Looking Under Rocks

These weeks are pretty much just kind of rolling by; I fear I'm losing touch with the moment, always looking forward or back while the present just kind of happens. It's hard to explain, but suffice it say I just want life to slow down a little bit. It's the side of the mountains that hold up the top, to paraphrase Robert Pirsig. The week's been pretty busy, but with nothing special in particular. I had a Paideia paper, a History paper, the everyday homework stuff. I wrote another story for Chips (which, incidentally, is becoming a favorite activity of mine- the life of a journalist is looking more and more appealing to me. But that's a story for a different time).

Anyway, last night I went to an astronomy observation on top of the Valders science building. It was a beautiful night for it; chilly but without any clouds at all. I could even see the stars that look like dust making up our galaxy- they were so silent... I mean, how can they be so many and so small and infinite and yet so silent and still? It reminds me of a poem by Ralph Hodgson...

A pair of stars, faint pins of light,
Then many a star, sailed into sight,
And all the stars, the flower of night,
Were round me at a leap;
To tell how still the valleys lay
I heard a watchdog miles away. . . .
And bells of distant sheep.

So that got me all in a contemplative mood, in a way that I get sometimes, where all I can really do is just be quiet and think about life. What are we really, with all the fancy fabric that we think defines us, our precious metals and expensive electronics. I don't know- it's just that when you think about the universe and how small, how so very small we all are, it casts just a bit of doubt on what we think is so important in life.

Kudos to Calvin and Hobbes in that respect. All I really need to say is, everyone just needs to spend a little more time looking under rocks in a creek than wasting away under the silky comforts of materialism.

And that got me thinking about God, but I fear trying to write down the mess of thoughts in my head about God would be a disaster and a much longer blog post than anyone wants to read. I'm off to eat lunch, then to the rock wall for some good climbing. Then, I don't know, it's a beautiful day, and I think there are some undersides to some pretty cool lookin' stones down by the Upper Iowa that haven't seen the light of day in far too long :)

Take it easy,

Danny