On the morning of our Anniversary, we drive to Back Bay, to photograph the birds. To make room in my camera, I must erase what I took last week. I've got them all on the computer, but I'm still not used to digital. I take a breath, then delete and reformat all 4 cards, 299 images each, from our trip to Morro Bay: nursing seal pups, obstinate crows, meditative ground squirrels, Valley Oak hung with Old Man's Beard. We didn't snap any shots of the two of us, arrived to this day, this hour of 45 years together, in sickness and in madness, having and holding on . . . . Maybe we don't need one.

high tide
terns fly up
and disappear