Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Explorers
“Open?”
Not sure if it was a question or command, I popped the hood like I was an
old Chevy. When the dentist asked her
assistant for an explorer, I pictured Nicolet, Marquette and Joliet. (Blame
it on the Novocain.) They were among
Wisconsin’s earliest European explorers and their mission was totally different
than my dentist’s. The world they encroached upon was vast, mysterious and full
of promise. The world of my mouth is
small, well documented, at least by my dentist, and promises to give me grief
if I don’t take care of it.
In addition
to beaver pelts, the Voyageurs came in search of expansion and
understanding. They were literally drawing
the map. That map would be an essential
tool toward a larger world that offered riches to excite the imagination, and the
freedom to obtain them. With an entire
continent as the prize, the pioneers turned the pages of history and helped to carve
our modern identity. Given enough
frontiers, there was no limit to what they could accomplish, or so they
thought. In their stead, we logged,
plowed, mined and drilled ourselves into the present, an example of what can
happen when limits are few. When space did
become limited, we turned to outer space and, once we set our sights on it, needed
less than ten years to put a man on the moon.
Now,
it’s off to Mars, but I don’t think we’ll find a home there. On its best day, Mars can never match the
Earth, even at its worst. Our penchant
for pushing the envelope must be driven by more than profit, conquest, or sod
busting. We crave novelty and seem to
never get enough of what we think is progress.
Instead of permanent residents, we are more like visitors, who never fully
unpack before moving on. Ultimately, I
think we’re searching for that most elusive quarry of all – the comprehension
of ourselves.
Visitors
we are not. In fact, we are
indistinguishable from the Earth. Its
blood is our blood. We are made from the
same fiber and born of its past. And, we
are married to its future. Finally, we are explorers, in search of who we are. We have this old world before us, but need a
new view of our place in it. If we can
rediscover our mother Earth, the way we once knew her, we might also find
ourselves, a little less broken and a lot more united.
“You can close now. Everything looks fine.” For some reason, getting out of the dentist
chair felt like I was climbing out of an old birch bark canoe. Go figure.
Too long in one place, I guess. Still, I know my dentist’s careful exploration
can save me a lot of grief in the long run.
Hoping
this Christmas Season is filled with bright smiles and lots to explore!
PBob
Monday, December 10, 2012
THE TRUTH ABOUT WOODCOCK
One evening in the spring of 1972, my ornithology class gathered in the small circle of a forest opening, looking for Scolopax minor. We weren’t just milling around, searching in some random fashion. Instead, we were staring intently at a specific spot indicated by our instructor. Yet, all we saw was the forest floor.
The American Woodcock measures 10 to 12 inches in length and weighs from 5 to 8 ounces. Its prominent feature is a long narrow bill, which it uses to probe the ground for worms and other small invertebrates. Though, strangely, its most notable distinction is that it is not notable at all. We were standing right over it and couldn’t even see it! The woodcock possesses such exceptional cryptic coloration that, when nesting in the leaf litter on the open ground, it is nearly invisible.
With its eyes located high and wide apart, a woodcock has a near complete spherical view. What it doesn’t have is a mirror. Rather, its self-image has been painstakingly hewn through the millennia of evolutionary time. It is so confident of its camouflage that even a towering circle of aspiring ornithologists could not flush it from its nest. Simply put, the woodcock has an unshakable faith in its own composure.
When the petrified bird finally materialized, it was like the revelation of a 3-D image in a Mind’s Eye poster. Once my normal focus had shifted, the true reality was apparent. The effect was mystifying. Then, I realized that the bird was only partly responsible for its concealment. No magic show is ever complete without an audience. The other part was owed to my own self-deception. My ordinary frame of reference had assembled only what I expected to see, even if there was actually more to the picture.
Our frame of reference limits us in other ways as well. We only hear within a very narrow range. The rumblings of elephants and earthquakes escape us, as do much of the conversations of bats, birds and bees. If something moves too slowly, it appears stationary. If it moves too quickly, we might not see it at all. Then, there is the distortion due to our own imaginings. After all the minuses have been subtracted, we add further falsehood to the diminished truth.
