Friday, June 27, 2008


The horizon darkens. A wind kicks up, drawing me in, and then suddenly a calm, a deep breath before the plunge. This I can tell you -- though I know not from where -- a storm is coming.

22 comments:

human being said...

all the ways are circles;
sure you can find where they come from...
:)
oh how i love storms...

they walk slowly behind us
step by step
and pop up suddenly
in front of us
to say hi!

Roxanne said...

Storms are cleansing.
I love storms.

Reminding us there is no control.
There are no plans.
There's just how you deal with it.
It being life.

I'm the one who owes you a letter -- when the chaos of work is done --also had a conversation with a friend today who is in the arts that asked me a question VERY relevant to your last postings re: purpose of writing. I'll blog on it soon. In the meantime -- keep the dialogue going - very good reading!
rox

Jon said...

I like the storms too... they are cleansing... and like Honour says, "there is no control... no plans... there's just how you deal with it..."

So how can we deal with an oncoming storm?

And I'm sure that SOMEONE will say it so I'll just get this in first... I don't think it'll help to buy a raincoat... the storm I see is a bit bigger than that...

Does anyone have a suggestion on how we can get through?

Jon said...

"What ever happened to hope?... Let us give Apocalypse a rest. We do not need it to tell us that our ways must mend, or that our business suffers daily outrages. Pick up an issue of Time, Daedalus, or any paper. Purchase any radical reader or anti-text... Yet how many see... that we now strike at an older idea of man? A post-humanism is in the making. What will be its shape?"

--Ihab Hassan

human being said...

(crows tend to personify everything... nuts? yep!)

while she is approaching...don't look at her as your enemy
look at her as if you are watching your lover... evey one of her steps... every one of her gestures... every one of her changes of mood... understand her... know her... then you can predict her.... and you can decide what to do when she is getting closer...
is this the thing... the person... i want to run away from? so go on... leave the place...
is this the thing... the person i'd like to watch and learn from? so go on... find a good hiding place and watch her...
is this the thing... the person i want to hug... i want to experience being with?
go on and embrace her... you've known her moods... now you know where and when and how you should confront her to be able to be with her and not be ruined by her...

you might say you've got no time to study her...
so just leave.... it's more safe... you can study the next storm...
yes... in any case... no raincoats...

and Jon how do you know that a storm is coming... just by dark clouds? and the wind? what about the direction?
do you feel the abundance of 'electrons' in the air.. ?
if yes... sure she'll come... sure she will...

human being said...

Ihab Hassan,
i like it shapeless... alive...
:)

Jon said...

What a wonderful thought Crow...

"go on and embrace her... watch her... learn from her..."

Did you ever read that story by Gibran, BETWEEN NIGHT AND MORN... the one about the narrator staying the stormy night with the mystic who had moved away from all the rest of the world and how he set out into the storm... I'll have to go find my copy and get the line that that character used... it was something along the line of not fearing the tempest...

hmmmm... I'll have to get back to you on that one...

and nice thought on the quote from Hassan... shapeless sounds good to me too... don't let the storm sculpt the spectator...

thanks crow!

:-)

human being said...

i'll be glad to read what Jibran has to tell me...
:)
crows go flap flap flap to see another crow...
and
crows usually read those 'unlike' them... and those who 'dislike' them...
:D
yes no sculpting... let it flow...

i had a wonderful morning this Friday... reading and writing here... (you know Fridays are holidays in Iran... like your Sundays...)
bye now...

Lydia said...

Hi Hopper,
Just read some of your comments at Rachael's blog and see you've added her to your blogroll. I'm thinking that you found her in my blogroll? She is a wonder, most definitely. She has a gift, is a gift.

I love this storm photo. Very atmospheric.

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

This is a very moody and beautiful sky. I like the creativity used in the composition!

switch said...

thank you, crow..your words spoke to me this morning.

while she is approaching...don't look at her as your enemy
look at her as if you are watching your lover...


and Hopper, thank you for this. for showing up like this. Here. now.

Kaustubh said...

