Relevance

Are monastics and hippies and poets relevant? No, we're deliberately irrelevant. We live with an ingrained irrelevance which is proper to every human being. The marginal person accepts the basic irrelevance of the human condition, an irrelevance which is manifested above all by the fact of death. The marginal person, the monastic, the displaced person, the prisoner, all these people live in the presence of death, which calls into question the meaning of life. They struggle with the fact of death in themselves, trying to seek something deeper than death, because there is something deeper than death, and the office of the monastic or the marginal person, the meditative person, is to go beyond death, even in this life to go beyond the dichotomy of life and death and to be, therefore, a witness to life.

- Thomas Merton, "Clouds and Water"

I've dreamed of this photo for about 15 years. During that time I've stood in this spot gazing to the west at this particular mountain range under a wide variety of light conditions. I've seen these mountains in morning light, sunset silhouette, broad daylight, wrapped in clouds, wreathed in clouds (as you see here) and under a cloudless sky.  

This photo contains the entire range of the Black Mountains in North Carolina. Actually, that is only partially true. What you see here is the highest peaks of the North-Central portion of the range. Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Rocky Mountains is near the middle of the photo. 

What I love about this photo is that the air was clear, and that clouds were clustered around the range. The shadows cast by those clouds under strong sunshine add to the visual beauty of the lower slopes of The Blacks.  

Hopefully this will not be my last photo of this part of The Black Mountains. I'm looking forward to exploring this viewpoint in the near future.

One of my favorite places - The top of Mount Mitchell, NC

Orion Departs: Mar 14, 2013

Orion Departs

Orion slips to the West, tilting as
He removes himself from
easy view in the pre midnight
sky.

Mid March cold flows down the
yard like a sluggish river bereft
of water craft,
chilling unprotected ankles
freezing toes.

The Barred Owl announces
to the small four legged that their
days may be numbered,
nocturnal hunt will
commence again soon.

My breath floats out
Dissipates…
Moistens the chill night air,
while I think of one who
will no longer be among us
no longer concerned with
impoverished breath.

Rejoice!
Another Saint is admitted
into the Eternal Kingdom!

We are glad,
for he who is no longer among us
suffers no more;
we are sad for he is no
longer among us.

Orion has floated from view.
I stand up, cold stiffened joints
protest a sudden start.
Tomorrow we begin again.
We move toward
that long away day
that day of Reunion in a
Heavenly country.

Copyright
Rod Scott
March 14, 2013

46° Clear
953 Riverchase Pkwy W, Hoover, Alabama, United States

Sent from my portable computer. 

At Peace: Apr 7, 2013

At Peace

Spring rain washed pollen filled skies
Trees shimmering with yellow sunlight
Drip and drop tinged water from
Fresh bright green leaves
born last night under the
warm spring stars.

Pollen yellow fringed puddles
dapple dot the black asphalt
down the hillside
down the roadway,
mosaic of gold and black stretches
the entire length of the Parkway.

Inhaling deeply I Remember:
A warm Spring morning when
I am six years old riding in
the back seat with my
window wound low
an extended arm,
a tilting hand,
surfing the ocean of air
flowing past the car;
My parents are in the front seat;
I am safe
secure
happy in the moment,
not a care in the world.

Rod Scott
copyright 2013
First draft was April 1, 2013
8th version.

Hoover, Alabama

Sent from my portable computer. 

Avian Congress: Apr 11, 2014

Avian Congress

I espied eleven eagles in one glance
gyring over the mighty Tennessee;
A congress of avian might,
clouding above the horizon they
commanded all beneath their wings;

Lowly mortals consigned to speeding along the internet and four wheeled
gasoline powered vehicles have
no power over the Eagle.

Copyright Elmore N. "Rod" Scott, Jr.

 Florence, AL

 

DAWN SLIDES UP THE CURVE OF THE WORLD. Day One Entry: Oct 27, 2013

Dawn slides up the curve of the world
on noiseless clouds, punctured
by mountains that redirect the light,
bending the sight lines to the eye of
the beholder.

Time stops;
then the thrice crowing cock
echoes in the valley below,
sounding among the hills,
and frost crisped fields.

Hidden dark cerulean clouds are
illumined by splintered solar fire,
by solar storms from afar…

In a puff of time, the pre dawn sky,
Coyly yielding to the day,
Departs in a moment,
Exploding into the
dawn sky, the
New Day Sky.

Elmore N. "Rod" Scott, Jr. © 2013

35.0037° N, 84.0295° W

Sent from my mobile phone.

