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