Photo by Peter Ralston
By Peter Ralston
| By Peter Ralston Dear Friends, On Monday we enjoyed the eclipse from an overlook above the harbor. Here we only experienced about 90% occlusion, but it was a gloriously warm and cloudless day. More than anything, the few peak umbral moments yet again reminded me how infinitesimal we truly are. Nature, as ever, is the greatest teacher of all…when we slow down and open ourselves to her. On a far less reflective note, we are girding ourselves for the coming season and are already feeling a bit overwhelmed even as we count our blessings given the myriad projects and opportunities right off our bow. I want to hit pause, though, for a moment to offer you – our extended family – heartfelt thanks…gratitude and appreciation that could not derive from any deeper in my me. |
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| THANKFUL , You see, over the past few years of my sharing these “hugs from Maine” with you, I have on a handful of occasions asked you to consider possibly pitching in to help some of our neighbors struck by misfortune. In one instance it was a daughter of the islands who was under awful duress…a long story with a happy ending thanks to many of you. Last fall there was the terrible fire over in Port Clyde which was followed by two devastating storms in January that hit the coast and islands hard…seriously hard. I live in a part of the world that is beautiful beyond words, but what handily transcends the beauty is the character of the communities here. Here we have each other’s backs, here we really do instinctively look out for each other and here “life boat ethics” are how we survive. This is – to me – the far greater beauty. It does not come easily to me to ask for anything personally, but when others need help, well, that’s when we all pitch in and in the past couple of years I have felt generally okay about sharing this with all of you. Today I share my profound and deepest appreciation for your collective goodness of spirit, caring and generosity. |
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| The Source Nothing too specific here…..this is, I suppose, a self-indulgent hug to you all, but the feeling of gratitude is upon me and I simply had to share it with you. I cannot write to each and every one of you, nor can I possibly answer all of your extremely kind messages, but please know that I read everything that comes our way and please know that your many, many kindnesses are truly sustaining. This is admittedly a rather rambling letter today so I will sign off but not before allowing that the two non-eclipse images I herewith share with you pretty much say it all. If you have a moment, you find something of that nature in the stories (links/titles above) that accompany them. This all comes from my heart. Thank you……. cheers and more, Peter |
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