8.23.2024 – sometimes dreadful sense

sometimes dreadful sense
lonely with his burden once
buoyancy is gone

For rarely is a man so alone as on the trail, especially under a canoe. He is then shut off completely from his fellow. Tom and I have sat for hours by a camp-fire at night, without a word to each other, each of us thinking his own thoughts, but with a most acute sense of companionship. Meditation is not lonely, even when it is solitary. But on the trail, with a heavy load, and weary, a man is intensely alone. The exertion, the pounding activity, the noise of one’s own heavy breathing, of one’s own heart beating, the implacable insistence of sweat — all these give something of the loneliness of severe pain, and forbid the soothing attunement of the spirit to the universe, which makes communion out of contemplation. In a sometimes dreadful sense, a man is lonely with his burden on the trail, once it has become a burden, once the buoyancy is gone.

From the book,  The Incomplete Anglers by  John Daniel Robins,  Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada Ltd,1943.

But on the trail, with a heavy load, and weary, a man is intensely alone.

The exertion, the pounding activity, the noise of one’s own heavy breathing, of one’s own heart beating, the implacable insistence of sweat — all these give something of the loneliness of severe pain, and forbid the soothing attunement of the spirit to the universe, which makes communion out of contemplation.

In a sometimes dreadful sense, a man is lonely with his burden on the trail, once it has become a burden, once the buoyancy is gone.

Once more, the loneliness of severe pain, forbids the soothing attunement of the spirit to the universe, which makes communion out of contemplation.

No wonder sometimes I feel so tired, once that buoyancy is gone.

And once that buoyancy is gone, how do you get it back?

Sometimes no price would be too high for just a solid night of sleep.

8.22.2024 – happiness to know

happiness to know
that it is a rising and
not a setting sun

“I have often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising and not a setting sun.”

Ben Franklin as quoted in September 17, 1787: A Republic, If You Can Keep It at https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/constitutionalconvention-september17.htm

Dr. Franklin is supposed to have said this or wrote this to James Madison or Mr. Madison remembered Dr. Franklin saying this when the United States Constitutional Convention finished their work.

Maybe it was one of those things that was too good for someone not to have said so history decided Dr. Franklin said it.

He was famous for saying things he never said and his autobiography might not have been the way it happened but surely, was the way it should have happened.

BUT I DIGRESS!

Dr. Franklin is supposed to have been looking at the designed carved into the back of the chair of the President of the Constitutional Convention, a feller named George Washington.

Driving to work this morning I new that as I looked east I was seeing the sun rise out of the Atlantic Ocean.

It matched my spirits.

Hopefully, if Dr. Franklin was around today and watching CNN he might once again say, “I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising and not a setting sun.“

8.21.2024 – we build all manner of

we build all manner of
walls and fences then wonder why
we feel so alone

We live in a time of such confusion and rancor, with a culture that puts a premium on things that don’t last – money, fame, status, likes.

We chase the approval of strangers on our phones; we build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves and then wonder why we feel so alone.

We don’t trust each other as much because we don’t take the time know each other – and in that space between us, politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other and troll each other and fear each other.

Former President Barack Obama in a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024.

Regardless of who and what and where and so many other things about this speech, it was the style of speech that stirred my soul.

It was a speech.

It was a political speech.

It had a narrative.

It had ideas.

It asked questions.

It answered questions.

It challenged you.

It wasn’t a rant.

I knew half the country watching this speech loved it.

I also knew that half the country hated it this speech, if they even watched it.

Remember when this is what politics was like?

How did the common denominator get to be so low?

Think of the world Mr. Obama described.

A world of such confusion and rancor, with a culture that puts a premium on things that don’t last – money, fame, status, likes.

A world where we chase the approval of strangers on our phones; we build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves and then wonder why we feel so alone.

A world where we don’t trust each other as much because we don’t take the time know each other – and in that space between us, politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other and troll each other and fear each other.

Honestly now, deep down where you are honest, not with the world, but with yourself, who wants to live in this world?

8.20.204 – king not below man

king not below man,
but below God and the law …
this at least is clear

No one at the time regarded the Charter as a final settlement of all outstanding issues, and its importance lay not in details but in the broad affirmation of the principle that there is a law to which the Crown itself is subject. Rex non debet esse sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege — the king should not be below man, but below God and the law. This at least is clear.

Winston Churchill writing about the Magna Carta in his book, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: Vol. I. The Birth of Britain (Ontario, McClelland & Stewart, 1956).

Rex non debet esse sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege.

The king should not be below man, but below God and the law.

Mr. Churchill continues, “He has his sphere of action, within which he is free from human control. If he steps outside it he must be brought back. And he will step outside it if, ignoring the ancient Council of the kingdom, and refusing to take the advice of his wise men, he tries to govern through his Household, his favourites, or his clerks.”

The king should not be below man, but below God and the law.

If he steps outside it he must be brought back.

According to Wikipedia: Magna Carta was issued in June 1215 and was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law. It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.

8.19.2024 – curious, wanting

curious, wanting
find the answers, bottle the
spirit of science

“My goal in this was to make science aspirational, to see cool young people passionate about science, curious and wanting to find the answers and trying to bottle the spirit of science.

“The average viewer thinks of scientists as guys in labs and white coats and they don’t think of themselves as earthy real people and I wanted to break through that and go on their journey. That was our jumping off point and, because of the pandemic, it took a long time to get going but, once we got out there, we some pretty amazing stuff.”

Moviemaker James Cameron in the interview, ‘It’s harder to write sci-fi because we’re living in a sci-fi world’ by David Smith in the Guardian today.