Monday, January 24, 2011

Thoughts on a snowy morning

Lest you think that The View from Lazy Point, the book I wrote about in Saturday’s post, is nothing more than yet another call to arms about our species shoddy treatment of planet Earth, it’s not. It’s a beautifully written book about the rhythms of the year and the ocean at the far end of Long Island.

Here’s an example: “Nature has neither sentiment nor mercy. What it does have is life, truth and logic. And it strives for what it cannot have: an end to danger, an assurance of longevity, a moment’s peace…”

And another: “…nature and human dignity require each other. And I believe that—if the word ‘sacred’ means anything at all—the world exists as the one truly sacred place.”

Author Carl Safina is a careful observer of the life around him—the birds, the shells (and how those have changed over just a few years). His book about his life on this rather remote stretch of land is fun for me to read. I’m a mountain-dweller who observes life in my little corner of the Appalachians and who gets to a seashore only rarely, so I enjoy reading about how the seasons change and how the years progress at his place.

We all have our own different places, each one worthy of a lifetime's exploration.  Since we all only have one life, the only way I can experience, at least a little bit, another person's place is to read about it.

My photo today was taken on this chilly 5 degree morning.  The view is of one of Roundtop's snowmaking ponds and looking over to one of the bunny slopes.

2 comments:

Cathy said...

Sounds like a good book. I'll tried Ill later on. Right now I have a couple books on the Kindle to read.

Folkways Note Book said...

Carolyn -- A warm and succinct post about nature and us humans. Especially liked your words, "We all have our own different places, each one worthy of a lifetime's exploration" -- barbara