concatenation

Happiness.


Circles. Turas. Journey, pilgrimage.





Jera. There is no way to push the river. You can't hasten the harvest.





Success is a journey not a destination -- half the fun is getting there.

-Gita Bellin

saturday

Some hours before dawn Henry Perowne, a neurosurgeon, wakes to find himself already in motion, pushing back the covers from a sitting position, and then rising to his feet.

-from Ian McEwan's Saturday



Ian McEwan's Atonement is one of my favorite novels, so when Saturday made it to the top of my reading pile this week I was eager to dive in.

His writing is elegant and controlled, with beautiful, flowing language, and yet very clear and concise.

His novel Saturday takes place in one day, which means he digs deeply into each scene, allowing Henry Perowne to do a lot of thinking and pondering. I love this kind of intimate, internally-driven writing.

I sometimes wonder if the European "audience" - when it comes to novels - is more accepting of this style of writing, which is not plot but character-driven.

I had not realized until I noticed on the bookjacket that McEwan wrote The Comfort of Strangers, which was made into a movie back in the '90's. That title is now on my reading list.

Reading Saturday is also triggering memories of Saul Bellow's Herzog and Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, both novels I own but have not read in many years ... perhaps I will connect the dots and read off on a tangent!

blue sky pine

Out walking the back field this morning after feeding and throwing hay, I began to pace off the area where I'm planning to put a small barn with studio loft. This will involve taking down some trees, so I walked the fence line trying to decide where the best site is that would take down the least number. I don't like removing trees.

The place I'd originally visualized is not the best - if I shift it there's a larger, flatter, clearer space - but the loft windows would not open onto the view I wanted inside the field.

More pondering needed.

I also want a 3-bay shed with hay loft and found a plan for one last night that is exactly what I was thinking of. This morning I walked it off as well. I can visualize the lay-out but once again, it requires tree removal and careful spacing because of our need to allow for horse trailer turn-around as well as dump-truck access for delivery of shavings.

I love thinking through these things. We can't do them all right away, but imagining, in great detail, the possibilities, makes me happy.

the brother

Not to be forgotten, the handsome, the aristocratic, Dickens Edward Wickens.

our own true song

Finding our own true song is about relinquishing the burden of ego and the false choruses that it sings.





...our own deep song is forever singing its beautiful melody beyond the reach of our ears. When we act sincerely, when we speak from the heart, when our passion is engaged, the true song is heard in all its glory.

--from Caitlin Matthews' The Celtic Spirit