As I finished shaving just now and Anne was still typing feverishly on all her pent up blog posts, she titled this photo for me.
0375 Anne Won't Stop
When I silently picked up her camera from the table by her right hand, the serious furrowed focus associated with her blizzard of typing instantly transformed into that brilliant giggling girl I love so deeply as she said, “Anne won’t stop.”
In case you’re wondering, I’ve already resolved to buy her a better laptop! I absolutely love that she’s beginning to blog, and she needs a better tool for that. This morning I walked the few steps we were too tired to take last night, and borrowed the cable so she could plug hers in rather than try to use the weak wifi in our room.
All this of course has me thinking about Life, Meaning and Love on this first day of our tenth Official year (we’ve been married by my definition since 1983, but our 18 year “engagement” before 8/7/01 is another and rather long story). One of the things I most enjoy about our time together is Noticing. We’ve helped each other to joyfully notice ourselves, each other, our environment and the relatively small slice of our planet’s billions of people that we’ve had the pleasure to encounter. Not just those like the girl dedicated to her cheerful work cleaning rooms and stocking the free breakfast room here. Nor even just the people we pass once on the street and never see again. Some of the latter leave us with a treasured “snippet” of their conversation, and many a glimpse of an expression that conveys a slice of what was in their consciousness during that few seconds. Beyond those, ever more often we strive to notice everyone and everything, because in that noticing we feel more alive and connected with our world.
So some of this was going on in me when I noticed her typing and tried to capture some essence of Her to preserve for myself, to share with her, and to share with anyone taking the time to read this. May these few words help us to wake up to the incredible beauty within and around us.
John & Anne Wiley 
Loved this “Anne won’t stop” entry …and saw a house for sale not too far from here with it’s own runway and hangar – would be perfect for your San Diego visits!
Comment by Terry — 2010/08/09 @ 21:00
Hi John & Ann,
I was hoping to see a photo of you, Ann, on your blog. What a beautiful entry you wrote about Ann and the celebration of your official wedding anniversary… and about noticing. It gave me happy tears to read your thoughts about noticing. It touched me on many levels. It is this approach to life that the three of us have in common and why, even when much time goes by, we are still all connected as friends. Ann, I have really enjoyed reading you subsequent posts of your August travels. John, the way you ended this post was perfect:
“Beyond those, ever more often we strive to notice everyone and everything, because in that noticing we feel more alive and connected with our world.
So some of this was going on in me when I noticed her typing and tried to capture some essence of Her to preserve for myself, to share with her, and to share with anyone taking the time to read this. May these few words help us to wake up to the incredible beauty within and around us.”
I only found your blog on Aug 14th… and I’m glad I went back into the previous posts and discovered this post. Just love this photo of you, Ann!
hugs & appreciation,
Carla
Comment by Carla — 2010/08/14 @ 21:39
Hi Carla,
It’s a treat to see your entries, thank you so much for contributing to our experiences by adding your comments to the Blog! Your sensitivity and appreciating of the words means a lot. I too especially was moved by John’s comments here. They took me by surprise and I treasure them. Thank You for ‘noticing.’ 🙂
Comment by Anne — 2010/08/18 @ 04:21