In fact, it occurred to me that
nothing is really completely simple. For example, This week Larry Butts up near
Vicksburg sent
me a picture of a bouquet he'd created for his wife. It was wonderful,
containing thistles, honeysuckles, and lots of other "weeds" and
wildflowers from along his gravel road. One might say, "Oh, it's so pretty
because he's simply stuck a bunch of pretty things together," but a closer
look reveals that the arrangement was successful largely because it adhered to
certain laws of proportion based on complex geometry, and color esthetics that
were actually quite subtle -- whether while creating the arrangement Larry knew
that his choices were sophisticated or not.
Likewise, some would say that in
terms of maturity and sophistication no human society has ever surpassed that
of China's
ancient T'ang Dynasty. Among the most treasured relics of that society are
haiku by the great T'ang poets. And what, at first glance, is more simple than
a haiku? Here is one I recently wrote while sitting next to our pond:
A
silent bullfrog...
Of what good is such a thing
Just watching me sit... ?
At first glance, it's childishly
simple, saying almost nothing. Yet, if you reflect on it awhile, maybe you can
see that this poem invites questioning of the definition of "good,"
and one's own expectations. Maybe even it reveals something about me as I
question these particular things in this particular manner... all in 17
syllables!
It's as if in life at first
everything is simple, but then you see how complex it is, but if you live long
enough and if you mature enough, eventually you find simplicity in that
complexity, but expressing that simplicity is not simple at all, for that,
maybe, is the domain of art...
Anyway, if during upcoming weeks I
miss putting out a Newsletter or two, it's because my old homebrew computer has
finally bitten the dust, and I'll be back online eventually -- unless I lose
track of time while keeping my compost heap company.
*****
CONSERVATISM & LIBERALISM IN
NATURE
This week's thinking about the
conflict between trees who use chemical warfare to protect their leaves, and
the bugs and fungi who attack those leaves, got me thinking about conservatism
and liberalism in nature. Here's how that thinking went: