Yearly Archives: 2016

Latin, Myth and Story, Translating Metamorphoses

The Flight of Medea

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Yule                                                                           New (Stock Show) Moon

Set the Cub Cadet on 6, its top speed, and rocketed through the fluffy snow on our driveway. Felt like cheating. It’s gonna stay cold so even the three or four inches we had would stick around a while, a la Minnesota. Better to whisk away to the sides, let the solar snow shovel do its work.

I’ve been working on Latin this morning, more of the comparison method, checking my English against Loeb’s, Penguin Prose and a translation by Charles Martin. My head begins to throb after about an hour. Snow blowing seems like an acceptable alternative.

Here’s a few verses as a sample. This is entirely my own translation.

Medea Flees or The Flight of Medea,  Metamorphoses, Book VII, 350-398

350b Had she not flown into the air on serpent’s wings

351b Would she not be taken for punishment?  She fled

352b above richly shaded Mt. Pelion, Chiron’s home, and

353b above Othrys in Thessaly, over the spot made known by the fate of ancient Cerambus.

354b He, raised into the air on wings here by work of the nymphs ,

355b  escaped, not overwhelmed by Deucalion’s flood

356b  when the burdened earth was being buried by the spreading sea.

357b  On her left she passed Aeolian Pitane

358b  And its great likeness of a dragon made of stone,

359b  And the grove of Idaeus, where the son of Bacchus stole a young bullock

360b  hidden by deceitful Bacchus under the likeness of a deer,

361b   She passed over Paris, the father of Corythi, buried under a small mound of sand,

362b  And over the fields Maera frightened by strange barking.

363b  She flew over the city of Eurypylus where the mothers of  Coa wore horns

364b  When the band of Hercules dispersed to Rhodes,

365b  dear to Phoebus Apollo, and Ialysos, home of the Telchines,

366b  the eyes of whom by beholding infected everyone,

367b  Jupiter, detesting them, plunged them under the sea to his brother, Poseidon.

 

368b  She then passed over the city walls of ancient Cartheia on the island Cea.

369b  where Alcidamas, her father, marveled that  the body of his daughter

370b  was born anew as a peaceful dove.

 

Poetry

There Will Be Stars

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Yule                                                                               New (Stock Show) Moon

There Will Be Stars

“There will be stars over the place forever;
Though the house we loved and the road we loved are lost,
Every time the earth circles her orbit
On the night the autumn equinox is crossed,
Two stars we knew, poised on the peak of midnight
Will reach their zenith; stillness will be deep;
There will be stars over the place forever,
There will be stars forever, while we sleep.”


By Sara Teasdale

Beyond the Boundaries, Faith and Spirituality, Original Relation, Reimagine. Reconstruct. Reenchant.

The Gate of Chan

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Yule                                                                            New (Stock Show) Moon

THE GATE OF CHAN

As a result of unwavering diligence you arrive at the gate of Chan. Before the gate stands a gatekeeper who says, “First you must put down your weapons.” Being determined to pass through the gate, you give it no second thought, so you drop all your defenses. After that the guard says, “Next you must take off all your clothes.” You think for a moment, and then you drop all your remaining attachments. Then the guard says, “Now you have to put aside your body.” You have been working hard for a long time so you decide that enlightenment is even worth dying for, so away goes the body. Finally, the guard says, “You still have your mind; that too must go. There can be nothing left of you when you enter.” Because you are determined to succeed, you agree to this final demand. The instant that you let go of your mind, the gate disappears. There was in fact no gate to pass through and nothing to enter.

–Song of Mind by Sheng Yen, pages 69–70
http://www.shambhala.com/song-of-mind.html

Aging, Beyond the Boundaries, Faith and Spirituality, Quotes, Reimagine. Reconstruct. Reenchant., Third Phase, Travel

Live in the Whole Ocean

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Yule                                                                         New (Stock Show) Moon

 

 

“Kay Cottee AO is an Australian sailor, who was the first woman to perform a single-handed, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation of the world. She performed this feat in 1988 in her 37 feet yacht Blackmores First Lady, taking 189 days.”    Wikipedia

When Jessica Watson, in 2009, set sail for her southern hemisphere circumnavigation of the world, she was 16. I don’t recall how, but I found her website on which she posted as she sailed alone in her boat, True Spirit. There was something about her, something fresh and brave, youth, yes, but something more, perhaps it was true spirit.

Since then, I subscribed to her facebook page so I can keep very loose tabs on her as she grows older. Just curious about how true spirit manages adulthood. Wonderfully, as it turns out. She’s inspirational to Australian girls, an advocate for sailing and a modest celebrity down under.

She posted this quote from her idol, Kay Cottee. She means us to take it, I think, as literally intended, a comment on the nature of voyages alone. It is, however, too, a way of understanding the ancientrail we call life.

 

Colorado, Humanities, Latin, Myth and Story, Reimagine. Reconstruct. Reenchant., The West, US History

Stock Show Weather

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Yule                                                                                 New (Stock Show) Moon

The Denver metro has Stock Show weather. Stock Show weather is cold as opposed to snowy, not surprising since the Stock Show runs the three weeks after the first week of the New Year.

