Sketching The Bosphorus of America

Lines of thought help define a wash of life.

Waiting

20131210_2112 - Waiting...

I waited for you... but you didn't come.

I know.

Now I have to go.

Goodbye.

Farewell.

White Wolf

20131125_0733 - What does it mean to dream a dream?  Do we speak to ourselves with the language of long-ago or do "others?"  It is the cold of winter and I am wrapped in a warm blanket, sitting atop a table-mound.  A white wolf comes loping up and after gazing at me for a bit begins to nip at my feet.  I shake the blanket to discourage it but it is insistent.  There is no fear in either of us.  We do what we must - what is needed.

My Camera Takes No Pictures

20131123_0842 - A mind comes to rest between the normal extremes of its contemplation.  A contemplation of things - people, places, times that necessarily have defined its existence up to that point.  At rest, the position of a single finger migrates, without thinking, to a location that minimizes the tension of its motive connections.  While centered there is a conservation of energy, a necessary stewardship of such things, managed without conscious effort.

Susan E. Wallace, long ago laid to rest, writes, "It is like adding a story to the Tower of Babel to attempt anything new in these old regions where there were settlements before the first of Moguls was enthroned at Delhi, when Rome was the name given to a few straw-built sheds on the Palatine. Happily there are always young readers to whom the world is fresh as when the fairest of women first opened her eyes and the evening and the morning were the seventh day. So I take heart for my journal notes."[1]

...and so it is.

~

...

1 - Along The Bosphorus And Other Sketches (1898), Susan E. Wallace. https://archive.org/details/alongbosphorusot00wall

Reviews

[David Scott]

When we learn to see the ancient as something new and the new as something ancient the we approach the realm of understand and we experience broader dimensions of the reality we choose to see...

Do we write to be singular? Do we have the arrogance to think we have stumbled upon a new thought or seen a new land? Are we like the middle age empires in our narrow view of a flat Earth?

I cannot answer for others. Yet for my part, I wish to connect with the now. I wish to experience the greatness of the past and the dimensions of the present. I write to mark a point of concentration from witch the future will expand...

You have done well to fold meaning upon meaning. You place nostalgia like a seed on the pedestal of the Earth's mantel... You connect Europe and Asia to the Americas by the exploration of the very thing separating the two halves of modern civilizations birth.

You are a clever writer Tam.

Shall I offer you 100 miles of sea or 100 miles of land? You choose. It is granted. ;)

[Tam Warink]

Father sea or mother land? Let's split the difference if we can. Thank you, very much, for your considered thoughts and regal grants. I accept with back bowed.

[Sue Hart]

"There is nothing new under the sun." We grow by learning and that comes from the past. We are arrogant to think that we are beyond that. I love your poem. The contemplation of dreams, life, and acts blending. It was quite thought provoking.

[Tam Warink]

Thank you very much for reading, Sue. I think you and the land may have formed a sort of bond. It permits a type of observation that might not otherwise develop.

[Sue Hart]

There is no place better on the face of the planet than in the mountains of God communing with nature daily. City people miss a lot and can't stand the quiet beauty for long. For me it is peace, comfort, joy, and where the muse lives.

[Pryde Foltz]

The demon that is self-critique, usually born of the many and varied critiques of others attaining internal status. We all want to create great and original works but then nothing comes from nothing. We want to create quality works, but then we can be accused of being too high-brow; we all want our work understood but then we could be accused of being trite and overly-simplisitic. The trick is developing eclectic tastes, work hard, and keep creating. And be very careful how you lay critiques on others. They should be given for the sake of the artist, not simply to be aired for the sake of airing. If you are not feeling particularly generous of spirit, probably not the best time to give helpful advice.

You do make us dig. 1000/10

[Tam Warink]

A good point, well taken. I solemnly swear that I will try to be more aware of my spirit at those times. Thank you, Pryde.

[Pryde Foltz]

I think your spirit is just fine. :)