This is late, but what else is new for me? I will try to blame it on long meetings, busy evenings and a strong need for rest and sleep, but a lack of words is probably closer to the truth. So if the words are hard to come by, I'd best just stick to what has worked so far for me in this journal.

Keep it simple.

So, simply...

Thank you.

Thank you to all of you who demonstrated how involved we have become with each other, how this online journal thing touches our lives. I know yours have touched mine. I have sympathized with some you as your lives shattered, and watched as you built them up again. Sometimes on new paths, sometimes by rebuilding the old.

I know about children I have never met. I may know when they took their first step. What was their first word. When they first made waffles. More importantly, I know how you felt to witness such a thing. And I wonder. Have they reached for a rainbow yet?

I have admired so many of you as you cut old support lines and moved on to new jobs, new cities, new loves. Embarked to gather the knowledge and training for new careers. Often through periods of financial strain. An inspiration of self confidence.

I have watched and listened as you struggled with those eternal, pesky problems of getting along with each other. Settling the jumps and jolts of relationships, many so much more complicated than those in my own life.

I felt loss and tragedy in your families, and watched you continue in the face of illness, and in the need to support those you love who are suffering. I have shared in your helplessness, and envied your strength to carry on.

I have felt your joy at something as simple as a snowstorm, a butterfly or a dragonfly. I have seen your lovers through your own eyes, and yes, with some of you, joined in the bed you share.

I have watched the process of creation, whether it is of a growing child, a fantasy novel, a gourmet meal, a piece of clay, or an ornate cake. I have watched some of you recreate yourselves, piece by piece.

You have shared your humor, along with your pains. From personal faux pas, to the adornment of tourists, to the antics of children, pets and spouses.

You have given me so many new views. Views of places totally foreign to my own, and places so similar, yet full of subtle changes. Views of places I know, but from heights I could never reach. Views of things and places I might consider quite common, except for looking through your eyes. Perhaps greatest of all, you have given me new perspectives on things I once thought I knew.

But I am not thanking you for all these gifts.

I am thanking you for letting me know I have given something back to all of you. That this journal is not just a near-daily habit that some of you have picked up to read. That the words and photographs in this screen have value to your lives, as well. That I am able to pay you back for all you have given me.

So, to those of you who generously contributed to the unsolicited Grousin' in the Sage camera fund, I thank you. I still feel guilty for accepting such generosity, partly because this is the time of year when we tend to think of those who are truly needy, but mostly because, thanks to your own diaries, I am aware what these gifts must have cost some of you. It is truly humbling to know folks who have little disposable income at all want to spend some of it on my photographs.

And, perhaps, not just on the photographs, but on feeling the joy I have in taking and sharing those images.

So, thank you for my new Olympus C750. A replacement and upgrade that could not have occurred without your help. May it give us many images and stories to share, beginning with its first sunset:

Now, the question came to mind... how do I pay back all the people who placed this camera into my hands?

Well, obviously, by giving them photographs. But the digital storage space here on Diaryland is limited, and I have used half of it already. Hence the small size and low quality of almost all the photos you have enjoyed. There is simply no room to give you the larger, detailed photos you deserve, and that I would like to share (and yes, show off). So I am going to try a compromise. Every so often, I will post a higher quality image, perhaps with the story behind it, perhaps not. Some of these will be photos you have already seen. But of necessity to save space, each successive higher quality photograph will erase the previous. This way, I should be able to keep up with the diary images for some time yet.

So, as an initial token of my appreciation, I present the first Grouse Pic.

We begin with a beginning, a sunrise from August.

(And for those of you whom I don't know, a reminder. These images are mine and are, of course, copyrighted. Ask before using.)