Field Notes:
The robins had built six nests beneath the eaves before they built the nest that satisfied them and then they had fussed for days. We had given up all hope–it was cold and damp and dismal–until this morning, when something hatched and they flew away, taking all save these eggs in two nests. Robert Gerst
Left to right: Ben Blum, Maureen Kimball, Jennie-Rebecca Falcetta, Maura Smyth, Lin Haire-Sargeant. Photo: Albert Lafarge
Old pond/new frog/water jump-in sound
“For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint at the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy’s wing.” The Great Gatsby (1925) , F. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 106.
Crossing Niagara. ( Still photo is John Barrymore and Dolores Costello, When A Man Loves. Music is “A Sea Change,” Kyle Preston.). May 20, 2017. Video by Gerst.
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” (Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind)
Those of us who have been reading Anna Karenina together end this joyful reading not with answer but with questions. Questions are what open doors and light up worlds. Continue reading →
And the candle by the light of which she had been reading that book filled with anxieties, deceptions, grief and evil, flared up brighter than ever, lit up for her all that had once been in darkness, sputtered, grew dim, and went out forever.
Girl Reading (1850), oil on canvas, Andre Fontaine
Novelist Leo Tolstoy concludes Section Seven of Anna Karenina with the sentence about reading that you see above. But in reading any sentence, a reader enters a universe, somewhat originating in the text and somewhat coming from elsewhere. Where does Tolstoy’s sentence lead you?
You can see here where the sentence above leads some Anna Karenina reading group members.
If the sentence takes you somewhere, too, send back a message by contributing a comment.
Writes Professor Jennifer Cole:
Spring 2017 “Energy in the 21st Century” contemplated a universe few of us ever consider–Mass Art-the-energy-consumer. Who knew that 3D Glass consumes more energy than any other major? Who knew that the hot shop uses more energy per occupied square foot than any building in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?
Writes Professor Jennifer Cole:
We went to The Food Project in West Roxbury. “We” in the first photo means Daniel Castillo (with the big smile) and David Jordan and Vanessa Olivera. “We” means Emily Alcott and Czarina Shart and Emma Jackson and Daniel Castillo in the second. “We” also means Food Project High School Staff Manager David Jordan in the third.
The Food Project is a food cooperative seeking to grow a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who together work to build a sustainable food system. They produce healthy food for residents of the city and suburbs and provide youth leadership opportunities. Each season, they grow nearly a quarter-million pounds of food without chemical pesticides, donating half to local shelters. They sell the remainder of their produce through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) crop shares and farmers’ markets. They also partner with urban gardeners to help them remediate their lead-contaminated soil and grow healthier food.
Look. See Zorro.