Quote of the Day (Henry David Thoreau, with Words Applicable to My Friend Stephanie)

“As surely as the sunset in my latest November shall translate me to the ethereal world,and remind me of the ruddy morning of youth; as surely as the last strain of music which falls on my decaying ear shall make age to be forgotten, or, in short, the manifold influences of nature survive during the term of our natural life, so surely my Friend shall forever be my Friend, and reflect a ray of God to me, and time shall foster and adorn and consecrate our Friendship, no less than the ruins of temples.”—Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849)

Thoreau loved nature and sought to capture its beauty through the magic of his pen; my friend Stephanie has an equal appreciation of it, and, in the bargain, is possessed of more wanderlust than the New England Transcendentalist. Stephanie’s feelings for nature are conveyed not so much in words, however, as in the striking power of her photography.

Today, on her birthday, I say thank you to Stephanie for her ability to “reflect a ray of God.” I hope she’ll go on doing so for a very, very long time!