I took this picture last year, about this time. Frankly, it's from a roll of film that was one of so many. Luckily there's snow in the picture, that tells me roughly when I took it. Eight months I was in England, taking classes during the week and going anywhere to take pictures and soak up European vibes before I had to go back to University. Not having any big career plans, not even having a job waiting for me, graduating in the worst job market ever, these pictures don't mean a whole lot now.
Still, I learned something when I was away for a year. I learned about how small the world was and how small my goals had been before. You can see dreams that were built by people who had a vision, nations that were forged and have to continually defend their right to hang their flag. You can see monuments that were built twenty, thirty times as many years ago as my ivy-covered university. It makes you wonder what mark you can make.
I put this picture above my desk where I write my essays and papers. It's not a picture I'd mind losing, I haven't framed it. But, I printed it and stuck it up because more than any other picture, it seems to suggest that there's something more important than monuments and flags. That at the center of it all is a love that breathes and walks. I remember looking all over England and hoping to find something, and now I'm envious of this bloke who walks step by step with his lifelong love.
Do I watch my step when I should be taking in the view? Do I gaze in wonder when I should pay more attention underfoot? Will I reach my palace some day or am I walking in the wrong direction. Is she there for me? or will the music end and there's only one chair? Is this scrabble of words worth saving like that picture? or is it too obvious that I'm avoiding my SoAn paper?
Jean, I'm sending you this picture because it's dawning on me that that this Valentine's day may be the first of so many... take a walk with me and we'll see where the path may lead. I don't have a castle, but I'll let you have the chair if you like.
Love, Cy
