December 3, 2021

White Dog smiled. "Your skills with the new cell phone are improving, momma. I am so glad Opal is such a willing subject for you to practice photographing."

"She is very patient with my clumsy fingers and shakey hands," I agreed. "I look at pictures dad takes, or the wide range of places and subjects shown on social media, and I think 'Why bother?' I have nothing to share.

Then I am reminded of what Franz Kaftka said, “You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”

"Opal sleeping so happy and serene reveals the beautiful conclusion of a soul found and blooming. Just before hopping down to nap, she came in specifically to bravely come up next to me as I worked and offer herself to be stroked; she wrapped her legs around my arm in a caress of her own. I cannot imagine anything hiking in the mountains or captured from the real world more compelling than what this photo represents...if you let the world umask itself in these moments."