There must be people who learn new habits (and unlearn old habits) easily, but I'm not one of them. Since nights are longer now, it would be helpful to get in the habit of wearing a headlamp when leaving the camper at night.
In darkness, it isn't even possible to lock the door when leaving the camper. At dawn recently, I was doing the same stupid thing again: fumbling with the keys to feel for the shape of the door key. I simply couldn't feel it. I was furious.
Perhaps it was the anger that made me do it, but I held the keys up towards the dawn sky, and much to my surprise, the silhouettes were clear. Why hadn't I thought of this trick, before?
Strange. It was almost "pre-dawn." A poet would probably call it the time of day when dawn was still just a hope or promise. And yet there was enough light to see the shape of the keys.
What a great way to start the day, eh?: with an "authentic natural experience." I use the term generously -- perhaps too generously. But there must be some word or other to honor an experience when we approach nature as something better than a common scenery tourist. It is better to live with nature than to gawk at nature, and the essence of "living" is solving problems.
How do I show a picture of "pre-dawn?" Well I can't of course, but here is a photo from the archives that is somewhat related.
Postscript: with hindsight, my inspiration to use dawn's barely perceptible light might have come from Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Tales." The main character is always leading warriors out, just before dawn.
In darkness, it isn't even possible to lock the door when leaving the camper. At dawn recently, I was doing the same stupid thing again: fumbling with the keys to feel for the shape of the door key. I simply couldn't feel it. I was furious.
Perhaps it was the anger that made me do it, but I held the keys up towards the dawn sky, and much to my surprise, the silhouettes were clear. Why hadn't I thought of this trick, before?
Strange. It was almost "pre-dawn." A poet would probably call it the time of day when dawn was still just a hope or promise. And yet there was enough light to see the shape of the keys.
What a great way to start the day, eh?: with an "authentic natural experience." I use the term generously -- perhaps too generously. But there must be some word or other to honor an experience when we approach nature as something better than a common scenery tourist. It is better to live with nature than to gawk at nature, and the essence of "living" is solving problems.
How do I show a picture of "pre-dawn?" Well I can't of course, but here is a photo from the archives that is somewhat related.
Postscript: with hindsight, my inspiration to use dawn's barely perceptible light might have come from Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Tales." The main character is always leading warriors out, just before dawn.
The wolf light is the light between dark and light, between the night and the dawn. There are no colors, just the gray of a sword blade, of mist, of the gray that swallows the ghosts...
I looked back to the woods and could see the shape of trees now, dark in the darkness, see the slash of rain. Almost, I said, again...
And the shadows beneath the trees dissolved into shapes, into bushes and trunks, of leaves thrashing in the wind. It was still night, but the wolf-light had come.
Comments
You might try this: My old VW Kombi has two almost identical keys, one for the doors and the other for the ignition switch. I have filed a small notch in the top of the door key so that I can tell them apart without looking at them. Or you could superglue a small pip to it so that you can feel the difference.
You could also put your door key on a smaller keyring and hang that separately on the main bunch - easier to feel for in the dark. Or paint it with glow-in-the-dark paint. Or keep it in a special pocket. Or don't bother locking at all ;)
Which reminds me of The Hermetica, literature from around 3000 BC. One of its teachings is: As Above, so Below; As Within, so Without.
That might not resonate with you. I usually strike out when I talk like this.
However, your post seems to glory in the perfection of nature. Old thinkers and poets from the beginning of civilization were keen scientific observers of the natural order and unfolding of the universe and their observations were translated into words of wisdom.
We as a species are keenly prepared to live in the natural world as it is since we are a product of this very planet, finely tuned over thousands of years. The process of evolution, random in its creations yet always progressing in the direction of increasing excellence, gets credit for the human eye which can adjust to the degree of light available, the mind which can problem solve and realize it can hold the key up to the sky for better visibility, and the intellect which can recognize a successful accommodation to life's challenges.
You ask for a word that honors the experience when we approach nature as something better than a common scenery tourist? Ancient people believed that "the One" was manifested in "the Many." You and everyone else are manifestations of the "many." I think your experience was essentially to experience "the One." That is, when there is no gap, no obstacle in one's way.....just a free flowing natural movement without flaw.
Not a trick at all. Just a natural person living in the natural world.
George
Chris