Weekly Photo Challenge: Love

This week’s photo challenge is Love. As I close my eyes and think of it, several images assemble, each a memorable moment from someplace that comforted or surprised me. Here are five of them.

1. The feisty old goat Crackerjack snuggling with his friend at the Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, one of my favorite peaceful places.

2. The well-attired couple chatting fondly at my very first Maryland Renaissance Festival–the festival was a surprise hit last year.

3. A couple dancing at the DC Turkish Festival–they looked at each other with so much joy. The festival and the dance made me oddly homesick for the Saturday mornings I spent with one of my aunts when I was growing up: We fried potatoes, prepared Turkish coffee, listened to music, and then foretold each other’s futures with our tiny, Turkish coffee cups. I miss my aunt. She died recently after a very long illness that took away so much of her, little by little. The festival’s bright colors and the fire of the dance reminded me of her as she was on those childhood Saturdays.

4. Ravens cooing at each other, a startling, frightening sound over the ornate expanse of the Bryce Canyon. As we traveled across the American Southwest, ravens mesmerized me. I watched them soar over some of the most stunning cliffs in the world, riding the icy, angry winds that silenced all other living things. If I hadn’t heard it, imagining these fierce birds coo would be impossible.

5. And, finally, the transit of Venus in June 2012. I was surprised at how moved I was to go about my life with THIS happening over my head. If you missed it, you’ll have to stick around for December 11, 2117, or December 8, 2125.