June 2021: The Celebration of Love
A sense of time and place is part of what it is to be human, providing structure and meaning to our lives. Rights of Passage help to illuminate our chosen path, from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Along the way we celebrate the Family through Birthdays, Weddings, the birth of Children - Death too. All are landmarks and stepping stones in our journey through life. Marking these transitions is a feature of all cultures, auspicious moments that allow us to express our wonder and gratitude for the gift of life, a chance to honor our family and friends. Now more than ever, with the whole of humanity enveloped by the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is time for us to reflect on our place on this beautiful Planet. It is the only home we will ever know; time to reaffirm the bonds that bind us together as families and communities.
The month of June is particularly important in our family. On the 9th June we celebrate the birth of our son David. Later in the month his long awaited marriage to his fiancee Tori Trimm will take place in the United States where David and Tori and her family live, an event lovingly planned for September 2020 that had to be postponed. It was to have been followed by a multi-family celebration with friends here in Kenya where David grew up on safari among the big cats of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Angie and I are blessed to have a second home some five hours drive away from Nairobi, a thatched stone cottage at Governor’s Camp in the heart of Marsh Pride territory. Angie was born in Africa and grew up in Tanzania, with the great Serengeti National Park among her favourite places to visit during school holidays. We were married in March 1992 in a colourful ceremony atop the Oloololo Escarpment 300, meters above the Mara’s rolling plains.
June is special for another reason. Our daughter Alia gave birth to our grandson Michael on the 28th June eight years ago. Michael can already recognise and name many of the animals and birds he sees on safari. He can whoop like a hyena and honk like a hippo, full of an infectious zest for life that is heartening to witness along with his adventurous spirit. And a week before Michael’s birthday we celebrate - in the US at least - Father’s Day on the 20th June.
While there are some who dismiss such celebrations as commercial opportunism in a material world we believe that pausing for a moment to honor our friends and loved ones, reaffirming culturally significant times in the history of our world allows us to reflect on what is truly important in life: Family and Friends and the miraculous creativity of Nature. To help celebrate life this June we have created Special Collections of our Fine Art Prints themed to resonate with these thoughts. They are all Open Editions and we hope you enjoy looking at them and find something special to take home with you as a reminder of the wonder of life on Earth.
Click here to browse the entire 'Celebration of Love' Collection. All new prints in the collection are currently available for 25% off, for a limited time until June 30th.
