Goose Creek Ice ~ Five

goosecreekicefive.jpg

Romancing the camera

One final image, an abstraction of winter from one ephemeral half hour last week. It is this, and also it is for me a holographic fragment that holds all the information in the larger whole.

Wholeness. Will it ever exceed our grasp? The camera’s eye and memory and words are hands with which we grasp but cannot hold that larger Truth that speaks to some–but not all–in nature.

Are you a naturalist? Is there a regenerative and revelatory power in meadow or woods–cathedrals not made by hands, as John Muir would have it–that sustains and nurtures you?

And what do you think of the term “romantic” to capture the essence of the poetic versus the cold-objective term for those who wander and wonder in nature? Are you a Romantic Naturalist?

Join the discussion about the nature of naturalists at RomanticNaturalist.

And note the sidebar button to the Nature Blog Network. This list (I’m not included as I just added the script this morning) is likely to grow and morph over time. Consider this a site worth bookmarking.

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fred
fred

Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

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  1. Romantic Naturalist describes me to a “T”. Great links. Now I’ll probably NEVER get around to reading the world news in the morning. Probably a good thing.

  2. Thanks, Fred, for stopping by at Romantic Naturalist. I hope we can get something going, but the Nature Blog Network is also a wonderful step!

    My vote, it being election year, is for Goose Creek Ice #1 and #5. I love the layering in this one.

    Remember Bruce–the real world news rarely makes the “world news.” Moon is waning gibbous, too many species went extinct yesterday, but the Sun came up this morning and Fred still has ice to show us! Happy day…