Twilight.
Both ends in the last 24 hours.
9:04 pm last night. (Top photo.)
5:34 am this morning. (Bottom photo.)
This is our neighbor’s Oak tree. I wrote about it in “Walking. And Ranting.” Let’s say it’s ~200 years old. This tree has seen 146,000 evening and morning twilights. Now, That’s Something.
I’ve been in search of a quote, in search for 6 months now. Something I recall reading but can’t find. I’ve been scouring my archives. My old posts. Trying various word combos in sweeping, google searches. OCD, much? Haven’t been able to find it. Words shared by a famous author who doesn’t need to travel the world to find beauty, as he finds a new world each morning, in a five mile radius around his house.
His words float to the surface this morning as I pull into the driveway returning from my morning walk. And there she stands, peacefully, witnessing yet another quiet, twilight morning.
This scene right outside our front door.
A wind rose, quickening; it invaded my nostrils, vibrated my gut. I stirred and lifted my head. No, I’ve gone through this a million times, beauty is not a hoax… Beauty is real. I would never deny it; the appalling thing is that I forget it. ~ Annie Dillard
“We have nowhere else to go…This is all we have.” — Margaret Mead.
I stare up at her giant limbs.
Thank God I have nowhere else to go.
Notes:
- Update since posting: Valerie pointed me to Thoreau. She was right! (again) “Wanderlust: A History of Walking” by Rebecca Solnit – “Henry David Thoreau, who walked more vigorously than me on the other side of the continent, wrote of the local, “An absolutely new prospect is a great happiness, and I can still get this any afternoon. Two or three hours’ walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse which I had not seen before is sometimes as good as the dominions of the King of Dahomey. There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk, and the threescore years and ten of human life. It will never become quite familiar to you.””
- More photos from this morning’s Daybreak walk here and here.
- Annie Dillard Quote: “The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old and New (Ecco, March 15, 2016)” (Thank you Beth @ Alive on All Channels)
Live & Learn 
I thought you were going to write ‘146,000 days and nights, in a row’…it really is amazing how much there is to see in a single frame held with all the senses.
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Laughing. I wish!
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Don’t you just hate that? When you KNOW you have it somewhere but cannot for the life of you find it…
However, what you did find, is more than lovely.
Happy Monday!
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Yes!
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Valerie pointed me to Thoreau. She was right!!!! Wanderlust: A History of Walking” by Rebecca Solnit –
“Henry David Thoreau, who walked more vigorously than me on the other side of the continent, wrote of the local, “An absolutely new prospect is a great happiness, and I can still get this any afternoon. Two or three hours’ walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse which I had not seen before is sometimes as good as the dominions of the King of Dahomey. There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk, and the threescore years and ten of human life. It will never become quite familiar to you.””
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Ah yes… Wanderlust. The one I couldn’t finish… But I do remember that passage!
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I did a lot of skimming in that book!
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I have trouble skimming. This one went on and on and I just had to put it aside
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I have to agree with you on that. Some nuggets among a blizzard of uninteresting prose.
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
Walking, walking … “We have nowhere else to go … This is all we have.” — Margaret Mead.
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Could it have been Thoreau? good old homebody Henry David Thoreau, cloose friend of world traveller Ralph Waldo Emerson.
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Maybe. Maybe. I’m off to find out. Thanks for the tip Valerie!
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You are right!!!!!! Wanderlust: A History of Walking” by Rebecca Solnit –
“Henry David Thoreau, who walked more vigorously than me on the other side of the continent, wrote of the local, “An absolutely new prospect is a great happiness, and I can still get this any afternoon. Two or three hours’ walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse which I had not seen before is sometimes as good as the dominions of the King of Dahomey. There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk, and the threescore years and ten of human life. It will never become quite familiar to you.””
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I’ve spent months looking for this. Thank you!
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Lovely photos, and I can’t help but wonder what your neighbor thought perhaps both times! Somehow, though, your link to “more photos” didn’t load.
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So Sorry! I forgot to provide the links! Thanks for the reminder. All good to go now!
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Beautiful! And an egret!! 😊
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Thank you. Such beautiful moments in silhouette. Loved it too!
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so glad you found it, and so generous of Valerie. another reason why bloggers are wonderful. and it fits your view so perfectly.
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So agree Beth. Birds of a feather
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Beautiful photos and quotes
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome
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Gosh, you have such learned friends Dave! That’s brilliant. I so know the feeling of searching for THAT quote and your brain just won’t deliver. So frustrating-but then arrives help from an unexpected angle * and all is well and balanced once more. Such beauty.
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So true Kiki. I spent months looking for that quote and Valerie came up with it in a moment after reading post. Just awesome!
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