“Cool and Composed“-Now at the West End Gallery, Corning NY
To persons standing alone on a hill during a clear midnight such as this, the roll of the world is almost a palpable movement. To enjoy the epic form of that gratification it is necessary to stand on a hill at a small hour of the night, and, having first expanded with a sense of difference from the mass of civilized mankind, who are disregardful of all such proceedings at this time, long and quietly watch your stately progress through the stars.
― Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd
I have expressed my extreme distaste for the month of August here in the past. I am not going to go through the list of experiences that formed my hatred for this time of the year. Let’s just say that it’s a month whose name alone never fails to put a giant, squirming knot in my gut.
And this first week of this year’s August has lived up to its reputation. It’s been a tremendously stressful week for a number of my favorite people in the world, for a variety of reasons all beyond anything I can do in the way of real assistance, outside of offering words of comfort and support.
I wish them all the coolness and composure of the painting at the top. It has that sense of detachment that Hardy describes so beautifully in the passage above. It’s a separateness where our problems in this world seem insignificant and one is able to obtain a stillness that allows us to sense the turnings of this planet as it makes its way through the cosmos. I can see that in this painting. Maybe that is its purpose, to alleviate the stress of times such as this.
Oh, to have that now.
But it’s August. Damnable August.
Here’s a taste of the coolness. I played a song titled River from Leon Bridges last week. This is another song with that title, this one a a favorite from Joni Mitchell that I have played more than once here in the past. It is the antithesis of August for me.
Ah, wish I had a river to share…
Redtree Times 