Eye, (self) portrait of innocence, photo © 2008 by Dee. All rights reserved.
Wilma Mankiller, the first female Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation, was in Albuquerque last week to talk about changing lives and building community. Among other things, she shared this quote, attributed to the Navajo:
You can not see the future with tears in your eyes.
Write these words at the top of your page, then write for fifteen minutes. Don’t stop. See where it takes you.
redravine.wordpress.com 
Ok, so no one commented on this post. I’ll gladly be the first! I love Em’s self portrait. There is something so special about photos taken by children & as I looked at the photo this morning, it was just what I needed to take away the tears that I have been with me for the past 2 days. In addition to losing a great friend, I also had to deal with the loss of my Mothers cousin who has played Santa at my parents home for several years. Thanks for the boost & Em is quite a lovely child. D
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I’m so sorry to hear about your friend, diddy. Was he or she your age? It’s so sad to lose someone in one’s life, more so when it’s sudden and unexpected and when the person is young. But no matter what the circumstances, I am most sorry for you and wish you all the best in getting through the pain.
Also, your whole family must be sad about the loss of this special cousin. I hope this writing topic might be helpful.
And thank you for the comment about Dee. (It’s actually my older daughter.) We don’t post photos of ourselves and our family members on the blog, but as you might have noticed, I’ve posted this one and another, of me, where you can’t really see our whole faces. I liked that about this photo…you could get a sense of her, but not so much that you’d recognize her walking down the street.
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diddy, I’m so sorry. So much loss in such a short period of time. Sending prayers and good energy to you and your family on this Father’s Day.
ybonesy, does Dee have a camera and like to take photos? I used to love it at her age. I was just curious what her creative interests were. And also, did the flash go off in this self-portrait? It looks so close to her eye! When you write about Dee, I always think of her on her horse.
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yb & QM, thanks for the kind words.
Sorry about the mistake I made by not crediting Dee.
I actually used this post to pay tribute to both my friend & cousin. I can’t tell you how healing it was for me. Thanks again! Much love, D
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No apology necessary, diddy. I’m really touched that you found some solace in this post.
QM, the girls regularly borrow “my” camera, which is actually Jim’s. Guess it has morphed into a family camera.
Dee’s latest creative interest is making flash films on her Apple computer. She is so adept with technology. I guess that’s a common trait among people her age. They’re not intimidated by technology, and unlike someone like me who has to read the owner’s manual to get anywhere, young people self-teach.
Yes, the flash went off. Amazing it didn’t hurt her eyes.
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ybonesy, it’s good to have a “family” camera. Members can grab it anytime and be really spontaneous with their photosnapping.
Yeah, I’m an owner manual reader, too. First thing I try to do, read the owner’s manual cover to cover. I end up only using half of the features offered because I can’t remember where they are, which button to push for the shortcut, which of the 100 menus’s to pull up. Times have changed.
How do the Flash Films work on the Mac? Do you grab images from other places. Or is there a camera built in? (Okay, I know I’m showing my ignorance here, but not being a Mac owner, I’m genuinely interested!)
Every time Liz and I go to buy new computer equipment, we look at all the images, film, back-up systems we’ve already got into place on the PC and usually end up bagging it. Since we combine most of our technology, it would take so much money for both of us to switch over all our equipment and learn a new system.
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Hey, I like this writing prompt. Think I’ll take it and run with it.
Thanks 🙂
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[…] posted over at one the THE best blogs for those who love writing, writers, and all things lingual: The Red Ravine. I haven’t done any memes lately. And for whatever reason, I rarely pick up writing prompts, […]
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