Desert

The desert of Judaea as seen from Masada / I.A. Daglis, thanks to Tsvi

The desert is the environment of revelation, genetically and physiologically alien, sensorily austere, esthetically abstract, historically inimical... Its forms are bold and suggestive. The mind is beset by light and space, the kinesthetic novelty of aridity, high temperature and wind. The desert sky is encircling, majestic, terrible... To the desert go prophets and hermits; through deserts go pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic and spiritual values of retreat, not to escape but to find reality.

Paul Howe Shepard [Man in the landscape: A historic view of the esthetics of nature, 1967]

Abyss

Abyss / © I.A. Daglis

Wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein.
(When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you)

Friedrich Nietzsche [Aphorism 146 in Beyond Good and Evil, 1886]

Challenge

The Challenge of Angels Landing, 2009

 

 

 

According to the moral absolutism that characterized McCandless's beliefs, a challenge in which a successful outcome is assured isn't a challenge at all.

Jon Krakauer [Into the wild, 1996]

Rich with possibility

Road to Monument Valley / © I.A. Daglis

And then I climbed into my car and departed for Alaska. I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility.

Jon Krakauer [Into the wild, 1996]

Sweet smelling summer nights

Summer night in Nea Fokea, Macedonia, Greece / I.A. Daglis

In days of peace -
sweet smelling summer nights
of wine and song;
dusty pavements burning feet.
Why am I crying, I want to know.
How can I smile and make it right?
For sixty days and eighty nights
and not give in and lose the fight.

I'm going back to the ones that I know,
with whom I can be what I want to be.
Just one week for the feeling to go --
and with you there to help me
then it probably will.

Ian Anderson [With you there to help me - in Benefit, 1970]

Jethro Tull - With You There To Help Me