Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Being Cool




With the temperature reportedly at 104 in Palo Alto, I'm missing the blessed coolness of those days at Hadrian's Wall; and while I'm indoors at my desk, not out in the infernal sun, I'm equally missing the amazing wide open spaces whose skyscapes are every bit as fascinating as the landscapes, whose vastness is a revelation, an inspiration, an exultation. How closed in we tend to live, from day to day—and how wrong that is for health and spirit both.

In looking for quotes about openness I find these lines by Mary Oliver, ending her The Summer Day; they will do quite nicely, following my plaint.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

image: Christie B. Cochrell, Cow at Hadrian's Wall

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