SHACKLEFORD POINT - FEBRUARY Day One Entry: Feb 15, 2014

Shackleford Point - February

In the blue light before dawn the pine needles shiver in the sub freezing air. The north wind causes the trees to sashay in circles while the remnants of last night's fire permeate the air. The animals that are awake at this hour move silently under the trees, their footfalls covered by the wind tossed forest. Deer, quietly nibbling tender branchlets, the fox blinking at the slow light in the East, swift motion beneath the feet of the trees betray the scurry of the chipmunk.

Time stands still as the entire world pauses on the cusp of a new dawn. Fresh breezes blow away the detritus of the previous night, causing fresh insight into the days ahead. For a moment I am young, and old, simultaneously. The juxtaposition is momentarily unnerving, then accepted as the Moment Itself. A Relationship as large as all outdoors kindles the last tendrils of sleep, and unifies all that stood in disarray.

I turn to the North, inhaling the keen breeze, letting it revivify every cell in my body. Singing and tingling with new life, filled with clarified purpose I return to the campfire to make coffee.

Sent from my mobile phone.

TWILIGHT --- Day One Entry: Mar 14, 2014

Twilight

The wind rises from the southwest
Causing tree branches to sway with leafless abandon;
The clapper caresses the tubes of the wind chime coaxing pure notes to ride the wind across the forest.

The Barred Owl hidden amongst the highest oak branches sings a nocturnal ditty, persuading a response from avian kinfolk.

Do they survey their territory and announce their boundaries in such a manner?
Or is this a call of Love wanted, or Lost?

The dusk spreads like a heavy woolen Pendelton blanket
smothering the wind and diminishing its power,
silencing the call and response of the owls,
muting,
the wind chime.

Rod Scott

Sent from my mobile phone.

Floating : Jun 1, 2014

Floating

Sometimes the body mind floats, on automatic pilot, with no direction, step by step, breath by breath, with no conscious effort or attention….just coasting, like a kick ball out of bounds heading down hill to the road below.

Sent from my mobile phone.

Musical Epiphany Day One Entry: Jul 30, 2014

Musical Epiphany

Sometimes while listening to favorite music, the kind of music that leads to the genesis of epiphany, a Higher and better Dimension peeks through the chords and speaks Wisdom to my Heart.

Sent from my mobile phone.

Day One Entry: Aug 20, 2014

Grief

"Grief is so individually expressed, so uniquely experienced, that we have no capacity to experience another's pain. Sadness rooted in painful memories, triggered by anniversaries, are reminders merely of the passage of time, not of ability or desire to cope with the pain. There is no balm that can be applied or received from afar that will magically assuage our grief, eliminate the pain, or speed up its passage. Grief lives like a tree, growing at its own pace, fruiting and leafing at its own pace until one day a branch rots and leaves drop. Then on another day, perhaps distant in time, or sooner than expected, another branch breaks. The tree has fewer branches, fewer leaves, less fruit. The tree still lives but in a diminished capacity, it no longer takes the same amount of time to rake up the leaves in Fall. Even if this tree were to fall over in a hurricane, the wood would still be on the ground. The rotten carcass of grief slowly absorbed into the dirt. It might take a lifetime for that grief to disappear, or it might take a little less."

Rod Scott

90° Mostly Sunny
1980 Parkway River Rd, Hoover, AL, United States

Sent from my mobile phone.

How we'll remember the 2014 World Cup - film from Birmingham, AL

http://www.cbssports.com/world-cup/eye-on-world-cup/24619997/the-milestone-past-milestones-how-the-2014-world-cup-will-be-remembered

Hard to believe that video was filmed in Birmingham, Alabama. We have come a long way!!!

Sent from my portable computer. 

Life Intervention

Three years ago the rapidly declining state of my father's health required that I spend increasing amounts of time managing his health and financial affairs. A series of unexpected health set backs, including his succombing to blindness necessitated major changes in his life.

He lived first in an Assisted Living Center, then a Nursing Home. Last year he died on March 12, 2013.  Much of my time since has been handling his financial affairs since that time.

These very important issues, an Intervention from "Life", have taken me through the valley and the shadow. My writing has continued but has not been seen on this blog.

Perhaps one day I'll play catch up...but for now this blog is getting very little attention.

I've very proud of my father. He was an amazing gentleman who was humble before his God, and gave generously of his time and his talent. I'm attaching some photos of him in his later years.

Hey Dad----you are gone but not forgotten. 

Love,
Rod