Musical accompaniment: A Song for You by Leon Russell.

In 1914, J. Craig Annan photographed this carpenter’s shop in Toledo. The city of Toledo in Spain is located southeast of Madrid. The men in the workshop seem to be a part of the place. Perhaps their grandfathers and maybe their grandfathers’ grandfathers worked there. It has a timeless quality.

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I really liked Spain when I visited there years ago. What a beautiful country it is! I didn’t go to Barcelona, but I got to see Madrid, Toledo, and Sevilla. Toledo is an ancient city with narrow, twisting streets. It would be easy to be overwhelmed by the weight of the past in such an aged environment but the Spanish people never gave me that impression. They were full of life.

I would love to go back someday–but you can never relive experiences. When you return to an old place, you find that time doesn’t stand still. We never return to a place and find it just like we left it. Either we change or the place changes. Sometimes the spell breaks and you wonder why you were so charmed by it. And sometimes you see a familiar thing in a new light that infuses it with a value you never realized it had.

Have a happy week everyone!