Shakespeare said, “To Thine Own Self Be True”. Whether he was talking about loyalty to self or honesty, it’s a rule that is well rehearsed by the woodcock. When I finally saw Scolopax minor, I was humbled by the true knowledge that there will always be more to any picture than meets my eye and that blindness can sometimes be cured, if we only take the time to look. Whatever it is that you may be looking for this season and throughout the coming year, may your gaze be honest and true.
Peace + Joy + Light
~PBob (Bob Kennedy)
The American Woodcock measures 10 to 12 inches in length and weighs from 5 to 8 ounces. Its prominent feature is a long narrow bill, which it uses to probe the ground for worms and other small invertebrates. Though, strangely, its most notable distinction is that it is not notable at all. We were standing right over it and couldn’t even see it! The woodcock possesses such exceptional cryptic coloration that, when nesting in the leaf litter on the open ground, it is nearly invisible.
With its eyes located high and wide apart, a woodcock has a near complete spherical view. What it doesn’t have is a mirror. Rather, its self-image has been painstakingly hewn through the millennia of evolutionary time. It is so confident of its camouflage that even a towering circle of aspiring ornithologists could not flush it from its nest. Simply put, the woodcock has an unshakable faith in its own composure.
When the petrified bird finally materialized, it was like the revelation of a 3-D image in a Mind’s Eye poster. Once my normal focus had shifted, the true reality was apparent. The effect was mystifying. Then, I realized that the bird was only partly responsible for its concealment. No magic show is ever complete without an audience. The other part was owed to my own self-deception. My ordinary frame of reference had assembled only what I expected to see, even if there was actually more to the picture.
Our frame of reference limits us in other ways as well. We only hear within a very narrow range. The rumblings of elephants and earthquakes escape us, as do much of the conversations of bats, birds and bees. If something moves too slowly, it appears stationary. If it moves too quickly, we might not see it at all. Then, there is the distortion due to our own imaginings. After all the minuses have been subtracted, we add further falsehood to the diminished truth.
Shakespeare said, “To Thine Own Self Be True”. Whether he was talking about loyalty to self or honesty, it’s a rule that is well rehearsed by the woodcock. When I finally saw Scolopax minor, I was humbled by the true knowledge that there will always be more to any picture than meets my eye and that blindness can sometimes be cured, if we only take the time to look. Whatever it is that you may be looking for this season and throughout the coming year, may your gaze be honest and true.
Peace + Joy + Light
~PBob (Bob Kennedy)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
This is for anyone who wanders by: GBS has created a facebook community called Summit Journal Chat. So hope to see folks over there!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Ooh - still some life here! Unfortunately these days, I hang out on Facebook . Times have changed. I do have however, a few pals climbing Everest this year- so some invested interest there. PBob - eloquent as ever,
Tune in to my corporate website and blogs at http://www.everestmotivation.com
Or catch up on my last climb with Sir Chris Bonington in Oct 2010
Ta-ra for now
Tune in to my corporate website and blogs at http://www.everestmotivation.com
Or catch up on my last climb with Sir Chris Bonington in Oct 2010
Ta-ra for now
Saturday, November 20, 2010
BIG QUESTIONS
Do you like big questions? Me too. For instance, "Is Truth Beauty?" or "Will the universe end in a bang or a whimper?" or "What is a robin?". Take the "robin" question. I don't know what a robin is, but the robin does and because of that, it knows how to find a worm or build a nest and, from my perspective at least, when to sing in the morning. Robins probably don't spend much time thinking about what they are, because they already know and are simply too busy being robins. That's the way it is with most things in nature. In the game of life, they are already winners.
People have their own big question. "What is a human being?" Like robins, we have been very busy and we have answered a lot of questions, but I still don't think we know the answer to the one that really matters. In fact, in the game of life, we own the board and robins, as well as the rest of nature, are anxious to find out if we are going to be winners.
Sometimes, with really big questions, it can be easier to find what is not the answer. For example, what is not being human? Is it the same as being inhumane or is it just being sub-human? Is a robin sub-human? Or is "sub-human" simply a human that misses the mark? A quick look around or a short walk through history and we know the answer to that one. Pick up a paper. Examples abound. Pick a civilization. You probably don't want to go there. We have been better at not being human than almost any other creature on the planet. Quite a distinction, when you think about it.
