WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26

Forty years ago when I was living in Singapore, I bought the two crystal “eggs” and the jade horse you will see in the pictures below. When I was casting about today for something to photograph, something from my house because San Diego is experiencing a rare hot day and I wanted to stay inside, my eyes fell on the eggs and the horse. One of the good things about photography is that it gives a reason for looking again and looking closely. For example, I found something in the green crystal egg that I hadn’t seen before even though it was right before my eyes all the time. I found it after I downloaded the image to my computer. Millions of years ago... it takes that long for this kind of crystal to form... a couple of bits of ancient moss or fern got caught in the process of crystal formation. There it is, clear as, well, crystal. I am thrilled to see something organic, something that lived millions of years ago, something that has been sitting unnoticed in our living room (a series of living rooms since Singapore) for more than forty years.

Margaret’s sister died yesterday in Texas. Senator Ted Kennedy died yesterday in Massachusetts. I knew both of them. I had conversations with both of them. All over the world organic things are dying. That’s what organic things do. Most of them will be forgotten long before millions of years have passed. But this moss is now not among things forgotten because I see it and I am sharing it with you.