Beltane \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Beltane Moon<\/p>\n
Received a second invitation to a going away party for two friends moving to Maine. \u00a0They’re part of the Woolly change, the moves and deaths, the losses that accrue as we head past 65. \u00a0They seem pretty energized by this move to a home in Robbinston, a spot near the Atlantic and New Brunswick. \u00a0And why not?<\/p>\n
Change can give us a fresh perspective, a place to begin again or to continue, but in a different direction.<\/p>\n
Over the last several years I’ve chosen to embrace change as a deepening process, crossing thresholds into the unknown in areas with which I have substantial familiarity: \u00a0literature, arts, gardening, politics, family, religion.<\/p>\n
In literature, for example, I moved into a different kind of book, a fantasy epic instead of the one off novels I’ve written up till now. \u00a0This change exhilarated me, made me stretch, thinking about the long arc rather than the shorter one handled in one volume.<\/p>\n
The Latin learning and translating I’m doing is in service of deepening, too. \u00a0Deepening my knowledge of Greek myth and Roman culture. \u00a0I have, also, now peaked behind the veil of translation, learned something about the kinds of choices\u00a0translators\u00a0have to make.<\/p>\n
In the arts I’ve chosen to focus most of my learning in Asian arts, probing deeper into Chinese history and the role of context for the art we have at the MIA. \u00a0This part year didn’t see as any Asian tours as in the past, but I’ve continued studying, reading Chinese literature and learning more history.<\/p>\n
My grasp of photography has increased considerably, too, as has my understanding of contemporary art. \u00a0Going deeper.<\/p>\n
As Kate and I have gotten wiser about our garden and how we actually use it, we’ve gone deeper into vegetable and fruit growing and preserving. \u00a0The bees increased our appreciation for the engagement of insects in the plant world. \u00a0And for honey, too.<\/p>\n
In religion I’ve stepped away from any organized groups or lines of thought, trying now to penetrate how changes underway across the world might demand a new way of faith. \u00a0This one’s proving difficult. \u00a0But, that’s where the juice is, right?<\/p>\n
Finally, I’m learning, still, how to be a grandparent with my two instructors, Gabe and Ruth. \u00a0Also, I’m learning the role of parent in children’s mid-life, where demands of work and family consume them. \u00a0Again, a deepening and a change.<\/p>\n
Emerson said long ago that we do not need to travel to Italy to see beauty. \u00a0Beauty is where we see it, not only, perhaps not even primarily, where others see it.<\/p>\n
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Beltane \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Beltane Moon Received a second invitation to a going away party for two friends moving to Maine. \u00a0They’re part … Continue reading Changes<\/span>