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I'm just getting to these now, Stephen, but what a gift, indeed, & so 
neatly led up to, for you, & now for us. I've seen that view, as a 
visitor, & it is one of the views that would give such possibilities. 
'It' doesn't fall into some other word/thing, as it's all....

Doug
On 12-Jan-05, at 11:25 AM, Stephen Vincent wrote:

> My father, now almost 93, had a stroke recently that has meant his
> mental-to-language function is impaired. Looking up, "birds" become 
> "buses,"
> etc. It's painful to witness. A community leader, he liked so much to 
> think,
> articulate and work to solve things.
> On Sunday I take him out to Point Richmond and Ferry Point on the San
> Francisco Bay; it is the place where he grew up and devoted much of 
> his life
> as a boat builder, sailor, activist for Bay Parks, trails, etc.  We 
> walk out
> in into the middle of the grassy park. Looking across the waters is an
> extraordinary 240 degree panoramic view  -  around from the north we 
> see the
> San Rafael-Richmond Bridge, Mt. Tamalpias, the Marin Country shore, 
> Angel
> Island, Racoon Straights, the San Francisco port & skyline, the Bay 
> Bridge,
> Treasure Island, and the Port of Oakland.
> The day's high clouds are broken by winter sunlight. My father keeps
> slightly opening and spreading his arms and hands out from his the 
> sides of
> his hips, repeating, telling me,  "It's all here. It's all here."
>
> It was quite amazing and a gift. This embrace of a place and a life.
>
> Stephen V
>
>


Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton  Alberta  T6G 2E5 Canada
(780) 436 3320
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm

The poet is ecstatic, having dreamt of this visit for weeks.
He takes Erato’s face, dribbling and wild, between his hands

and kisses her gently as if she were a runaway teenager.

                        Diana Hartog