T.G.I.F.

~ Live & Learn

Turn off the lights. Go outside. Close the door behind you.

Maybe rain has fallen all evening, and the moon, when it emerges between the clouds, glows on the flooded streets and silhouettes leafless maple trees lining the curb. Maybe the tide is low under the docks and warehouses, and the air is briny with kelp…Starlings roost in a row on the rim of the supermarket, their wet backs blinking red and yellow as neon lights flash behind them. In the gutter, the same lights redden small pressure waves that build and break against crescents of fallen leaves.

Let the reliable rhythms of the moon and tides reassure you. Let the smells return memories of other streets and times. Let the reflecting light magnify your perception. Let the rhythm of rushing water flood your spirit. Walk and walk until your heart is full.

Then you will remember why you try so hard to protect this beloved world, and why you must.

— Kathleen Dean Moore, from Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril 

Notes:

26 thoughts on “T.G.I.F.”

  1. Ohmygosh, DK, this post gave me shivers of delight. The photo, its perfect connection with the words, the importance of reconnecting with nature to replenish one’s soul….

    I just took the dogs out and the smell of damp, fresh grass after last night’s thunderstorms, the urgent chatter of the birds as they walk the day, the neighbor’s cattle lowing because it’s past breakfast time, an occasional nicker in response from my neighbor-on-the-other-side’s horse. It is my morning symphony and it truly fills my soul.❤️

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      1. As a former military motion picture photographer and amateur still photographer, I know there is truth to that characterization, and I made use of it when I could. As someone who just likes those two times of day, I know you don’t need a camera of either type to appreciate the calm and the shift in tempo you feel birds and other animals are taking. I especially like evening song of birds as the settle in for the night, though morning song, a – bit peppier! – is equally enchanting. I haven’t done it lately, but should reconsider, but on New Year Day, just before dawn, I used to drive out to a spot in the Nebraska Sandhills where there was only a barbed wire fence to signal human contact. There, and beyond the fence, it was a 19th Century pasture where bison in the millions grazed and fattended up for the Lakota huntsmen who harvested just what they needed. That was where I watched the first sun of the New Year dawn! It was magic indeed. (No camels, unfortunately, but paradise doesn’t always have room for them.)

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        1. Wow Doug. “As a former military motion picture photographer” – that must have been something. And I need to add a visit to Nebraska to see the Sandhills. Thank you for sharing.

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        2. Doug love your share would be great to see some of your photos! Do you have a website to share? I’ve wanted to Nebraska Sandhills My brother in law lived in Lincoln for a few years -he was transferred there for his Job…we’d hoped to make it there for a visit…we meet in North Dakota, instead <<<lots of family and buffalo in Western ND I know that James Cagney had a cattle ranch in Nebraska and a family friend related to him would spend times on the ranch in the summer doing cowboy work, rounding up, branding, etc. and he thought it something that my husband spent time out along the Little Missouri south of Medora ND doing the same thing with his uncle ranch, which was also a stagecoach stop I've seen the log building accomadations for the folks who were on the stagecoach overnigh stop. The stagecoach ran from Medora ND to Deadwood SD…My husbad and his family have lots of stories about Medora and western ND…seeing Buffalos and Praire Dog Towns fun and amazing…Most folks don't realized that ND also has a badlands… SD badlands has the recognized destination.

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          1. No, this is my primary posting place, with Facebook coming in long second. The Sandhills is worth a visit, especially in mid to late spring when wild flowers are in bloom and the hills are green from rain.

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  5. Your photo matched a quote shared by Gail Brenner today: “Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” ~Rabindranath Tagore. Thank you, David, for the sunrise pics and the way your posts help us greet the day no matter what is in store: deer crossings, muffin tops or people who point to deeper truths.

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  7. I’m with Lori. The words gave me shivers and your picture is sublimely perfect. I’m with Doug, this is definitely the magic hour. I’m a fan of golden hour but that’s a different beast. 🙂

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