9th Century Boys

Everything's connected. Lives intersect. The past is present, and you can see the past as it is happening right now, because all is NOW. . .



Last year, for Christmas, I gave my friend Mat a picture I’d kept in my collection of found images for about ten years. The picture: a castle somewhere in Portugal, clinging to a rocky and unforgiving coast. I loved the mysterious picture, taken some time, much much earlier in the last century. Found it crammed in a drawer with hundreds of other pictures in an antique shop in Oregon, somewhere. Years later I met Mat-- his ancestors hail from Portugal, and I thought it fitting for him to have the photo. Not that it was easy to part with the picture-- but you know, nothing is really yours, is it? I’m so glad I let the image go. I got the most amazing blessing from Mat in return-- and it was an unexpected present, waiting in my in box-- just in time for my birthday. I got this:




Yes, that's Mat, holding the picture I gave him, in front of the actual castle. Mat wrote this:



You were in my thoughts when I visited the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle) in the town of Sintra in Portugal.  It was a 9th century castle built by the Moors then taken over by everyone else basically. The view was breathtaking and amazingly inspiring.  You were in my thoughts while I was there.

I hope you're well.

Love,
Mat



Thank you, Mat. This means A LOT.
Love right back.


PS-- El Castelo dos Mouros was built a century after St. Oran was thought to have lived. . .