BOLD AND BOULDER--THROWBACK THAT TIE plus A MOON RISE

BOLD AND BOULDER
putting elections and other foibles in perspective

    Power, force and mystery collude in the mountains to impose a sense of permanence. It is here that all human designs are rendered as temporary and passing. But it is in the mountains that humankind is also inspired, even in a mystical union and state of awe.

Life on the edge

Cosmic furniture moving

Layers of Time

How many millions of moon rises have these mountains seen?

Peaceful but powerful 

God's Marbles

Between a rock and a…..

Immovable

THROWBACK THAT TIE

   A couple of observations about this 1967 radio promotion photo. This was a benefit and the queen and her court are "pinning" us. Note that all of the "pin-ees", even the chairman of the health association are looking at the camera, except yours truly who seems more taken by the princess. 

   That tie! Well, it was the age of "mods". Side burns too.

   The WERK KREW jocks, Big Joe London, Wild Bill Shirk, "Mr. Show Biz" Gil Hole and Tommy the C. Yea, it was an age for nicknames too.

ONE MORE MOON RISE

since you can never see enough

   It loomed large as it poked up over the Santa Lucia range. Color from the not yet set sun splashed over the mountains.

 Just above the horizon it looked like a special effect.

  As it continued its rise it began to get smaller.

    See you down the trail.

LIFE, DEATH, POWER

LESSONS OF THE HIVE

     You may have noted the questions raised in The Weekender :) by a friend who was fascinated with the succession issues involved with a queen bee.
      He is an exceedingly bright guy with a philosophical depth and curiosity. A life of government, politics and power gives him a particular skew and I was as intrigued by his questions and observations as I was by the incredibly fascinating and complex nature of the bee hive.
      It was fun when he moved to summary pondering with implications for the human animal.

Doesn't it make you consider nature's apparent ambivalence to violence?  There is no negative stigma attached to the murder of the queen.  We see drama there and have feelings about it, but these "feelings" have no place in nature, at least not in a bee hive. 

When was it that human consciousness crossed this line  -- before which "we" had no emotional or psychological reaction to violence and the death or ostracization of a "fellow" man.   And how long after that did we rationalize these "feelings" with a philosophy or code that held that each life was valuable for its own sake -- and is this good?  Or was it just a rationalization of emotions?  (Surely the intellectual philosophy did not precede the emotional.)

The God of the old testament certainly wasn't big on the value of each individual life.  He wipes people off the planet regardless of individual culpability in the flood.  Or perhaps everyone WAS culpable -- as in Sodom and Gomorrah.  But the Israelites go around surprise attacking every other people of the Levant until they control the ground.  And in these battles, (not to mention the ones between Israel and Judea later, the men of whole towns were killed willy nilly just because they were there -- the only practical thing to do.

The development of conscience in this matter is just fascinating.     

    This sort of gets the brain in gear doesn't it?  I wrote back to him that we obviously part ways with the instinctive order of succession, probably by virtue of something in our DNA.
     Do you think we are born with an aversion to killing or with some "code" wired into us that values life or navigates us to considering life sacred? Or is it all learned?  Or both?
     Next time you see a bee hive, consider the rather matter of fact, by the book, order of power underway inside. Bet they don't debate philosophy.
     And another thought on this matter.  This blue planet is dependent on bees being true to their nature.  You can't say that for humans.  In fact the planet would do just fine without us. We need the bees.  They don't need us.

     

DAY FILE

ART SALON AT WISE OWL

   Our friend Paulo, impresario of the Wise Owl, turned his wine bar patio over to local artists this weekend.  Champagne, Proseco, sparkling wine flowed as tourists and Cambrians enjoyed blue skies, sunshine and a wide array of California art.  In the frame below a group of friends and artists "hold forth."

Another adventure in the eclectic village.
See you down the trail.