Yesterday morning I got up bright and early in order to fly to NYC, where I spent the day with my very gracious cousins Chip and Sally and their kids Andrew and Emma. After a delicious lunch at Emma’s Ale House in White Plains (brimming with yellow Labrador retriever decorations, Emma being the owner’s pet), we headed to The Cloisters! This is the arm of the Met that houses a significant chunk of their medieval European collection. The institution was architecturally formed around the four reconstructed Cloisters and other architectural elements from medieval Europe. Highlights for me included the almost entirely intact chapter house from Notre-Dame-de-Pontaut, Les Heures de Jeanne d’Evreux (it’s a really tiny book of hours), the Unicorn tapestries, and the cloisters themselves. I was halfway to France already at the Cloisters ☺
We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Red Hat on the Hudson, and then upon returning home I began perusal of the very exciting library segment in the Hall’s guest room. It features titles such as Folktales of the British Isles, the three-book set Marvels and Magic, Heroes and Saints, and History and Romance, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, Classical Mythology, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, The Blue Fairy Book, Legends of the Ring, The Bhagavadgita, Icelandic Sagas, and The Norse Myths. There were various other books of folklore, fables and mythology from around the world. In addition, there was a collection of Parabola magazine dating from 1992, one issue including a very interesting interview with religion scholar Huston Smith, author of Why Religion Matters.
I will leave you with a quote I found on the shelf from the incredibly intriguing Joseph Campbell, a scholar of mythology whose work I will be reading as soon as I have the chance. “The secret cause of all suffering is mortality itself, which is the prime condition of life. It cannot be denied if life is to be affirmed.”
About to embark on one more phase in my personal incarnation of the mythic archetype!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Walking is a Blessing
I walked my dog yesterday for the first time since returning home. A few observations:
The squirrels in Kansas are scrawny, grey and rabbit-like. They bounce in neat little arcs across the grass. The squirrels of South Bend, on the other hand, are plump (they probably weigh three times as much as a grey squirrel), red, and dog-like. They know how to walk slowly, one paw after the other. That's not what makes them dog-like, though. It is the fact that they do so in constant search for food, and they are apt to beg for food if a person is looking generous.
I stopped and looked up when I heard some geese honking, moving closer. As they flew overhead, they were close enough to the tree-tops that I heard the powerful whuuush noise that was made as the air moved over their bodies. I have heard geese honking so many times, and have even seen them come as close as they did today, but I have never heard the whuuush. It was thrilling. On today's walk, there were 50-100 geese on or around the pond in my neighborhood. Quite a few were just sitting on the frozen surface of the lake. That seems a bit funny to me. Why do they sit there instead of on the warmer, more solid bank, or in the part of the pond that wasn't frozen? I wonder if a goose has ever fallen through the ice after sitting on it for a while. Hmmm. That would be unfortunate :(
Even when things seem dead for the winter, there is so much vitality in nature. The 35-45 degree temperatures in Kansas are a kind of cold that is more invigorating than bitter, like the cold in South Bend. It is always refreshing and inspiring for me to go on walks. It's particularly interesting during winter when I spend much more time inside, and during these past 10 days of break when I've spent quite a lot of time in the internet world. Going from site to site can really feel like inhabiting a separate space sometimes. But then when I walk outside, and especially in the park, my experience seems to explode into something much more vast and much more visceral, even when I am, in a sense, more isolated. To be sure, the internet is a vast network of thought, ideas, and relationships (as well as cats and moronic YouTube comments). Whatever this network is, while on my walk, it seemed a reality that shrank to the background behind the more ancient sky and soil.
But thank goodness for the internet; I don't know what I would do without it! So I lied in the last post about Crime and Punishment. That will come soon. In the meantime, go take a walk! and Happy Holidays!
The squirrels in Kansas are scrawny, grey and rabbit-like. They bounce in neat little arcs across the grass. The squirrels of South Bend, on the other hand, are plump (they probably weigh three times as much as a grey squirrel), red, and dog-like. They know how to walk slowly, one paw after the other. That's not what makes them dog-like, though. It is the fact that they do so in constant search for food, and they are apt to beg for food if a person is looking generous.
