Darkness and Light, Earth and Sky

by fred on May 24, 2008

More than whiskers on kittens or catching snowflakes on my eyelashes are May days like this one when cloud shadows dip and rise and race away south over parklike pasture. Flicker of light and shadow, warm-coolness, earth and sky–a kaleidoscope of energy and mood, color and composition. And not possible to capture in time and two dimensions, a thousand words much better than a picture of a single instant of a single perfect spring day in Floyd County. Click for larger image, as in a thumbnail of a landscape, so much is lost in translation.

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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

pablo May 24, 2008 at 6:52 am: I have moments like this, seemingly perfect vignettes, beside Missouri hay fields just after harvest. If I were a painter, they would be my subject.
Sally May 24, 2008 at 8:48 am: Awesome photo and great mood!
Peter May 24, 2008 at 9:49 pm: Floyd County, Ireland? Wow!
kenju May 25, 2008 at 12:29 pm: I thought ….this looks like something out of rural England or Ireland!
Beth May 25, 2008 at 1:46 pm: What a wonderful photograph, Fred! You have captured the feeling of those sun/cloud-shadow days perfectly. I love the way the line of cows follows the line of the hill. How did you get those cows to line up like that?

I really love this shot.
jublke May 25, 2008 at 10:34 pm: You have the soul of a poet, Fred. Thanks for sharing.
tracy May 31, 2008 at 3:59 am: Most Excellent…
as always…

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"Slow Road Home" is a delightful book written so that the reader feels or experiences the moment. I haven't enjoyed reading a book since Erma Bombeck died, but "Slow Road Home" makes me feel as if the author is my friend and has been in my home. Fred First makes me want to read again.
Fred’s Activities Calendar

Well that's it for 2011 events. If all those who have approached me about speaking at 2012 events make good and call or email me soon to set dates, I'd be pleased to have some spring and summer events to tell you about.

I'd welcome an invitation to speak from or about my books and essays or present the photographic "multimedia essays" for your group.

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EVENTS RECENT HISTORY

Nov 10, 2011 ~ Moneta/Smith Mt Lake at 10am. The Nature of Place: the Beauty and Biology of Southwest Virginia. A Photographic Excursion and Natural History Adventure

Nov 30, 2011 "Nature of Place: the Beauty and Biology of the Southern Mountains" 12 noon at New College Institute, Martinsville VA. Public is invited. More details soon.

Oct 19, 2011 at 3:45 pm. Wednesday Club, Danville at 1002 Main Street."Nothing Ordinary: the Aesthetics of Place in Language and Light.” THIS EVENT is open to the PUBLIC.

Phoebe Needles Lifelong Learning Center, September 13: Language and Light: Narratives of Place in Words and Pixels. Open to the public, register by Sept 9. More details here.

February 18, 6 - 8 pm. Visual images display, The Art of Earthcare, drop-in, chat, book signing. At The Station, Floyd Artists Association Studio across from the Floyd Country Store.

April 7 at Christiansburg Library @ 7 pm. Alas, hand surgery rescheduling over loud protests has stricken this event from the calendar; still ON for April 21st at Blacksburg Library, tho.

Presenter, Floyd Earth Day (Land's Sake) at 10 a.m, April 16 at FLoyd High School. More about Land's Sake at http://is.gd/gXFcWB

April 21 at Blacksburg Library @ 7 pm. The Language and Art of Earthcare, visual essay and discussion of our relation to nature and place. Open to the public.

May 5: Moneta Library, Bedford County at 6pm. Open to the public.

What We Hold In our Hands ~ Image Gallery @ SmugMug and SlideShow on YouTube.
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Perhaps the greatest disaster of human history is one that happened to or within religion: that is, the conceptual division between the holy and the world, the excerpting of the Creator from the creation . . .. and this split in public attitudes was inevitably mirrored in the lives of individuals: A man could aspire to heaven with his mind and his heart while destroying the earth, and his fellow men, with his hands. —Wendell Berry

"The Latin words humus, soil/earth, and homo, human being, have a common derivation, from which we also get our word 'humble.' This is the Genesis origin of who we are: dust - dust that the Lord God used to make us a human being. If we cultivate a lively sense of our origin and nurture a sense of continuity with it, who knows, we may also acquire humility." — Eugene H. Peterson (Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places)

Gandy’s Great Adventure

2011-12-23 Life in Layers: The new rules ~ anything on the floor will be eaten. So, as one of our kids' books said, IT's a Good Day for UP! My shoes, the firewood kindling, my camera bag and every shred of paper is now elevated to a new level.

2011-12-21 Gandy is bored. Same old toys. Same old people. Show me adventure! She road to town yesterday in her crate, perfectly content. We are going to do a better job of socializing her than we did with Tsuga. It should be easy, because she is easy. Mostly.

2011-12-19 Today G learned how to tumble down the steps into the front room--it ain't pretty but it keeps her from standing there whining pitifully because the toy she wants is down in front of the wood stove. She had her first solid accident this morning because we were both distracted by human habit and routine. That's gotta change. UPDATE and Hurray! She stood at the back door to go out!
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"Earth – is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects." Thomas Berry

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.” Aldous Huxley

"Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist." Kenneth Boulding, economist (1920-93)

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"We have the capacity and ability to create a remarkably different economy, one that can restore ecosystems and protect the environment while bringing forth innovation, prosperity, meaningful work, and true security. The restorative economy unites ecology and commerce into one sustainable act of production and distribution that mimics and enhances natural processes." — Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce

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