A father and his son, walking together.

They enjoy each other’s company, the father giving lessons about nature without being too obvious that he is teaching anything at all.

Sometimes no word are exchanged, and the moment is enough.

The father is the kind of person who would never pass up a chance to pet a dog.

The boy is a regular boy, taller than average because of his father, but he is the kind of boy who would never pass up a good walking stick on a hike.

Birds fly far below them, over a lake at the bottom of the valley.

It is a quaint little lake, nestled in the Oakland hills.

But these are not just any people.

This isn’t just any man petting a dog.

This is not just any boy.

This is not just any dog.

This is not just any lake, captured by a telephoto lens.

This is not just any guy in the trailhead parking lot that I made pose for a photo by his customized van.

These are not just any birds.

That is not just any vulture.

And this, this is not jut any lichen and moss encrusted rock.

Okay, obviously I got carried away, but it is true that these are not just any people. That is Big Johnny, old school friend of my wife, long-time friend of me, best man at our wedding, and father to William, our godson.

So I guess what I am saying is that all those other things seemed special, because I got to spend time with those two.