27-APR

School

Redhead in Edinburgh, Morning (2012) by G.Garchar

Long ago, during the last age of reason, certain proud thinkers had claimed that valid knowledge was indestructible – that ideas were deathless and truth immortal.

But that was true only in the subtlest sense, and not superficially true at all.

There was objective meaning in the world, to be sure: the non-moral logos or design of the Creator; but such meanings were God’s and not Man’s, until they found an imperfect incarnation, a dark reflection, within the mind & speech & culture of a given human society, which might ascribe values to the meanings so that they became valid in a human sense within the culture.

A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) by Walter Miller

26-APR

Summertime

View from front yard of Willow Glen Community Center

It is a long time since my last visit,” said Dumbledore, peering down his crooked nose at Uncle Vernon. “I must say, your agapanthus are flourishing.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K.Rowling

25-APR

Lifetime

Shroud Of Turin <- YouTube

In a dark sea of centuries wherein nothing seemed to flow, a lifetime was only a brief eddy, even for the man who lived it. There was a tedium of repeated days and repeated seasons; then there were aches and pains, and finally Extreme Unction.

And a moment of blackness at the end – or at the beginning, rather.

For then the small shivering soul who had endured the tedium, endured it badly or well, would find itself in a place of light, find itself absorbed in the burning gaze of infinitely compassionate eyes as it stood before the Just One. It would be hard to believe differently.

A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) by Walter Miller

24-APR

Liftoff

View of rocket launched from Vandenberg, 200 miles away – Thanks M

From our front porch this morning, we could even see the 1st stage booster separating from the 2nd stage and its return for landing on earth. The only things missed were the roaring sound of the nine thruster engines, and a 4-hour drive from Central California back home to Northern California.

23-APR

Gaskin

Rodeo Bronco

The gaskin is the part of the horse between the stifle and the hock.

So, now you know.

Update April 16, 2023: Things are looking up because the Lidocaine Patch relieved my back muscle pain from the bicycle accident of April 3rd , 2023, enough to allow me to finally get a good night’s sleep.

And life is beautiful, because nature can be beautiful no matter the fearsome forces at play.