I stopped and looked up when I heard some geese honking, moving closer. As they flew overhead, they were close enough to the tree-tops that I heard the powerful whuuush noise that was made as the air moved over their bodies. I have heard geese honking so many times, and have even seen them come as close as they did today, but I have never heard the whuuush. It was thrilling. On today's walk, there were 50-100 geese on or around the pond in my neighborhood. Quite a few were just sitting on the frozen surface of the lake. That seems a bit funny to me. Why do they sit there instead of on the warmer, more solid bank, or in the part of the pond that wasn't frozen? I wonder if a goose has ever fallen through the ice after sitting on it for a while. Hmmm. That would be unfortunate :(
Even when things seem dead for the winter, there is so much vitality in nature. The 35-45 degree temperatures in Kansas are a kind of cold that is more invigorating than bitter, like the cold in South Bend. It is always refreshing and inspiring for me to go on walks. It's particularly interesting during winter when I spend much more time inside, and during these past 10 days of break when I've spent quite a lot of time in the internet world. Going from site to site can really feel like inhabiting a separate space sometimes. But then when I walk outside, and especially in the park, my experience seems to explode into something much more vast and much more visceral, even when I am, in a sense, more isolated. To be sure, the internet is a vast network of thought, ideas, and relationships (as well as cats and moronic YouTube comments). Whatever this network is, while on my walk, it seemed a reality that shrank to the background behind the more ancient sky and soil.
But thank goodness for the internet; I don't know what I would do without it! So I lied in the last post about Crime and Punishment. That will come soon. In the meantime, go take a walk! and Happy Holidays!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Introduction (That's Introduction in French)
Hi reader! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I have been meaning to start one of these for a while, but I haven't made the time. Since I'm now on winter break and my semester in France is approaching, it seems like the perfect time to start. Once I'm in France, you can read here to stay updated on all my adventures if you wish. This won't simply be a study abroad blog, however. I will post on whatever the heck I feel like. You can expect comments on literature (classic and of various contemporary genres), visual arts, performing arts, religion, Catholicism, theology, fun stuff on the internet, etc. Like I said, whatever I feel like.
I would like to make a note about the title of my blog. When I was thinking about what to call it, I decided on Overworld, which is a term that comes from C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair, chronologically the sixth Chronicle of Narnia. In that book, the heroes venture deep underground where they have a conversation with the deceptive witch who has dominated the inhabitants of the so-called "Underland" and kept Narnia's prince captive there. The witch tries to put the heroes under an enchantment and convince them that there never was any world other than her Underland, and that they have simply made up what they call "Overworld"-that is, the place where Narnia is and where the sun shines. Well, one of the heroes, Puddleglum, manages to stop the enchantment and say this:
"Suppose we have only dreamed up, or made up all those things...in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones...We're just babies making up a game if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia...we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland."
Just so we're clear: Overland=everlasting, spiritual world that we sometimes glimpse here, in Underland=temporal world that will one day pass away. Overland seems a good deal more important to me, so I pursue it and do my best to share it. I am no expert on Overland, so I like to hear the thoughts of others on what is found there. One thing I do know is that Love is the law of the land.
That last sentence in the quote is the only time in the discussion that anyone uses Overland instead of Overworld. I don't think the change is particularly important in the book, but Overland turns out to have a little more meaning for me. It is one half of the name of my hometown, Overland Park. In as much as this is a travel blog, the title pertains to me traveling over land (and sea). So, I'm going with Overland instead of my original thought, Overworld.
Look for some thoughts on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in the next post! It's really good so far! Also, please read The Silver Chair in its entirety, and for that matter, any C.S. Lewis work that you can get your hands on.
Bye now!
I would like to make a note about the title of my blog. When I was thinking about what to call it, I decided on Overworld, which is a term that comes from C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair, chronologically the sixth Chronicle of Narnia. In that book, the heroes venture deep underground where they have a conversation with the deceptive witch who has dominated the inhabitants of the so-called "Underland" and kept Narnia's prince captive there. The witch tries to put the heroes under an enchantment and convince them that there never was any world other than her Underland, and that they have simply made up what they call "Overworld"-that is, the place where Narnia is and where the sun shines. Well, one of the heroes, Puddleglum, manages to stop the enchantment and say this:
"Suppose we have only dreamed up, or made up all those things...in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones...We're just babies making up a game if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia...we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland."
Just so we're clear: Overland=everlasting, spiritual world that we sometimes glimpse here, in Underland=temporal world that will one day pass away. Overland seems a good deal more important to me, so I pursue it and do my best to share it. I am no expert on Overland, so I like to hear the thoughts of others on what is found there. One thing I do know is that Love is the law of the land.
That last sentence in the quote is the only time in the discussion that anyone uses Overland instead of Overworld. I don't think the change is particularly important in the book, but Overland turns out to have a little more meaning for me. It is one half of the name of my hometown, Overland Park. In as much as this is a travel blog, the title pertains to me traveling over land (and sea). So, I'm going with Overland instead of my original thought, Overworld.
Look for some thoughts on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in the next post! It's really good so far! Also, please read The Silver Chair in its entirety, and for that matter, any C.S. Lewis work that you can get your hands on.
Bye now!
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