There were a lot of things that were the same this year and yes there were a lot of things different, very different this year.
Four years ago, the summer of 2018, was the last time we had visited Cedar Grove. After major forest fires, a foot injury, Covid, the loss of Bonnie and Clyde, and both my parents, we made it to Cedar Grove this year. Four years later.
The forest and nature are interesting because change is occurring all the time, but we don’t really notice from year to year. I wonder if photography is a blessing or a curse because people and places always look the same to us, in our memories.
I had no idea four years ago that there would be so much change that would profoundly affect me and the foundational underpinnings of everything I do. It happened though. It’s happening now, change.
While Cedar Grove may have looked the same this year as it did when I was a kid, new memories had been added to my memory bank. This year I took the memories of Bonnie and Clyde along on the trip. I heard their distinct woofs in my mind, and saw their images being goofy at the water. Throw my ball, throw a stick, whatever! Just throw something so I can go retrieve it and do it over and over again!
I looked at the ring on my finger that belonged to Dad, a ring that he never removed, until the day he told Kath to give it to me. I looked at Mom’s bracelet now worn on my wrist, and I told mom and dad that I missed them, and that it was as beautiful as ever here in Cedar Grove.
I did still smile though. I smiled when I looked over to see Noel, Holly, and Enzo, all rookies to the camping experience. And they were being their own goofy selves enjoying nature and swimming in the same waters as we had brought our canine kids for many, many years.
Everything is the same, yet everything is so very different. Our memories are talking images, they are unique individual experiences. Generously fuel the minds of others, and share them over and over again.
Petdad 