“I saw the linear flashes, gleaming silver, like stars being born at random down a rolling scroll of time.
Something broke and something opened. I filled up like a new wineskin.
I breathed an air like light; I saw a light like water.
I was the lip of a fountain the creek filled forever; I was ether, the leaf in the zephyr; I was flesh flake, feather, bone.”
"Light be it particle or wave, has force: you rig a giant sail and go. The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff."
"Here is the word from a subatomic physicist: 'Everything that has already happened is particles, everything in the future is waves.'...The particles are broken; the waves are translucent, laving, roiling with beauty like sharks. The present is the wave that explodes over my head, flinging the air with particles at the height of its breathless unroll; it is the live water and light that bears from undisclosed sources the freshest news, renewed and renewing, world without end."
- Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
After starting Pilgrim at Tinker Creek awhile back, then putting it down for whatever reason about a third of the way in, I felt inspired to pick it back up again after finishing Canyon.
The timing worked out such that on Saturday morning, I read the above paragraph, the last in a chapter called The Present, with images of phosphorescent waves crashing down on Salmon Creek Beach the night before still fresh in my mind. This synchronicity making Ms. Dillard's words all the more powerful. The message, to treasure the present moment in all of its glory, has not gone lost on me.
Thanks to my neighbor Jeremy for sharing that wonderful image he captured of the glowing green waves as he and his family and Clover and I, sat in the foggy darkness, bundled in blankets on the sand, mesmerized by the otherworldly beauty of the ocean's light.
[All other images via various talented Flickr folk, each photo links to its source]
12 comments:
I absolutely loved that book, such a great read. I'm so glad I have ladies like you from which to glean book suggestions.
Those are gorgeous photo, so dreamy.
What beautifully captivating images, Missa! Thank you for sharing.
I just had a conversation with a friend today about how often I wish these days away...waiting for kids to go to bed...waiting for the weekend; and missing out on enjoying the present by wishing those hours away! So this post too, is perfect synchronicity and a reminder for me to be still and live. That last photo IS perfection of a moment.
lovely lovely post, both visually and sentimentally.
i think my fave pic is of our very own milla :)
Amazing. I can't believe the last image, how that light was captured!
so pretty!
that last photo is truly magicl.
i just finished pilgrim too! i've been sitting on a post about the paragraph that moved me the most...i'm so glad you did this one...that book is full of good soul medicine. all the images are incredible, delicious, nourishing. here's love to you, in this golden light of late summer...time to drink it in!
oh. so much wonder. I'm re-reading the pilgrim again, in snippets, because my other reading material is so painfully grim. beauty and mythos and self-luminescence is what the world needs right now. Thank you.
Hello Missa
Beautiful! Inspiring to say the least! I am on the track now of finding good reads that speak to the heart and soul, having had a break from books for a bit. Thank you.
Realizing now there is this lovely circle of blogging lassies making lovely comments all about, who all seem to know each other... I am finding my way around all these lovely words, images and poetic peace and heartfelt offerings.
Its a good discovery!
beautiful images and what powerful words :) I must take a look at some of these reads.
ahh. you are amazing.
i like this post. i do. i really do.
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