Geographic Landscapes

Watched the TED talk by Murray Gell-Mann a bit ago. It brought back long ago memories of the Santa fe Insitute, its intriguing focus, and the beautiful southwestern view falling away from its doorstep. Complexity science and a very, human quest to push the envelope on understanding the world about us. But part of my need I suppose in thinking a bit further on this is that geographic landscapes hold a particularly strong attraction for me. Growing up in the wooded hills of Pittsburgh and my walks with Sal (a half German short-hair pointer and black lab), or the short Robin Hood forays with my recurve bow, or the days when I pushed myself to overcome an injury that I suffered in high school as I immersed myself in the nooks and crannys surrounding our home there in Lincoln Place. Pittsburgh, albeit not as glamorous as the polished, sandy Southwest carries a steadfast, storied landscape carved into southwestern Pennsylvania and etched by the three rivers.  So too, consider two years into a Guatemalan land of tropical sun and sand, two years into a high Sonoran desert, another six or seven years in a transitional boreal forest along the international boundary with Canada, or the present home in east-central West Virginia. It makes me smile because I know the twists and turns of my life are leading me on.  And as our children emerge from our oft-times, too close hold on their paths, they too will engage themselves into a world that is more diverse than one can really imagine.  It is that world out there that may engage you or your loved ones in an intricate dance with life that may only be understood in passing. It is a venture that I would suggest that you must volunteer yourself and allow yourself to play across the providential winds that blow. The first photograph that I added to this post is of bear grass, found within the ancestral grounds of Apache clans in the southwest.  The grass of yesterday was used for many uses. I spent a couple of years working with San Carlos Apache Nation. I do not easily forget the people or the land.

I think if I were gifted as a Bard of old I might regal you with tales of the past, but perhaps over time I can reveal something of those lands that might engage your curiosity...

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In honor of those many individuals across the world that in normal times, from Guatemala to Ethiopia, struggle to simply survive. And then too to those in Haiti and Chile, those who are now arising with the morning sun and praying for a hopeful day.  Toward...