I greatly enjoyed your observations on beauty. However, two comments dropped me like an anchor into darkness.
1) And as voters and shareholders, we must never be embarrassed to say: ‘That hilltop of solar panels is ugly. Remove them now.’
In the 19th century, the telephone poles were destroyed because they interfered with the spiritual and aesthetic powers of feng shui. Henry Ford allegedly replied to a critique of the automobile, which replaced horses by asking: "Do you want to spend your life picking up horse manure?" (The quotation is not true to the original, but at 86 years of age, I plead a pardon for bungling the original." As for me, the solar panels in the fields are a relief from silos, and power lines. Their ty affects our soul and sense of security. I like the economic effect of solar power, which can often be offset with refunds, and relies on less carbon output than the production of electricity and than the carbon-producing fertilizers in the fields. I feel serene knowing that the users are getting a better deal. And windmills are beautiful too in the same way.
2) The comment about reading (originally from a Greek philosopher whose name I have forgotten),: If you depend on reading and writing, you lose your memory, with the loss of being able to feel the instant sensations of your existence and the meaning of your senses.
Keep in mind that I quite often quote from other people, and not always things I wholly agree with, or perhaps don't agree with at all. I like to get different perspectives - if we were sitting round a table I'd be trying to get a conversation going.
Your link to "Olivia's Overlook" got a 404 error, but I remembered "Our Heart's Garden" the very fine piece of writing you did in 2018, with the later links to the sad end to that story, anda search quickly found it.
Thanks for letting me know and for your kind words. That piece always hits me. I stopped there not long ago and of course the view is lovely, but that little garden was something unearthly in its beauty.I really should try to find some spot nearby where I could plant a mass of flowers like that.
I greatly enjoyed your observations on beauty. However, two comments dropped me like an anchor into darkness.
1) And as voters and shareholders, we must never be embarrassed to say: ‘That hilltop of solar panels is ugly. Remove them now.’
In the 19th century, the telephone poles were destroyed because they interfered with the spiritual and aesthetic powers of feng shui. Henry Ford allegedly replied to a critique of the automobile, which replaced horses by asking: "Do you want to spend your life picking up horse manure?" (The quotation is not true to the original, but at 86 years of age, I plead a pardon for bungling the original." As for me, the solar panels in the fields are a relief from silos, and power lines. Their ty affects our soul and sense of security. I like the economic effect of solar power, which can often be offset with refunds, and relies on less carbon output than the production of electricity and than the carbon-producing fertilizers in the fields. I feel serene knowing that the users are getting a better deal. And windmills are beautiful too in the same way.
2) The comment about reading (originally from a Greek philosopher whose name I have forgotten),: If you depend on reading and writing, you lose your memory, with the loss of being able to feel the instant sensations of your existence and the meaning of your senses.
Other than that, I greatly enjoy your essays\.
Keep in mind that I quite often quote from other people, and not always things I wholly agree with, or perhaps don't agree with at all. I like to get different perspectives - if we were sitting round a table I'd be trying to get a conversation going.
Your link to "Olivia's Overlook" got a 404 error, but I remembered "Our Heart's Garden" the very fine piece of writing you did in 2018, with the later links to the sad end to that story, anda search quickly found it.
- Jim Miller
Thanks for letting me know and for your kind words. That piece always hits me. I stopped there not long ago and of course the view is lovely, but that little garden was something unearthly in its beauty.I really should try to find some spot nearby where I could plant a mass of flowers like that.