Sunday, January 25, 2009

Preface

It is probably a bit much to have a preface after an introduction, but I am still warming up to this thing. The other reason for that title is that the last post looked back in time and now I want to look forward.

Let me start with Robert Hunter's words from the song, Ripple:

There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone

One of my favorite types of story or novel is the journey where the author or the protagonist makes a journey and while traveling there is some significant psychological development. Tony Horwitz's 2002 Blue Latitudes, Boldly Going where Captain Cook has Gone Before is a variation on the theme in which there are two travelers, Cook (along with his sailors and passengers) and Horwitz.

It seems to me that in traveling, we leave our ordinary habits of mind behind with our ordinary lives and have an easier time getting into "beginner's mind." Being in new places, it's easy to look on them with fresh eyes and be open to the possibilities.

So, in this blog, I hope to be able to reflect upon the journey, starting with a brief mention of two little ones this weekend.

This weekend was cold in Nashville (highs in the 30s), but not so cold as it has been. Having been cooped up for a while, I was anxious to exercise and my preference for that is always outdoors. So on Saturday I hiked along Henry's Creek in Beaman Park.















On Sunday afternoon I biked through Percy Warner. I stopped and took the trail down to Dripping Spring and found this sycamore leaf. It was late afternoon when I heard a barred owl.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Alan,

    Welcome to the blogosphere! Look forward to seeing and hearing what you are up to.

    Love the photos, especially of the Tennessee woods. Such a unique look, very different from the Western US, maybe closer to Japan, at least where the forests are not all plantation cedar.

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