Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Would You Like to Dance?

If you follow either of my blogs, you may need a life, but you also will know that I have an ongoing contest dancing with lonesomeness and togetherness as they twirl me and whirl me hither and yon.  I  tend to favor the waltz with lonesomeness because it brings peace, quiet, gentle rhythms, and my dress whirls so symmetrically around the room, and, of course, I have accepted that it will be my inevitable partner as I age.  My years reward me with a lack of fear of being alone.  In contrast, the dance with togetherness is crazy, full of life, and throws me unpredictable turns making me seem to miss my steps more often.  While I need this partner, I have outgrown its energies.  I feel more awkward and drained of life at the end of the togetherness foxtrot.

I write this because the emptiness and solitude of places in the photos below fill me with an unexplainable awesome peace.  While I stood, camera in hand, I was very aware that people have been here and struggled to survive and lived lives of quiet desperation.  Their sacrifice is in the soil and the air and the brilliance of the sunshine and commands your attention.   They came before in prehistoric and historic times and left behind the strength of life and the closeness to the strength of the earth that they experienced.  Trying to find or create sustenance from this desolate area was a blind challenge for them.  I hear ancient chants to eternity on the desert winds...what a dance that must be!


There is a purity of human spirit that seemed to hang close as I took these photos.  While taking the photo immediately below I heard the rhythmic rush of the wings of a large black raven as it flew very high overhead on some long journey.  When did you last here the rush of a raven's wings?





20 comments:

  1. I last heard them yesterday!! Your pics are fabulous and the emotions that they have stirred in you is something I will think of for a long time. Energy of former lives...filling the space and touching me...I like these thoughts!
    So much has gone before me and so much is yet to come...this is taking my breath away!!
    Hugs to you dear one
    SueAnn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good photos of a wondrous land. I have never heard the rush of raven's wings, but the hawks and crows that live in our neighborhood often fly close.

    ReplyDelete
  3. these are gorgeous pics...the rock formations in each are fabulous and enjoyable to look at...i am sorry for the dance with loneliness...

    ReplyDelete
  4. That lovely peace that being in tune with aloneness brings - I hear birds wings often, but then I live rural and without added human noise whenever possible. We'd get along fine, you and I.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your photos are exquisite, and just looking at them should give you satisfaction. Being able to share them with the rest of us is a quiet kind of togetherness.

    ReplyDelete
  6. breathtakingly lovely photos. the dance metaphor strikes a chord deep within me. i so enjoyed this post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Truly amazing landscapes. We are such small things on the face of the earth!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tabor, as I read your post this early morning - my eyes filled with tears - my dry eyes which is amazing. I also smile because I understand in my heart your sharing but lack words that my heart feels. If that makes sense.
    I love the images and your words.
    Take care and enjoy this day ... Ernestine her Woods

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful photos and writing, I too love the dance metaphor. I do read both your blogs and I do have a life that is enriched by your blogs. Many thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11:03 AM

    Very beautiful photographs. I like hills, mountains and calm beaches though. Yet to try the ruins..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Loneliness is not pleasant to endure Tabor. I enjoyed your photos - Dave

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow---gorgeous photos. They don't look like lonely places --but like you said, a place of peace... I love togetherness with my hubby---but there are always times when we need that time alone --to reflect and ponder.. Those are not lonely times, but times of peace.

    The deer at Bald Knob are protected since it's a state park. Thank Goodness.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tabor, if you have lengthy time alone - you are always welcome
    to take a plane and visit me for a few days....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ah, I love your prose, it reads like poetry. What an awesome place you walk in, the photographs are spectacular. No, I don't believe I have ever heard the rush of ravens wings - do you know they guard the Tower of London? Rumor has it, if they ever leave, the kindom will fall!

    I also prefer my own solitude, and am never lonely when my hubby works his alternate weeks in London. Peace is at a premium in my household, I embrace it gladly when it comes.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Tabor, this is absolutely magnificent and thank you for it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congratulations. You use the word "awesome" in a context in which it is totally appropriate. Alas, not many these days confine it to such situations. It begins to lose its true meaning. Your images and your beautiful writing restore that meaning. The post is a delight. Lonesomeness is a two-edged thing, I have always felt. There is an ambivalence in the feelings which arise - but it may just be that I have not experienced it for long enough. Thank you and all blessings on you.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Beautiful prose, Tabor.. married to lovely images.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I know what you mean. You need both, but either alone without the other creates a void. I get a similar feeling I think when I photograph in the Florida swamps.

    ReplyDelete
  19. These hills resemble elephant skin. It looks to be a good habitat for them but I am guessing there is not much water available. I agree with you about the togetherness foxtrot but I am just discovering things about me and I haven't reached any conclusions yet. I am not peaceful enough in lonesome places. My friend Shirley is and you are. :) I haven't heard the rush of raven's wings recently.... but hawks I have heard. My word verification here is witch.

    ReplyDelete
  20. oh, it feels an honour to have you share so..
    sacred.

    I have missed your blog ( was away with a family crisis)

    ReplyDelete

Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.