So Many Things Left to Say

This time last year, I might have written to Charley about the snapping turtle lying in her dug-out nest by the side of the path

or about the female Eastern Pondhawk I found circling in the water and helped to shore

or about the owl floating across the trail ahead of me or about the snail dragging along the dirt and gravel, taking part of it with him

or about the spectacular Orange Sulphur basking in water droplets sprayed by the garden sprinkler.

But I can't write Charley now. 

He died on October 10, 2011. 

I still find myself pulled up short by his absence, by my longing to hear his voice and laugh at his dirty jokes, by my desire to choose photos to print at the neighboring CVS, to write a few words in celebration of the things we loved in this world.

Today was one of those days. 

I saw such beauty, and he would have seen it, too.