Still thinking? That's what makes us special, isn't it? Just think of everything we've thought. Our inventions could fill the world, and just about have. Our handiwork might appear to make us more special - more human, but it's more like they've made us super-human. Can you fix a cell phone? can anyone?? Instead, just throw it away. Remember, we're filling a world. The point is that our thoughts and the changes they've wrought have created a sphere that's a bit beyond us. Our fabrications have taken on a life of their own and they've begun to consume us. Sadly, the super-human side of us has an unsustainable flavor, which is almost never helpful when answering really big questions.
So there we have it. The planet is busting with people, yet authentic human beings are in short supply, or at least in desperate need of being defined. "What is a human being?" The answer is important to everyone who values humanity - and to robins, because they would like to remain being robins. Each of us has responsibility for exactly one six point seven billionth of the answer and it's not OK to use a calculator. If we can somehow find the answer, it will make it possible to ask more questions, to build nests, find worms and, most importantly, sing in the morning.
Hoping for an expansion of humanity, this season and through the coming year...
~PBob
Do you like big questions? Me too. For instance, "Is Truth Beauty?" or "Will the universe end in a bang or a whimper?" or "What is a robin?". Take the "robin" question. I don't know what a robin is, but the robin does and because of that, it knows how to find a worm or build a nest and, from my perspective at least, when to sing in the morning. Robins probably don't spend much time thinking about what they are, because they already know and are simply too busy being robins. That's the way it is with most things in nature. In the game of life, they are already winners.
People have their own big question. "What is a human being?" Like robins, we have been very busy and we have answered a lot of questions, but I still don't think we know the answer to the one that really matters. In fact, in the game of life, we own the board and robins, as well as the rest of nature, are anxious to find out if we are going to be winners.
Sometimes, with really big questions, it can be easier to find what is not the answer. For example, what is not being human? Is it the same as being inhumane or is it just being sub-human? Is a robin sub-human? Or is "sub-human" simply a human that misses the mark? A quick look around or a short walk through history and we know the answer to that one. Pick up a paper. Examples abound. Pick a civilization. You probably don't want to go there. We have been better at not being human than almost any other creature on the planet. Quite a distinction, when you think about it.
Still thinking? That's what makes us special, isn't it? Just think of everything we've thought. Our inventions could fill the world, and just about have. Our handiwork might appear to make us more special - more human, but it's more like they've made us super-human. Can you fix a cell phone? can anyone?? Instead, just throw it away. Remember, we're filling a world. The point is that our thoughts and the changes they've wrought have created a sphere that's a bit beyond us. Our fabrications have taken on a life of their own and they've begun to consume us. Sadly, the super-human side of us has an unsustainable flavor, which is almost never helpful when answering really big questions.
So there we have it. The planet is busting with people, yet authentic human beings are in short supply, or at least in desperate need of being defined. "What is a human being?" The answer is important to everyone who values humanity - and to robins, because they would like to remain being robins. Each of us has responsibility for exactly one six point seven billionth of the answer and it's not OK to use a calculator. If we can somehow find the answer, it will make it possible to ask more questions, to build nests, find worms and, most importantly, sing in the morning.
Hoping for an expansion of humanity, this season and through the coming year...
~PBob
Monday, October 11, 2010
Hello all!
My login popped into my head again!
Recently, I watched Touching the Void on streaming Netflix. Wow! What a story.
If anyone is reading - hello - and thanks for stopping by!
My login popped into my head again!
Recently, I watched Touching the Void on streaming Netflix. Wow! What a story.
If anyone is reading - hello - and thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tim - The other day, I was digging through some old photographs and came upon one of Ed Viesturs at an autograph signing that I attended with my boys in Chicago. He was in pursuit of the "Seven Summits" at the time. I've still got his signed poster somewhere. You make a good point. He is one who has seen more than most and it's easy to forget that few of us get to choose our starting point or the context, when we set out to achieve some goal. Prior events and the juxtaposition of other strong personalities can add or detract from the public's appreciation of any given effort at the time. But over time, the true threads of the person's character leave an overriding impression that confirms what might not have been so obvious in an earlier time.
