A Cold Embrace
Friday, December 31, 2010 at 01:14AM ;)
With winter comes a beauty so deep and powerful that to touch it is to be drawn into other worlds. The sparkle of snow and ice hypnotizes and awakens us to ancient dreams. The veil between the worlds of flesh and spirit grows thinner in winter, nearly transparent, allowing those of us who are willing to step across the threshold to explore the landscape of the heart. There we may find, as J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote, that a great cauldron awaits – full of myth and history and "other potent things simmering agelong on the fire". Should we encounter such a cauldron, we may be permitted to dip a ladle in and by doing so feed our soul.
Winter snow and ice hold the landscape in a deadly cold and powerfully sensual embrace. I can't help but feel there are deep secrets hidden in snow and ice that reach beyond ordinary physics and chemistry. When we are touched by something beautiful that we encounter, it is because our inner beauty (or light) resonates with it. In this relationship, an energetic circuit is created between ourselves and that other beauty, and so we are moved.
All photos were taken at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Cross River NY.
(Click on all photos to enlarge)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
Reader Comments (3)
The photos of the ice/water in that state of flux, revealing both rippled reflections and the worlds below -- perfect. Both the images and words here are beautiful. So true. I have been in that setting many times ... the reservation is a portal to deeper places. Happy 2011! May it be a creative and poetic year for you.
What a lead-in sentence!…
"With winter comes a beauty so deep and powerful that to touch it is to be drawn into other worlds."
Well done!
How long did it take for you to come up with that perfect start?
Q: the photo on the bottom left corner -- is that rotated upside-down?
-DG
Thanks for the comments - always encouraging! The opening sentence popped out of my experience just as it is written. Experience is important when trying to translate the language of the heart into the languages of man. Sometimes finding the right translation is easy, sometimes it's not. Therein lies the challenge and the journey of writing!
The photos are not rotated; they are reflections of the trees and sky on the river of ice and flowing water.