Today All Hallows/All Souls/All Saints Day is recognized all over the country. Candles and lanterns are lit at the graves of absent friends – gone but not forgotten. A day of remembrance. I visited my gone beloveds at Woodlands today. A crowded Woodlands where people lit candles and remembered. Beautiful and poetic. A cold, crisp, clear day with a ethereal light at dusk and sunset. The Elm Hill is magnificent as a sort of temple for remembrance.

The Cross at the Holy Cross Chapel and a fraction of the candles by the graves in the woods – surrounded by proud fir trees.

The cross – so heavy – where one can feel the weight of the cross that was carried along Via Dolorosa and the magnitute of the sacrifice. Its uncompromising appearance – a solid rock in these soft surroundings, and the road that leads past it, always makes me feel humble. Today it was crowded by people on their way to or from their absent friends. Simple and important and a way to make a bridge between the past and the future and pass on the love of those who are gone to the future generations. At least for a few moments.