Flowers & Rivers (vol. 2, no. 11)

Here are a few things I’m sharing this month

1. Question I’m living with:

  • “According to our usual way of looking at it, everything that you are seeing has, apart from small changes, been there for thousands of years before you. After a while — not long — you will no longer exist, and the woods and rocks and sky will continue, unchanged, for thousands of years after you. What is it that has called you so suddenly out of nothingness to enjoy for a brief while a spectacle which remains quite indifferent to you?” – Erwin Schrodinger (ht the Marginalian)

2. Quote I’m considering:

  • “The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.” – Frank Herbert (Dune)

3. Poem I’m pondering:

Hamatreya by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bulkeley, Hunt, Willard, Hosmer, Meriam, Flint,
Possessed the land which rendered to their toil
Hay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool, and wood.
Each of these landlords walked amidst his farm,
Saying, “’Tis mine, my children’s and my name’s.
How sweet the west wind sounds in my own trees!
How graceful climb those shadows on my hill!
I fancy these pure waters and the flags
Know me, as does my dog: we sympathize;
And, I affirm, my actions smack of the soil.”

Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds:
And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough.
Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys
Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;

Read more…

4. Something inspiring:

  • River Runner “carries you along the creeks and rivers that flow from [any place you pick] until you reach the ocean. You get a photo-realistic aerial view as if you were in a drone following the rivers and passing through towns and farms.” I traveled along the creeks and rivers of my hometown. It was awesome! (ht Recomendo)

5. New blogs:

  • Arrival – “I was sprinting through the first turn and then the second turn and into the parking lot and up to a police officer who was directing traffic and telling him, pleading with him “My wife is in labor, my truck is up on the thill and I’ve got to get back down to San Diego.”
  • Those who can, do; those who can’t – “So, a lawyer and a teacher are at a dinner party. The lawyer is gesticulating wildly and holding court when he says the one thing that sears the ears of every teacher…”
  • Disbandment – “Disbandment is a powerful tool. Indeed, it is so powerful that my pedagogical use of it could have gone terribly wrong. But it didn’t. Why not?”

I usually stop my newsletter here. However, if you don’t mind, I’d like to share two more things:

1. Arrival was my 200th blogpost. I never imagined that I would get here. So, to celebrate, I was going to share a list of my five favorite posts. However, when I was reviewing my old posts, I found all of these hints – things that I have been telling myself about what I should be doing with myself. So, I thought I’d share five posts that are pointing me in a particular direction:

2. Next week is Thanksgiving for us Americans. And, it has become a tradition of mine to re-read and share the following blog:

  • I Blamed Norman Rockwell – “I do not know for sure whether or not my Mom was chasing that ideal. But, I am not going to let Norman Rockwell off the hook. And, for those of you with children, let me be presumptuous enough to speak for your kids if only for a moment…”

If you’re reading this newsletter for the first time, you can read previous issues hereview lists of poems, questions, quotes and songs I’ve shared before here, and subscribe here.

Thanks so much. And, have a great day! – shawn

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