so inert that cannot be moved by exposure to art. All of us, everywhere, remember a melody from some half forgotten song, a faded photo of some loved one, a faint perfume on a cool nights air, reminding us of those we loved and who’s memory we cherish. This same nostalgia, this momentary pang of remembrance then is what we experience when wandering and wondering through our museums. Don’t you agree? Don’t wait to long
Great art is also represented in cinematic genre. Writers, producers, directors and talented actors have created stunningly beautiful films that carry the viewers into unimaginable worlds far beyond the ordinary. Some of the very best project spectacular views, speech and music, sweeping the audience’s emotions along like a wild wind, tossing and turning them, lifting them from their mundane lives to places many have never been and will never go- they cry, sigh and fly with the power of the thing!
While discussing the art of film we must save space for the photograph. Traditionally, photographs showed us what the artist saw through his lens. He set up the view, like the great sprawling American landscapes of Ansel Adams to the poignant tintypes of the civil war by Alexander Gardner and Mathew Brady. The photographer uses his camera as does the painter with brush, presenting and persevering a view of what is, as only he can see it. Today, with the remarkable power of computer programs photographs can be enhanced and manipulated such that what the artist creates is akin to the truly wondrous; often leaving the viewer speechless, unable to articulate the depth of their feelings. Reality can indeed be shown to be even more awesome than nature originally intended- penetrating the soul, leaving an indelible impression. Such is the power of the camera!
While you can, I urge you to create, draw, film, write, do something to leave your mark. You are valuable, you are unique; don’t pass us by without a sound. We need to hear what you have heard; we need to know what you have known! So, tell us!
CHAPTER 4
The Natural World
Who of us has not wondered at the quiet beauty of nature, a perfect rose, a stately tree, a field of clover, who has not wandered along a shaded wooded path, ripe with ferns, bushes and dense forestation? This isn’t a question, it is simply a statement to be considered and absorbed.
Most of us are not botanists or particularly well schooled in biological lore, but we all can, and most do, understand and in our way, appreciate nature. Using our senses to feel and experience the abundant and vigorous life flourishing in the forests, fields, streams, rivers, lakes and oceans is truly joyous. As we open ourselves to our world, that world that the creator has given us, the in-pouring of reality truly stuns, we are shocked by the intensity of our feelings. What is this you ask? Why haven’t I ever felt it?
Unfortunately, too many of us have not experienced the power of this communication with nature. Of course, millions of urban dwellers, focusing on the grey cement sidewalks in front of him, never lifting their heads above the smog, live circumvented lives deprived of the opportunity. As a young boy, I slept many, many nights in the quiet woods, listening to the soft winds rattle the leaves and smelling the pine needles under my bed. I heard the small animals scurrying about and the screech of an owl hunting a meal. I have wandered along the trails in many forests and forded streams and rivers from Alaska to Florida. I have caught ,cooked and ate many tasty fish from fresh to salt waters. Even today, my pack in here, waiting in the hall closet, my old hiking boots too…. Of course, these days, I’m not about climbing and hiking as I did those years ago….
I think, one of the greatest pleasures at the end of a day on the trails is to sit by the campfire, as man has done for thousands of years, and gazing into the flickering flames, composing ones thoughts, contemplate the sights, smells, and feelings collected along the way. It was at these times, I developed my own special relationship and understanding of nature, who and what was I in this great abundance of vibrant life. Here, surrounded by many miles of forests, fields, hills, lakes, rivers and mountains, feeling the great beating heart of wildness, how did I fit into the whole. What was and is the place of the human in the calculus of the natural world? No visit to a city park can bring you to this realization. If you have no idea what I’m talking about here by all means, get yourself up and go.. Walk the Appalachian trail, camp in the cool woods, light your own fire and consider the shine of the many eyes of the critters who see you, what are they thinking, what are you thinking?
Of course, I was alive, I felt and feel the raw energy of the living earth pushing against the entropic persuasion of planetary evolution, one species giving way to another, great trees returning to earth, as all living things must. The comprehension of the inevitability of dissolution of matter, energized and compounded by the sharpness of perception…… My heart burst with feeling, emotions running into emotions bringing tears to my eyes so great was the power of understanding…..How wonderful to reminisce, how these memories are to be treasured and how much more we can gain from them.
We, all of us, are children of nature. We are an integral part of the grand whole, perhaps the most important part! Here it is, you, me, all mankind, we are the key to everything. It is man alone who relates one to another reaching a unifying comprehension of all life. We can see and know everything nature offers and, in so knowing, understand the symbiotic necessity between everything.
Only man can prepare sustenance such that time for consideration of meaning is possible. The birds never cease searching for food- in this they join all creatures great and small. Lions sleep away their meal and rise only for another. Only man can and does prepare time to understand and, from comprehension comes appreciation and from appreciation, love. Now you know! To be fully human we must love our world and, when we do, we find it loves us as well…
The city dweller must get out of his ugly creation as often as possible. I think that those who never do lose their humanity and, instead of learning to love, they go the other way, often attacking their own. There is no love in the city, concrete, glass, metal and aluminum do not and cannot love you…and, you cannot love them…. To find this kind love, the love of and for a human for his world, one must walk the natural world.
Why, do you suppose, we feel so relaxed lying on a sandy beach by a gentle sea. Why do you suppose, so many feel that the epitome of a vacation is to head south to some tropical island, to rest on the beach and play in the warm waters. Why does a picnic day in the country rejuvenate us so?
We have discussed the flora and fauna somewhat, but, two thirds of or world has none of this. The great oceans surround all civilization; these massive waters in fact dominate our world and cannot be overlooked. Some argue that life began in the warm seas at the dawn of creation. Maybe. Today most of us have ventured into or near the sea. We all wondered at their breath and depth. Many of us build our towns, cities and homes near the oceans, probably too close. I don’t think there are any who have not gazed at the horizon and not imagined far off lands on the other side. The ocean is the only place where we can see in every view all three of the earth’s elements, the land, sea and sky.
For many years, I lived aboard a sailboat, often venturing far over the deep oceans. I took many friends along, introducing them to the life of the sailor. The experience can be both wonderful and humbling. The ocean, once out of sight of land, dominates all. The boat is so small and fragile… There is a mixture then of fear and great pleasure in being privileged to sail. The winds against the sails provides a powerful and irresistible force driving the boat through the water.
A sailboat has a symbolic relationship to the sea. It chooses the path of least resistance, using the incompressibility of the water against the keel with the force of the wind against the canvass to push the hull effortlessly forward. There is no great screw driven by a massive fire breathing and belching engine beating and thrashing its way through the water. All powerboats, great and small, churn the water, making a horrible racket both above and below, scaring