When the wind works against us in the dark,
And pelts with snow
The lowest chamber window on the east,
And whispers with a sort of stifled bark,
The beast,
‘Come out! Come out!’--
It costs no inward struggle not to go,
Ah, no!
I count our strength,
Two and a child,
Those of us not asleep subdued to mark
How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length,--
How drifts are piled,
Dooryard and road ungraded,
Till even the comforting barn grows far away
And my heart owns a doubt
Whether ’tis in us to arise with day
And save ourselves unaided.

"Robert Frost -- Storm Fear"

Debra Kay said...

I realize I should take a note from my response to an actual thunderstorm. One is rolling in now, and I'm dizzy with anticipation, I love a good storm and this is one of those slow, rolling, noisy summer morning storms.

My current storm is navigating death whilst maintaining my own grip on life, a balancing act like none other I've ever had to perform. I must remind myself to step back a little and take note of the contrasts and the similarities, observe as well as participate. It's the observer that holds the key to anticipation and delight.

jamie said...

Great picture. It's been stormy here for days, and I feel like after sitting through it hour after hour, I can't help but feel a little like your picture looks...

Enjoy the weekend.

Jon said...

Lydia...

Thanks for stopping by... yeah... I think it was from your site that I found Rachael... I'm amazed how well people only 10 years younger than me are able to interact with new median and technology... makes all us seem like old timers... and I'm only 27... trying to encourage her as so many have encouraged me... (though I hate talking about anyone behind their back!!!)

Sandpiper...
Again, thanks for always dropping by... I know that your site gets thousands of hits a day and ~ 50 comments... I think you are so wonderful for taking the time to answer each one and how good of a correspondent you are... that and how striking your photography is... kudos to you...

Jon said...

Fern...

No problem my friend... I'm happy you get something from this site... though the more time goes on the less I think of it as MY site and more I think of it as OURS...

Also, there's a book by Gibran, BETWEEN NIGHT AND MORN, that echoes the sentiments of the crow about the storm being a lover and not fearing her approach... trying to get my hands on it... think that lots of you guys would love some of the lines in it...

In the mean time... there's one of Gibran's shorter works on Project Gutenberg... hit the link on my main page and search for Gibran and you'll find The Madman... it's a collection of his parables... great reading for a free hour...

Jon said...

Hi Debra...
As always... thanks for your candor and your softly spoken words... I've been seeing some of those storms you speak of... the slow, rolling summer storms... I'm living near the Great Lakes now and the humidity and pressure systems and static in the air is only relieved by the lightening and rain... it's a kind of release... and we all feel it too... like the pressure is taken off and we can breath again... and though it's strange to wish for rain... so many days now I do... so that the drops can run down my cheek and leave a feeling of cool and calm...

I sympathize with the pressure you're under... if there's anything you want to talk about I'm here...

Jon said...

Kaustubh Moghe...

Thanks very much for visiting and for the poem by Frost... he's one of my favorite... here's another that I love:

===========================
NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
============================

Hope to see you again soon, new friend...

Jon said...

Jamie...

Hi there new 20 something blogger friend... welcome...

I know what you're saying... and isn't it funny how the weather affects our moods... and why we think that rain and storms are a negative thing... what's struck me here about all the responses is how people find some comfort in the storm... like they anticipate them... though I guess it's true... after a while that would get old... sort of like "if every day was a sunny day..." but in reverse!

And thanks for the comp. on the picture... played with that on editor for a bit to make it look as ominous as I could...

Hope to see you again soon!

human being said...

Fern,
caaaaw caaaaw...
love to you dear freind.

Woozie said...

There's nothing better than the time just before a storm rolls through. I guess you could call it a calm but it often seems quite windy.

Lynn Cohen said...

the storm is coming and it is quite frightening
reading the new york times
seeing gas prices rising'
hearing about Bushes Iran Bombing Plans thoughts
crazy man
such a storm he oculd create
not pretty
devestating to our world
makes one want to stop the world and take a break from this reality
i wish we were just talking about the weather...