Yesterday was a Mother's Day, always the first Sunday in May, and always a tough day for me.  It's hard to figure out ways to celebrate, when my own mama has been gone for 10 years.  I usually make an effort to combine exercise and nature, and if the planets are aligned -- I'll get out to where my sister and I scattered her ashes back in 2006: Point Reyes National Seashore.  

Yesterday I was lucky, and got to hike out with one of my dearest friends and a cute little doggy I was watching.  On a perfectly cloudy but not too chilly day; we hiked the 2 miles in, took in the smells and pure magic that this shoreline offers.  I told my friend the story of when we scattered her ashes 10 years ago, a dolphin was bobbing and waving at us about 10 feet out as we rinsed our hands in the ocean afterward. 

About an hour after telling him I couldn't believe it but I spotted a whale tail breach just before we left.  Anyone who grew up in Northern California knows how rare those moments are.

Those kinds of moments are not lost on me, and I am forever grateful.  It was a good Mother's Day, that concluded with a comforting conversation with my stepmother, who has been in my life since I was 12 years old.  I am incredibly lucky, and I cherish the ability to capture images that do these moments justice.