HOKUSAI, THE OLD MAN MAD WITH PAINTING, Looked at Mount Fuji from All Angles and All Times of Year Hokusai here looks at Fuji in the chill of days short in winter. In the changing seasons we see the changing of our lives, in the passing days the march of time up a hill or into a ditch. All your days may pile up on you like logs in a funeral pyre or your days may release like startled doves at dawn. Sometimes I believe I endure the hell heat of summer only so I may feel winter’s cold caress upon my cheek, more kind than you might think.
I LIVE BY METAPHOR In crisp air is sharp thought, in steep terrain is stark relief. When people ask how did you end up in the LAND OF ZION, I tell them I came for the snow and what the snow teaches me. For ten years I worked in the magical kingdom of LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON. For five years I lived at a place called SNOWBIRD. In such places time is a different thing and man but one animal among many. For five years I have been a stranger but this year I will again be a friend.
WHERE WE HAVE TRAVELLED DEEPLY never lets go of us completely, whether it is a favored corner or a lover lost long ago. When we return it is familiar, and yet never quite the same. Hokusai in his view of winter reminds me of where I have been and where I yet might be again in the cold caress of memory, delicate but strong.
beautiful post, Heretik. Your genius with Photoshop is matched only by your skill with the written word. This post was like a drink of cool water on a hot day.
Posted by: Matt | July 31, 2005 at 12:52 PM