The light in the window.

In the window of the used goods store (Value Village) I see a bright painting of poppies. The hopeful reds contrast so strongly with the confining quality of the frame, the glass, the surroundings, that I take its picture. Only later on the computer monitor do I see the little message partially obscured up in the left hand corner. “To bring peace to the earth, strive to make your own life peaceful.” a quote from the Dalai Lama.

I continue to walk down the street, past the man on the sidewalk steadily repeating “ Got any spare change?”and across the road. It is early morning and folks are leaving the homeless shelter and spreading out to acquire what they need to live another day. It is here that I meet Vanessa with her peace sign that I have earlier described in my blog entry, ‘Fair Trade’.

What I am thinking now is the coincidence that, in this rundown part of town, two photos taken one after another should speak of peace, - not a subject uppermost on my mind as a general rule - and neither of which I orchestrated. But then I should not have been surprised, it is always in the hard and gritty places in life, in greatest darkness, that peace finds a way.