Nov 12, 2006
A eulogy for my grandmother
Grief is a had thing to deal with. And perhaps an odd thing to deal with in such a public venue. 10 days ago, I gave a eulogy for my grandmother a the church of St Gregory in Marnhull. Marnhull is in Dorset in England. Below the picture is what I said:
Time has such a funny way of dancing past us.
It's like staring out at the ocean. Late in the day. When the water is simultaneous black and alive with flickers of light. Fast reflections fill you eye. White out everything, and become full like vivid memories.
My brother was being born. My sister and I stayed with Granny and Grandpa. Granny told me "When you go home, you'll have a new brother". We were sitting on the lawn in front of their house at 72 OGD. A beautiful African day. Blue sky, just like today.
The water catches the light in a different way, and I'm in bed. Months into recovering from an accident. And there she is, leaning over me. Would you like some tea, she asks. I always said yes. I'd fall back asleep, and wake hours later to the cup of tea, now cold.
Watch the light and you see her sitting at the end of my bed, with some rescued dog beside her, or years before at the end of my Mum's bed. Or Niki's bed. Tea in hand. Or there she is introducing Ant and Vivi.
She was so proud of all her children. And so delighted with all her grandchildren.
Watch the light and she is sitting in this very church. It is the day of their 63rd wedding anniversary, and she, and Ken, my wife Cindy and I were together renewing our marriage vows. I watched him rub her shoulder. He called her "Old Girl". She would pat his hand.
Those points in time, immeasurably small. The instant NOW, infinitely small, much less than a second and yet it exists everywhere, all over the planet, throughout the universe. It's like God. There at all points.
And flowing across those points, the thing she gave her family. Her all enveloping love. The love she gave each of us, the way she built us up, the love that we now give our children and our grandchildren.
That love is the surest expression of God's love for all of us.
The last time I spoke with her, I told her that Cindy and I are expecting our first baby. Granny was delighted. Overjoyed. I will miss her enormously. But, she has filled my heart with love, and made it clear to me that her love will continue to flow through me, to my child and on through many generations.
It is our task now, to live up to her standards. To take in the odd stray dog, and to be loving and supporting of each other.
Posted by Rod Boothby at 07:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Bookmark This
May 29, 2006
Clouds, wind and wheat
This is my latest painting. It's inspired by a beautiful photo I found on Flickr by someone who goes by the Flickr screen name Linda6769. Her photo was called Autumn Fields.
Posted by Rod Boothby at 08:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Bookmark This
May 6, 2006
Lejeune - Great new band
I remeber the thrill I felt the first time I heard REM.
I just felt feeling again.
The band is called Lejeune. You can download their amazing album at Podsafe audio.
http://www.podsafeaudio.com/jamroom/bands/55/
Or go to www.LejeuneMusic.com
Moon-Shy City, Dead Again and Replaced By Robots are all great tracks. That last one is like the Smiths got together with REM to do a new theme song for Clint Eastwood's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Posted by Rod Boothby at 07:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Bookmark This
Mar 15, 2006
Tahoe seen from a flight to EWR
Taken a couple of weeks ago on my way over to New York.
Posted by Rod Boothby at 07:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Bookmark This
Mar 1, 2006
View from the Westin New York at Times Square
Taken a week ago. I'm back in NYC again now, and in the same hotel. This time, they have me facing east with a view that includes the Emprie State building and the glare of Times Square.
Posted by Rod Boothby at 06:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Bookmark This
Feb 26, 2006
More of Lake Erie
Another aerial photo of Lake Erie glowing in a February sunset.
Posted by Rod Boothby at 10:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Bookmark This
Feb 25, 2006
Lake Erie's Mentor Lagoon
I took a series of photos of the sun reflecting off Lake Erie during last Wednesday's flight to EWR. It always amazes me how the colour seems to slip from the world in these pictures. Something about the light late in the day in February.
This photo is kind of fun, in that I was able to figure our what I was looking at. The little map in the plane showed that we were over Lake Erie, so I went to Google maps, and started looking along the coast line for that weird looking little inlet. It didn't take long to find it. It's called Mentor Lagoon. Looking at the view on Google maps, it looks almost like a subdivision that went broke before it was finished. Instead, it turns out to be a Nature Preserve & Marina.
I was flying over this spot at 3:52 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday Feb 22nd, 2006. Maybe someone reading this post can help me figure out what kind of boat, ferry or ship would have been out on the Lake Erie on a cold winter's day passing by Mentor Lagoon. You can see the wake from the boat near the top of the photo.
Posted by Rod Boothby at 07:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Bookmark This
