Originally uploaded by Andrei Singer

I almost never post landscapes. It is simply not my thing. Tonight is different. A person I knew in very auspicious and positive circumstances died in very dire circumstances. He was a soldier. This was not the least apparent. He was self effacing and had the brightest of smiles. He was all hope for the world and when there was no reason for hope he was there about to create those reasons. He was a soldier in the business of saving lives. One by one, delivering clean water. And he knew exactly why he was doing what he was doing. This sense of purpose was always evident. I knew U.S. Army Capt. Benjamin Sklaver way too little. Today I hate myself for that. I have all the right excuses. He was younger then I was and a year bellow in the grad school we attended. Today a good few years later (but how few they appear now) I am married, he is just engaged ... I have maybe a few pictures of him in the midst of other grad students but these are more appropriate. Oseh shalom bim'romav hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu