DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE UNDERSTATED
The subtle ways Nature signals the inexorable reality of change, are useful lessons for anyone trying to sort out, or at least cope with the messy world of humanity before it’s too late.… Read the rest
THE PUERILE ARE IN THE PREPONDERANCE
Nothing so neatly epitomises how skewed priorities have become as the “Barbenheimer” movie delirium. If the gush of praise, analysis and other commentary is any indication, a doll and a shade of pink embody deep lessons and cultural significance. The other half of the conjoined title ought to be an admonition of how little progress Western culture has made since inventing the means to destroy it and pretty much everything else.… Read the rest
Fouling the Nest
As I slid past a thirty meter-high granite cliff in my kayak this week, I noticed a slash of white just below a small cave-like crack in the rock. It brought to mind the proverb: “It’s an ill bird that fouls its own nest”, a typically human way to characterise foolishness by casting unmerited aspersions.… Read the rest
WHEN LESS IS MORE, AND MORE IS LESS
The loons have been talking more frequently of late, the haunting call known as the “wail”. One of four sounds loons use to communicate, ornithologists believe its few notes speak volumes. Human communication, by comparison increasingly brings to mind the first lines of Harry Nilsson’s signature song: “Everybody’s talking at me/I don’t hear a word they’re saying/Only the echoes of my mind”.… Read the rest
TO TURN OFF A WORLD GONE MAD, FIND LOONS
Thus far, I’ve used my “perch” to ponder and comment (OK, pontificate) on strife, conflict, suffering and human folly. Now it’s time for a break, to follow the dictum of “Desiderata”, the idealistic poem we ‘boomers’ taped on our bedroom wall: “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste…”.… Read the rest