Speaking of shadows

It's been a long long time since 1971 when I first heard Bob Dylan sing "Watching the River Flow."  It's one of my favorites among his lesser known songs.  Now, 50 years later, I am curious but not willing to pay the $25 dollars to watch him sing as I sit at my laptop.   ¿What's the matter with me?  (-:

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Coincidentally, this morning I finished watching two excellent films by Martin Scorsese that moved me deeply:

In the darkness of my night, in the brightness of my day.

(Bob Dylan)

She knows too much to argue or to judge.

(Bob Dylan)

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I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest.  I do not judge the universe.

(Dalai Lama)

I'm nothing special, just an ordinary human being.  That's why I always describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. 

(Dalai Lama)

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"... I'm just average, common too

I'm just like him, the same as you

I'm everybody's brother and son

I ain't different from anyone

It ain't no use a-talking to me

It's just the same as talking to you

I was shadow-boxing earlier in the day ...

(Bob Dylan)

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by Tenzin Gyatso

The New York Times, November 12, 2005, Washington

 

SCIENCE has always fascinated me. As a child in Tibet, I was keenly curious about how things worked. When I got a toy I would play with it a bit, then take it apart to see how it was put together. As I became older, I applied the same scrutiny to a movie projector and an antique automobile.

 

At one point I became particularly intrigued by an old telescope, with which I would study the heavens. One night while looking at the moon I realized that there were shadows on its surface. I corralled my two main tutors to show them, because this was contrary to the ancient version of cosmology I had been taught, which held that the moon was a heavenly body that emitted its own light.

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"A Generous Reading of Time"

"A school district declares "Treaty Day" and in so doing, recognizes one of the most important events of Pacific Northwest chronology, the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855. The people of Te'ti'sen (Ferndale) have taken an historical step toward acknowledging the rich history of many of its students and alumni. A Children of the Setting Sun documentary."

"A Generous Reading of Time"

Don't have much to say.  Using the time to listen.

"... What's the matter with me?  I don't have much to say.  Daylight sneakin' through the window ..."

(Bob Dylan)

This river flows near where my ancestors on my mother's father's side lived for centuries:

"... What's the matter with me, I don't have much to say ..." and then a Pileated Woodpecker made a surprise visit to my porch

In the 35 years that I have lived by Scudder Pond, it is highly unusual for a Pileated Woodpecker to appear at my suet feeder

"... Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street

Who just couldn't help but cry ,,,"

(Bob Dylan, lyrics from "Watching the River Flow")

(Thanks to robin andrea for her Valentine's Day presentation of "One Day" and to Rosemarie for her good questions about crying in secret, both of which moved me to post today)

The truth is that I have more than enough to say and don't know where to start.  This is a start.  Sending love to all.

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. – William Blake.

Beloved Person in Bird Costume Crossing the Night River

From the Calendar Series, "Beloved Person in Bird Costume Crossing the Night River" -- a gouache and watercolor painting from the 1980s by am.

Watch the river flow, here and here. Thank you to Candy for the inspiration for this post.