Western Mountain Heather (Cassiope mertensiana) VIII.24.08
Western Mountain Heather (Cassiope mertensiana) VIII.24.08
Cassiope was a favorite genus of the 19-th century conservationist
and lyrical naturalist, John Muir. The extraordinary beauty of
its tiny inverted urn-shaped flowers makes it easy to see why.
I can't help thinking of the ancient Greek notion of 'hebe',
the bloom of youth or the very peak of beauty of the young
women as she is about to become a bride. Hebe, of course,
is also the name of the goddess, daughter of Zeus. Homer speaks
of her as the princess who was the divine domestic, a cupbearer
to the gods. At a rocky 2200 meters, on a west-facing slope,
one can't help bending down on one's knees and exclaiming,
"Good god that's beautiful!"
FUNDAMENTALISM
Fundamentalism—whether economic, or political, or
religious—is always based on the twin principles of
Absolute Belief & Absolute Authority. That is why
fundamentalism is incompatible with democracy, and
necessarily eschews all rational debate. And why every
house built upon its foundations is necessarily a prison,
a prison on the verge of collapse.
CIRCLE?
Between the larch needle and leaf of the water-lily,
Nature draws its circle.
HEROES, PAST & FUTURE
In the past,
war-makers
were
immortalized
in
the
great
epics
of
the
world
poetic
tradition
as
the
heroes
of
the
age.
Now
that
it
has
unquestionably
become
a
question
of
non-violence
or
non-existence,
the
term
'heroic'
only
seems
to
ring
true
for
the
future
peace-maker,
the
future
King's,
Gandhi's,
Einstein's
and
Krishnamurti's
of
the
world
who
dare
to
draw
a
still
wider
circle
of
compassion
and
enlightenment
around
the
w h o l e.
Broken Bridge Camp,
Eagle Cap Wilderness,
Oregon, X.29.2008
