in which i explain

i am choosing to stay home this month.
That is not an unusual activity for me.
Except that
it is September
when i usually get to go live in my friend's
cottage by the sea for two weeks.
This year,  i am choosing to stay home so that
i can help my sister who is hampered with
back pain.
It was an extremely difficult decision.
She has assured me time and again
that she is "just fine" and two weeks on her own
would be no big deal.

Anyone who has endured months of
chronic pain knows that living with it
alone
even for a few days
is the worst.

i love the sea.
Cannot remember the last September
i did not spend breathing it and swimming in it
and living it...
but this year it just didn't feel right...

There is no unselfishness at work.
It's the very least i can do
for someone who has been extremely
generous to me over the years.

Anyway...
as i was attempting to explain
i am not by the seaside.
Delving into my massive stash of
photographs from the islandhas helped to
make it feel OK and not like it's
A Sacrifice.
Because it's not.
i'm just doing what grown ups do.
(which is also not usual behavior for me)

anyway...

i've been toying with several different
ways of presenting the the photos.
i like the idea of an album of pages
and so, for the time being
i have settled on using ms publisher
and Issuu, which is nice in many ways
but also has several drawbacks:
i don't like the pale blue shadow
they put in the middle of each page
(i guess they think it makes it look more
3 dimensional)
and i don't like the ads running along the side
(it is prohibitively expensive, i feel, to pay to
use the version that is ad free).

So. For the time being
here is album number one:

on island: mornings in September

Oh...one more thing
you might like to use this feature:
once you click on the "expand" button
and have the larger view open
you can click again on an open page, to view
even larger versions--simply click on the page again to
reduce it back down.
Does that make sense?
Just try it...if you like

Open publication - Free publishing - More island

And, now
here is the second one

on island: afternoons in September

Open publication - Free publishing - More afternoon

Comments

[Janine]

The albums are just gorgeous, I can understand the tendency for melancholy and the conscious decision not to be. We missed out on our annual "away" vacation this year too. But you're right, we must evaluate our priorities and act on them--life's like that. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. x

[marly youmans]

Really like 9:14 and the last and 3rd from the end boats. All quite pleasing though...

3:50 and 5:29 and the one with the parade line of clouds and the cottage I especially like.

You are lucky to have a friend who has given you such lovely memories.

[zephyr]

Thank you for your comments, Janine and Marly. Yes, i am richly blessed by my friend's generosity...and i like to think she is comforted that her fur balls are well cared for in my company.
3:50 and the parade of clouds are two of my favorites.

[Wendee]

These are just gorgeous!