Astonished

We all have a point of view and a view of the world, of the cosmos, the macro and the micro of the universe.  I'm still reading Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard and am astonished, page after page, by the beauty and poetry of the writing and by the infinite worlds that open up.  It's like having a piece of divine chocolate or some other confection that is so rich and good, you can only take small bites at a time or you will be completely overwhelmed.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I read this book over twenty years ago and today I came across a passage that I had highlighted as a much younger me...I was astounded all over again, by this bit and by the immensity of all there is to comprehend....here's a snippet of my reading from today...

"If you analyze a molecule of chlorophyll itself, what you get is one hundred thirty six atoms of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen arranged in an exact and complex relationship around a central ring.  At the ring's center is a single atom of magnesium.  Now: If you remove the atom of magnesium and in its exact place put an atom of iron, you get a molecule of hemoglobin.  The iron combines with all the other atoms to make red blood...."

We're all so interconnected in such a vast and delicate web, fleeting and eternal.

Pictured here is the view from where I sit to embroider on painted paper and make the daily found text poems for my other blog http://www.missouribendpaperworks.blogspot.com.

Cheers!

Rereading Pilgrim At Tinker Creek

Season Cycles/Spring no. 22 posted this morning in my Etsy shop, MissouriBendStudio.  Am working on a series of new pieces that will happen alongside the Season Series.  I guess you'd say I'm in the research and development phase...testing, testing, working out the details.  Although I have a fair idea by now, it's still a bit nervewracking, but fun, to see exactly what will develop out of this work!

Meanwhile I've started to reread Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard...I read it decades ago, as a much younger person and loved it then.  Now, a bit older, perhaps a tiny bit wiser, or at least with more experience of life, I find the book astonishing.  I loved and cherished my reading of it then, but now...well, every page is a piece of magic.  I want to write some passages down in my commonplace book, but I wouldn't know where to start and where to end...it's seemless and every moment of reading is  perfect.  I can't recommend it highly enough, especially if you are an artist or are interested in seeing and experiencing life beyond the ordinary...or perhaps I should say THROUGH the ordinary and the every day.

Cheers!