We got 5 or 6 inches of snow overnight. The next few nights will be in the single digits or low double digits, cold by Colorado standards. Just getting cool by Minnesota’s. It rarely gets chilly here, that is well below zero, though it does happen. Still, as I told Greg, my Latin tutor, this morning, I wouldn’t care to visit Minnesota during a chilly period. Not anymore.

A couple of weeks ago Greg gave me an assignment. Match my English translation against other English translations, then figure out where and why we differ. This means I’m moving closer to the sort of translating I sought when I began this long journey. In order to proceed honestly I still have to translate the Latin first, then check others. This way I don’t engage in cheating, making my translation fit someone else’s interpretation. But, done in the proper sequence this method allows me to begin polishing my language, getting beyond a more literal translation to a more literary one.

Getting back to regular, that is daily, Latin work has been frustratingly slow. I’ve allowed holidays and illness to intrude. Understandable, not helpful. After this morning’s session though, I have a feeling I’m back at it. Greg said I did very well with the material I prepared. That means, when we sight read the Latin, I easily and accurately translated what I had put through the English translation match.

With my workouts somewhat regular now, illness and holidays again, it feels as if I’m returning to the productive rhythm I had in Minnesota. Now I need to add writing on a novel and/or the reimagining book. Working out, Latin and creative writing are the three legs to my stool, each necessary in their own way.

The art will come along, too.

General

more triangle

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Yule                                                                               New (Stock Show) Moon

The triangle of influence came from thinking about the limits of reason. A field where this sort of thinking has become very important over the last few years is economics. Classical economics assumes the rational man (sic). This central figure in all economic thinking chose economic actions based on a logical analysis of his own self interests. His choices maximized his self-interest, so a cheaper car made with the same quality as a more expensive one would always be his choice since he got similar quality for less money.

Problem is, people don’t actually behave this way. Many factors influence a consumer’s choices and some of them create decisions actually opposed to a rational man’s self-interest. Our solar array is a good example. We voluntarily tied up thousands of dollars of capital in an energy generation system that will take years to pay off. This means we eschewed certain short term benefits, having the money to spend or save right now, for a future good. This future good is not defined by the return on investment, but by a shift from a polluting energy source to a non-polluting one. The field of behavioral economics tries to take into account this more typical choice making.

Those whose influence flows largely from the Nietzschean corner, secularists like myself, must account for the choices made by people influenced more strongly by the Smithian. We cannot dismiss it, as the new atheists, flat earthers I call them, do.

 

Great Work, Jefferson County, Reimagine. Reconstruct. Reenchant., Science, Shadow Mountain, Weather +Climate

Quite an Array

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Yule                                                                      New (Stock Show) Moon

Called up our solar array on Alternative Energy Systems. Each of our microinverters, one per panel, sends out a message about its panels performance. 27 panels, 27 graphics with the amount of energy in watts being produced at any one moment. Very cool. Except for the fact that we have snow on the panels and only a few are producing at near optimum. Plus, even with tree cutting we’re still getting some shading. This will take some time, maybe a full year, to assess. The good news is that electricity now comes from the sun through the photovoltaic panels and into our home. (chart from today)

chart

Politics, The West, US History

A Bird Sanctuary? Come on.

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Yule                                                                            Christmas Moon

 

Malheur   National Wildlife Refuge | Oregon

People and wildlife have been drawn to the resources of this oasis of wetlands in the high desert of Oregon for thousands of years. With over 320 bird species Malheur is a mecca for birdwatchers.

 

Birdwatchers?

The militia (sic) occupying the bird sanctuary. My solution? Cordon them off, leave them alone. Arrest them when they come out. Invoke laws focused on terrorist acts on American soil. Try them. Lock’em up.

As to the inciting cause. Geez, guys and gals in the federal judiciary. Don’t let somebody out, then say, oops, we need more of your time. That’s cold. No matter what the crime. Also, makes you look like the gub’ment. That makes us all look bad. A bit of understanding would have stopped this incident before it began.

Sage Brush Rebellion. Revoke their grazing permits and other land use permits for federal land. Arrest them for all violations of state and federal law. Prosecute. Jail or fine. Repeat as necessary.

However. When both the protesters and the government act like the Three Stooges, maybe it would be best to call NBC, declare all of this reality tv and make a little money. Vote them off the bird sanctuary. That sort of thing.

A new westerner’s two cents on this silly issue of our time.

Writing

Missed Day

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Yule                                                                          Christmas Moon

Not often I miss a day. I did update Current Work yesterday but the bug I had found me back downstairs and in bed yesterday morning. Never made it back up here. I spent the days of the New Year holiday wrestling with a true zombie of the physical world, a virus. Most of them don’t eat brains, but they’ll happily feed on your cells. I feel better today, though not all the way there.

More work still in the loft though I made substantial progress. I’d forgotten how uncomfortable being sick can be, how much it can slow you down. Even so, I only have one small stack of boxes and plastic bins left and the floor will be clear for the first time since we moved in a year ago. That’s a major improvement.