tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post5005732211632448968..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: ParticularsStephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-38445538277648699432018-08-26T22:08:23.512-07:002018-08-26T22:08:23.512-07:00Mary: Thank you very much for your kind words abo...Mary: Thank you very much for your kind words about the post, and about the blog. And thank you as well for sharing the lines from Jeffers, which are new to me: the image of thoughts as May-flies is wonderful. Thoughts can indeed be like a swarm of insects, can't they? Gnats also come to mind.<br /><br />I'm pleased that you found your way here. I hope you will return.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-69464759969081461872018-08-26T19:51:28.955-07:002018-08-26T19:51:28.955-07:00Mr. Caseley: It's good to hear from you again...Mr. Caseley: It's good to hear from you again. I'm pleased you liked "Lark Descending." <br /><br />It's a lovely coincidence that you recently saw the blue plaque for Marie Hall in Malvern. I was able to find an image of it on the internet. (It's interesting to discover that she was a pupil of Elgar's.) Thank you for providing the information about her: although I have long been fond of "The Lark Ascending," I wasn't aware of her, or of her connection to the work and to Vaughan Williams. Time to revisit it.<br /><br />Please accept my apologies for the delay in posting, and responding to, your comment. Thank you very much for visiting again. And thank you as well for your kind thoughts.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-34063579399571050622018-08-25T19:30:41.756-07:002018-08-25T19:30:41.756-07:00Thank you for this lovely post. (I especially appr...Thank you for this lovely post. (I especially appreciated "trembling green constellations"; I love both stars and trees.) <br /><br />These lines from the poem Return by Robinson Jeffers came to mind when I read what you said about thinking:<br /><br />I will touch things and things and no more thoughts, <br />That breed like mouthless May-flies darkening the sky ... <br /><br />It was good to be reminded in your post that thinking is overrated. Thanks again; I'm glad I found your blog.Maryhttps://thinkingmeat.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-32829993281220573522018-08-21T02:44:13.016-07:002018-08-21T02:44:13.016-07:00Thank you for 'Lark Descending', which was...Thank you for 'Lark Descending', which was new to me. A couple of weeks ago, I was standing in Church Street, Malvern, Worcestershire, beneath a placque commemorating Marie Hall, the violinist for whom 'Lark Descending' was composed. I always find it very moving to read of how she busked for pennies early in her career in this steep street, in the shadow of the Malvern Hills.<br /><br />Good to see your bog posts reappearing again after a few silences (entirely understandable) - best wishes.Martin Caseleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-87538058801927703612018-08-15T20:03:44.621-07:002018-08-15T20:03:44.621-07:00Mudpuddle: Thank you for your follow-up observati...Mudpuddle: Thank you for your follow-up observations. Your final thought is well put, and what it all boils down to, I think: "to live . . . in whatever peace we can summon up." There are countless ways of doing this (as countless as souls), but I often think that the haiku masters (Bashō springs immediately to mind), for all the vicissitudes of their lives, may have hit upon the right course: they are always bringing themselves back to the present moment (with an awareness of others, and without hedonism). Easier said than done, of course. But there are as many paths as there are souls.<br /><br />Thanks again.<br /><br />Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-69595217809467195392018-08-14T10:29:30.319-07:002018-08-14T10:29:30.319-07:00i'm supposed to get an echocardiogram as well,...i'm supposed to get an echocardiogram as well, but they either forgot about it or deemed it worth postponing; meanwhile, things internal seem to be behaving themselves... re thinking: i've been tempted by past realizations to label it a non-existent illusion, but i'm not entirely convinced... still, the thin film of life, so-called, on this minor planet in a universe stuffed with billions of suns and planets appears inconsequential at best... final decisions probably don't have much point: better, imo, to live in whatever-it-is in whatever peace we can summon up...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-7395680201524954752018-08-13T23:21:56.247-07:002018-08-13T23:21:56.247-07:00Mudpuddle: It's good to hear from you again. ...Mudpuddle: It's good to hear from you again. Thank you very much for your kind words about the post.<br /><br />Yes, thinking: what are we to do about it? As you've heard me say here before, when I head out the door for my daily walk, I often remind myself: "No thinking!" But I always fail. Still, as you suggest, all can be unexpectedly redeemed by "the motionless instances" you refer to. Your anecdote about the baby owl is wonderful. I can understand why that moment has never left you.<br /><br />As ever, thank you for visiting. Thank you for your thoughts about my health: everything seems to be under control now. The tests to rule things out are remarkable and interesting. For instance, during the echocardiogram, I could hear my blood making a squeaking, whooshing sound as it was pumped through my heart. That will give you a new perspective on the nature of our existence! At least it did for me.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-69348507378585084962018-08-13T11:45:28.999-07:002018-08-13T11:45:28.999-07:00wonderful verse; wonderful pictures... you'r...wonderful verse; wonderful pictures... you're so right about thought: most times it seems thinking is responsible for most of the woe around us... sometimes the motionless instances when we are startled by a particular beauty are the most memorable... i'll never forget walking around a bend in a forest path and finding a baby owl standing on the ground and staring at me with incorporeal intent... <br /> hope you're feeling better...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.com