Mist in the Mountains

 Today in Art History we looked at a painting of mist in the mountains by Wang Lu 

https://smarthistory.org/wang-lu-landscapes-of-mount-hua-huashan/

Wang Lü, Landscapes of Mount Hua (Huashan)

Therein is the mystery of human existence, an individual seeking wisdom or some form of revelation and enlightenment in overwhelming, sublime mountains. That is the dream of most philosophers.

This evening I am on the cusp of a momentous parting of realities in my country. On one hand lies a path to more acceptance, compassion, an understanding of our place on the globe, our being a part of nature, of the beauty of diversity. On the other, the barbarism of despotic rule, fueled by intolerance and hatred of what is different, hatred of the "others." There is a path of destruction of enemies, cruelty, lack of care and empathy for those in need or less privileged. It is the path of bigotry and of no connection with nature or our planet. 

No one seems to know what future will unfold for us. Though, like a few others I admire, I feel a momentum, a surge for the change Kamala Harris embodies. She could be the present world spirit riding on horseback along the evolving Tao, the Way of being. Could be. 

So, tonight, Darryl made Pumpkin butter and biscuits, which with cream cheese, completed our dinner. It is a cold autumn night with cold drizzle falling, some fog, like the mist in Wang Lu's mountains. The seasons change, though another hurricane, Rafael, rises from the waters of the Caribbean. So too, all the seeming permanence of the mountains are shifted by the mist, the white paper of the artist, left untouched. Thus emptiness is the substance shifting and making the reality of the mountains. The wandering philosopher sits on his promontory staring, mesmerized, enchanted. . 

Jack

Autumn 2024

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Summer lets go it's hot grasp,

 at last.

The seasons shift and we repeat what we have experienced so many times. 

Again I am teaching Art History, currently looking at the revelry and gay life painted on the wall of the Tomb of the Diver. 

Again the country struggles with an election between the person I call evil for his lack of empathy, his cruel monologues, his attacks on virtually everyone who is not a white Christian nationalist male, his extremism; and the normal, liberal, Kamala Harris  with her attempt to return the country to sanity, to respect for diversity and empathy for one another. 

Mornings of coffee and pastry on the screen porch, dining on Darryl's superb cooking and our favorite cafes and restaurants. 

Still, I feel the loss of regular times together with my friends of the past. Are we all fading away from one another as we age? 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3808497685752&type=3

October this year offers Darryl and me a full autumn break: days and nights in Asheville, at the Pisgah Inn, drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway, time in Highlands, and cabin 6, beautiful, high up in Black Rock Mountain State Park. 

Life is gay. 

Life is sad. 

It's all OK,

So I am glad.

Love, Jack

 

Life is Good

 At 77, what good is my life? 

It would be worth a lot less without the love of my life, my husband, friend, and life companion for 34 years. Here he is:

 Love alone, however, is hardly enough to make a life meaningful, right? We need luxuries: 

We need luxurious food, good cooking, something to drink, a taste that brings delight: Champaign...

 Marzipan Croissants

Pumpkin Pie

 

We must have Philosophy, Literature, Music, Visual Art.

 Caravaggio; but also travel, seeing the world...

 

Hawaii

Napali Coast

Ueno Temple, Tokyo  

Life is gardens, concerts, friendship, dance, birdsong...

Yet it is also, sorrow, loss, illness, death for us all.

It is also the sorrow and suffering of millions of animals and fellow humans. Hunger, war, cruelty, despair. Depression resulting from the encounter with the evils of life, the indifference to others, the revenge and malevolence that motivate too many. Life is learning how to deal with the suffering, to make it less, to do good beyond ourselves. Life is awareness and celebration of the diversity of others, encouraging it among our friends, among the wealth of humanity with its cultural achievements. Life is empathy and compassion.

 Speaking of Champaign, The people in our lives have been the champaign, the joy of life:

 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10220351280786918&type=3

 

 

Lucky 13

 

Thirteen people who have made me who I am over the 77 years I have lived. Others have been close to me, and maybe I am underestimating their impact on my life. I am not including family, among whom I count the Killians. These 13 are to me undeniable and inseparable from or essential to my psyche, however anyone dissects it, and regardless if I ever see them again. 

In the order of the date on which we met:

 

Apple core, the Sea

 

Sharon, Blue Ridge Mountains

Degas, Bather 

Jake, New Orleans

 

 Joseph Mydell, Savannah

 Lynn, Savannah

Cal, Savannah

Jack and Jocelin, Hilton Head Island

Darryl, Atlanta

Starr Tays, Chattanooga

 Will, Lookout Mountain 

Myriad Juxtapositions 

Walnut Bridge, Chattanooga

  

Dr. James Land Jones at home.

Tybee Island.

 

Starr and Dar, Paradise Gardens

Sharon. U. of Virginia 

Joce, Caspersen Beach 

 Jake, Halfmoon Bay, CA

Darryl, Mykonos

Darryl, Land's End Inn, Provincetown

Julian, awaiting the Total Eclipse of the Sun

Gaston Street, Savannah

 

Joseph, Dad's Office, Oglethorpe Ave. 

Breakfast, Gordon Street.

 

Musician

Married on Cape Cod

Life After Life

 

          How swept are humans by the images, physical or mental, of the gods. The great assortment of so many gods... is the number of them, like numbers themselves, not the creation of people? What people? People who are suffering, who need someone to save them. Save them from what? Pain, suffering, hunger, the loss of loved ones, loss of all kinds, loss of self, death. If Jews invented the first monotheistic god, two Jews explained why: a wish for a benevolent father and a wish for a cosmic tool to control citizens in this world. We are incapable of having the world to ourselves, of taking responsibility for our actions, for the reality we all live in, but cannot accept. 

The great irony is that wars over which culture has the "real" god or gods have caused even more suffering, and some of the cruelest torture of non-believers, including burning people alive. The imaginary cure has turned into the cause of devastation and grief, 

Still, our desire for the immortal god or gods is understandable, even noble, beautiful. Look at the art, literature, music we have created and dedicated to our phantasms. No matter how horrible the material world becomes, we shall soon be sitting at the feet of our beloved dream gods in pure bliss.