girls. Those days came to an end. I don’t remember when.
One day life changed. But that’s okay.”
The “last time” phenomena is something that moves me as a mother like almost nothing else. I’ve thought of this part of your blog post so many times since I first read it.
Thank you.
Sallie,
Yes, last times can pierce our mothers’ hearts. We can’t always prepare for them. The last time sometimes arrives unexpectedly. Or we don’t even realise that something happened for the last time until we look back.
Early one morning, a long time after my girls stopped running with me, they unexpectedly decided to join me. I felt like I’d been given a huge gift. For one day, I again soaked up the joy of running with my daughters along the bush tracks, high-fiving when we’d finished our runs, and then walking home arm-in-arm, ready for our breakfast. It was like the ‘old days’!
It’s hard to let go of certain stages of our lives, isn’t it? I try to remember that new joys can’t arrive until I’ve let go of the old ones. Life keeps changing, but it’s always good!
It’s so good to chat with you, Sallie. Thank you for stopping by!