Hence that first picture (of a hole in the ground). I swear to you that I almost stepped in it and broke my leg. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — you people have no idea what I go through to bring you these pictures.
What kind of burrow is that, anyway? Gopher? Wolverine? Badger? Why do I want so badly for it to be a badger burrow? Is it because badgers are cool, and I haven’t seen one yet in Virginia? Is it just the alliteration and consonance of “badger burrow?” Wouldn’t that make a great name for a roadside bar or restaurant? I’m rambling again.
Ever get a haircut and come home and take a nap? And then forget that you got a haircut that day when you awake? And then, when you walk into a dark bathroom and see your reflection in the mirror, you think it’s a short-haired intruder?
I SWEAR to you — my first thought was “Who is this #%&*ing shoe salesman?!”
Why did my half-asleep brain go right to “shoe salesman?” It probably says something about me on an unconscious level …
It’s another blurry photograph; did you expect anything more at this blog? But I still think it’s kind of neat and atmospheric — like maybe the rear of a book cover for a horror novel.
What you see at left are the moon and Venus, respectively.
Here’s Benedict Cumberbatch reading excerpts from Dante’s “Divine Comedy.” (I’m sorry; I cannot resist making fun of this man’s name.) I don’t know how Cumberbatch’s quotes were compiled for this … Maybe they were taken from a documentary about the “Divine Comedy” that he narrated?
By far the most interesting is the quote from Canto 3 of “The Inferno.” It’s compelling in light of what’s transpiring in America, and it reminds me of my favorite quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer — “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Canto 3 in its entirety is below:
“Master, what is it that I hear? Who are
those people so defeated by their pain?”
And he to me: “This miserable way
is taken by the sorry souls of those
who lived without disgrace and without praise.
They now commingle with the coward angels,
the company of those who were not rebels
nor faithful to their God, but stood apart.
The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened,
have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them –
even the wicked cannot glory in them.”
And I: “What is it, master, that oppresses
these souls, compelling them to wail so loud?”
He answered: “I shall tell you in few words.
Those who are here can place no hope in death,
and their blind life is so abject that they
are envious of every other fate.
The world will let no fame of theirs endure;
both justice and compassion must disdain them;
let us not talk of them, but look and pass.”
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 