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I went to the mountains this weekend. Just a short drive away, but that physical getaway helped me slow down, break my routine, refocus on what's around me. I sat on the deck Sunday morning with the kids, eating muffins and fresh blueberries and strawberries, and I started singing the classic song from 10,000 Maniacs, "These are Days" - Remember it?

"These are days you’ll remember

Never before and never since, I promise

Will the whole world be warm as this

And as you feel it, You’ll know it’s true

That you are blessed and lucky

It’s true that you

Are touched by something

That will grow and bloom in you"

(photo by burcindrummer) 

This One I Will Remember

And I thought - a lot has happened this weekend. Lots of driving around, lots of eating, wandering, laughing, having fun, lots of moments colliding into one another, washing together in a way that makes them hard to look back and pick out. But THIS. This single moment of strawberries and mountain air, of wind in the trees, dappled sun, the wood of the deck beneath me, and my childrens' laughter - this one I will remember. I decided that I want to be more deliberate about this remembering thing. Rather than letting these days wash together until they're hazy, is there a way - some decision, some keyword, some focus point that will let me draw out these experiences in clarity? In short, how can I make days to remember? I think it has something to do with pulling all the straggling strands of thought together and really applying our incredible power for paying attention - for recording detail.{...}

It all started years ago with the death of my grandmother, when my mother and I found boxes of photos and albums in her closet. I saw a totally different side of my grandmother, a side that I never knew. In many of the pictures I saw myself in her-- holding cookouts with friends and family, cooking, gardening, sewing--but although I discovered pictures, I found no words to tell me what she was thinking at the time, no accounting of feelings or thoughts, just tons of pictures.