Two statements, one thought:
=================================================================
And if I may bend your ear a bit.... I grew up in Wales. My
childhood eyes recall a land of pristene greenness, crystal streams, an
ocean alive, alive ho! :) Now my home of longings has become a place of
tears. You may say that the mines did little to caress the brow of our
Mother, yet in childhood eyes it was such a wonder, thousands of tipovers
coming by rail to join their mates in their wait for shipping. I knew it
all then. Simplicity is easy to know. Simplicity was life then, and no
better a symbol than the herds of sheep going on naturally as for centuries.
Now the mines are quiet (as the rails and docks), and poverty kills
just as dust. The sheep are infected by Chernobyl's intrusion... for
Northern Wales was the place it chose to rain.
I lived a few decades in Upstate NY. I fished the West Canada with
my dad, skiied and canoed the adirondacks, and still own a small farm
outside of Cooperstown. I saw GE's "progress" become the middle name of
polution, and Ciba... not to mention Solvey. I caught mercury infected
pike, muskie, trout, and bass. And in fairness and praise to the efforts of
the consciencious people who love that land, I saw things return to the road
of ecological responsibility. Today's Upstate enjoys the return of the
beaver, the loon, the eagle. And with the exodus of high impact industry
from a state that decided it had had enough of irresponsible business, comes
unemployment, poverty, and escalating taxes.
I was blessed to live within a live oak forest in Northern Florida
(Go Gators!), and now am preparing a site along the magnificent Coosa River
for a home that will be graced by its environment. Just below the homesite,
and along the river bank, it the favorite spot of a loon. And without any
ceremony this magnificent creature has trumpeted her disapproval of my
intrusions upon her marked territory. This bird will never entertain
cohabitation or the proximity of humans. Such is the nature of the loon.
And to me she stands as a symbol of quandry, a paradox created by her
presence. For what is the value of enjoining this environment while denying
its inherent gifts?
Now, I have asked that loon in an ancient fashion for her permission
to settle on that forested river bank. Yet it is not within her graces to
accept my proposal. I can easily tell myself that the river is plenty large
enough for the two of us, yet... she was there first and has rightful
claims. But the building will proceed. The memory of that loon will remain
in my mind during my every step within that forest. For I cannot allow my
relationship to this earth, my Mother, to become one step further an
intrusion. For me there has come a point. And beyond this point I will
never presume any rights. I can but hope that when all is said and done, my
bones will have a right to reside within my Mother's flesh.
===========================================================================
So, once again I know it all... and once again life becomes simple.
Broad smiling I was, o'er the purchased land... imagining estates broadening
across the river's eyes. Even deep within the earth I saw the roots as
mine, for a moment's respect turned to folly. As always, then, Mother took
my hand, "Come for a looking walk little boy, come be tucked upon my sway."
He hopped, more flew, upon the log there to taste the air... and knowing I
was there kept his date in any case, as if to say, "So there!" Red fox
rubbing his scent upon the bush that suited his mark... "This is mine now
you see... mine for ever more."
Smiled, I did, nodded nine times more, as nodding is the way my head
eternally learns, and satisfied the lesson learned, red fox went so it
seemed invisible.
About to turn, to return to check-list's drearydom, it was a start all right
that 'bout spun me down, my eyes thrust up to the red oak's peaks where Mrs.
Loon trumpeted her domain for all to know. "I am here to eat my lunch... in
peace or there will be trouble for all!"
She settled upon a crook to eat her catch, fresh shining trout, while I knew
a hunger and nodded once again.
And I presume to build a home upon this site, fraught with loads of codes
and codicils. How long I wonder must I labor in applications to the majesty
of life that's lived here ever on? Perhaps if I should pray and bow
throughout the long of what life remains, I may have earned a place to
settle my bones?
===========================================================================
Barry Blust
Co-Moderator, Celtic Study Group (CSG-L)
===========================================================================
"I expect nothing less from you than this; by the time our friendship is old
and comfortable, you'll have shown me something that no-one else has ever seen."
-Jacqueline McAdam-
"That is what I wish for all of you, my dear friends; memories too heavy to
hold, and the warmth they bring to your soul." -Lexie Marie-