Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/09/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Happy birthday, George,
I like the first photo best.
I sympathize with your questions there. Mary Warnock talked about 'concrete
imagination' to describe when an artist or philosopher uses a natural
phenomenon to help explore and express an idea that is usually thought of as
only abstract. Concrete imagination makes more sensual what is otherwise
only dimly intelligible and not easily picturable. I think that's what you
are doing too. Like when Heraclitus described reality and all in it as a
constantly flowing and renewing river. Or when Sartre described morally
dubious people as "slimy".
This blossom, fallen on aging cedar, gave you a pleasant "happy birthday"
surprise and said something to you. Maybe we can imagine the message and
the metaphors. The flat parts of the petals rest softly on the aging wood,
while the tube in the centre has not yet wilted. It points up, back to the
source from where it fell. Like you do, on your birthday.
Peter Cheyne