I enjoyed your thoughts on the crows which I don't normally appreciate. I'm more inclined to admire the hawks that live around me. The chirpy squirrels are my ever-present animal neighbors. But what I was most interested in was your puzzling and research about something you'd like to write about but are not sure what the shape of it will be. It reminded me of my current struggles with my quilting efforts.
There are definitely similarities between quilting and poem-writing--they always require putting things together that may not already be together, and deciding just how porous to make the boundaries or non-boundaries between them seem. Thanks, Meg!
I particularly appreciate the idea of exploring things or creatures -- in this instance, crows -- as what they are, not what they represent to us representation-fixated humans. Of course, representation creeps in a bit, as do literary resonances, but you bring us back to the crows themselves, alongside whom we live our lives. Since we are still in the Days of Awe, I think I can, with your help, Joan, now bring crows into my field of vision as sources of awe in its most basic sense. Scott's clarifications are helpful as well.
Joan, I thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of crows, but especially love this sentence: “But never mind my inconsistencies.” Same. It feels true to being human.
Thanks, Kristen. It does seem whenever we think we know where we stand in the terrain of how we might understand or appreciate this thing or that, we suddenly feel the ground shifting just a little bit under our feet!
I enjoyed your thoughts on the crows which I don't normally appreciate. I'm more inclined to admire the hawks that live around me. The chirpy squirrels are my ever-present animal neighbors. But what I was most interested in was your puzzling and research about something you'd like to write about but are not sure what the shape of it will be. It reminded me of my current struggles with my quilting efforts.
There are definitely similarities between quilting and poem-writing--they always require putting things together that may not already be together, and deciding just how porous to make the boundaries or non-boundaries between them seem. Thanks, Meg!
I particularly appreciate the idea of exploring things or creatures -- in this instance, crows -- as what they are, not what they represent to us representation-fixated humans. Of course, representation creeps in a bit, as do literary resonances, but you bring us back to the crows themselves, alongside whom we live our lives. Since we are still in the Days of Awe, I think I can, with your help, Joan, now bring crows into my field of vision as sources of awe in its most basic sense. Scott's clarifications are helpful as well.
Thank you, Tamzen, for giving me a way to integrate my crow thinking into my Yom Kippur anticipations!
This is lovely. We often underestimate the beauty of the quotidian.
Thank you, Rosa. It's nice to have your companionship in the appreciation of the quotidian in its variegated beauty.
Joan, I thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of crows, but especially love this sentence: “But never mind my inconsistencies.” Same. It feels true to being human.
Thanks, Kristen. It does seem whenever we think we know where we stand in the terrain of how we might understand or appreciate this thing or that, we suddenly feel the ground shifting just a little bit under our feet!