Lund Retreat Autumn 2007 (8)
How many vertical layers in Savaryview?
1. Deck surface
2. Railing
3. Close clearing with rocks
4. Path to bluff
5. Proscenium of trees
6. Lower fringe of trees in front of water
7. The passage between Mace and Hurtado points
8. Mace point
9. South beach and Savary trees
10. Georgia Strait
11. Comox peninsula
12. Comox Valley
13. Lower cloud layer
14. Front Range
15. Skyline Range
16. Distant sky
17. Overhead sky
What are the movements?
1. Sun, moon, star light: the time of day or night, the seasonal angle, the cloud covers
2. Skyscape: cloud density, color, shape, texture on horizontal and vertical axes
3. Wind: intensity, steadiness, direction, in sound, smells, effect on land, sky and seascapes
4. Tidal ebb and flow, shrinking and expanding the beach
5. Current in the channel
6. Snow cover on the mountains, expanding and receding
7. Wildlife: bugs, birds, mammals
The temperature drops a degree or two. Does the stove need a log? It’s been an hour. I go downstairs to check, feel warmth as I reach the bottom steps, hear the rippling flow of combustion, see the flicker in the window. Not at all. Instead of raising, I lower the damper. There’s a living being at work for my comfort down there that requires close tending. When I came home last night and the stove was cold, I worried that the jack pine was poor fuel, that Dick may have tricked me, that I’d have to order a load of fir for any visitors. But the fire lit easily, and when I woke up this morning, it was still going.
What are the planes of consciousness?
1. right now: the temperature, the stove, the view, the list, appetite
2. observing and recording right now
3. reading and revising right now’s entries
4. reading and revising yesterday’s entries
5. reflecting and commenting on yesterday’s entries right now
6. recalling: old stuff in the computer. Old stuff remembering earlier stuff¦
A phone call. The College Dean wants to know if I’d be willing to moderate a round table discussion on Sustainability and the Liberal Arts with a distinguished visitor the day after I get back. Suddenly there’s homework.
I walk down to the bluff listening to the glocks of three ravens flying formation.
I encounter a squirrel cheeping loudly and take his picture and a film and sound recording.
Douglas squirrel Tamiasciurus douglasi ¦skull olive brown on the back and buff underneath, the two colours being separated by a black line. The bushy tail is also darker above¦coniferous seeds from the mai pat of the squirrel’s food, supplemented by berries and mushrooms. ¦does not hibernate¦stores large quantities of cones for winter use¦.active during the day, scolding and chattering as it tries to chase other animals from its home territory. Nature West Coast 205
Follow the trail to below the summit. See Cortes and Twin Island.
Walk back and hear chipping and see a little wren on the path back to the house. Winter Wren, Troglodytes, troglodytes
Repair gasket on woodstove.
Eat the last leftovers of Michael’s Snow White Chicken. The water chestnuts and baby bok choy and diagonally sliced asparagus and the local grown chicken, stewed in its own broth, whitened with the corn starch”along with the remains of a bottle of Okanagan Semillon Chardonnay.
Finish reading Prodigal Summer. Its happy ending makes me feel happy. A vulgar enjoyment. I will enjoy sharing it with students.
This is my last night here until April or May. I love this house, this land, this neighborhood, this province, this country.