Musing

today’s Musing written and published from south Calgary, near Fish Creek Park

walk report: 0C/32F, freeze nuzzles up to thaw, snow soft underfoot – looked steely blue-gray as a cloud lid kept daylight at bay, Gusta inspected fences as kitchen lights lit our way through a network of laneways

warm light of candle next to cool screen white – side by side - makes me wonder what it was like before pen, paper or central heading; before language when fire light cast shadows on cave walls; there was probably a cave shortage in those days with vagrants camping out in the jungle, upwardly mobile Neanderthals having already upgraded to caves with warm-white lighting

contrasts, of their own accord, don’t produce anything - like stop signs or pause signs, period at end of a sentence, barricade at end of a trail; separation makes one stand out from another – not better, not worse, not richer, not poorer, not healthy, not sick – just different, conceptual separation, demarcation one from the other

I went lamp shopping with PB yesterday – not so much a diligent search as store wandering in Inglewood, examining staff attitudes and initiative contrast each store as dramatically as its merchandise mix; I wonder if early cave dwellers painted the walls out of some strong urge to communicate their experience to the future, out of boredom or if it was because they just couldn’t get the attention of staff at the cave décor store?

light forms contrasts, light contrasts heavy, light contrasts dark, light is not an up-down thing, light is more than a flame or the opposite of the absence of anything; water flows – we see it – we understand where it goes and why; it finds its route by overcoming resistance, by using gravity and it goes so effortlessly; but light flows – we see it – in straight lines mostly it flows in any direction until an object of any kind blocks its path; not intuitive, it cannot find a path around a corner, over or through anything

shaping, sculpting, making something new as it burns, candle wants nothing – lit or not it has no feelings, no brain, but when it burns warmly it does so much more than light a wall or ignite an idea – a signal – be that meaning between people, meaning of event or occasion, it illuminates things but its best value is as entertainment for the eye as light pushes through wax to show every nuance of its manufacture, its strengths and weak spots

warm light of a candle next to cool screen white – side by side - makes me wonder what it was like before pen, paper or central heating; before language when fire light cast shadows on cave walls; there was probably a cave shortage in those days with vagrants camping out in the jungle, upwardly mobile Neanderthals having already upgraded to caves with warm-white lighting

Mark Kolke
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... with your voice, teach in order to learn


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