Manly men doing manly things

This month is the fortieth anniversary of the publication of James Dickey's book "Deliverance". A book that explores men challenging themselves both physically and mentally. Then of course they encounter the darkness of other men and discover the depths of their own baser nature. Men traveling into the wild has become well covered in the nonfiction market with books such as "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer or "A Perfect Storm" by Sebastian Junger however, in fiction this type of tale has gone out of fashion. The road map to manhood seems to somehow have become lost today.
I am happy to see that being a man no longer seems to require the clubbing to death of another man or the destruction of some beautiful part of nature but then I never believed that these things were the mark of a man. Something is missing though and I believe a part of what is missing is an exceptance of the dark, violent, nature in the recesses of each of our being. There is also missing the love of the natural enviroment and the sublime beauty found in art, music, creation. Men are a wild combination of destruction and creation but both sides of that nature seem to be derided today. A man needs to explore and understand all aspects of his nature to truly be complete and many men seem to be missing that oppurtunity today.







Text © Crownedstoat – All rights reserved
Nez-Perces war club courtesy of the United States Federal Goveremnt, Nec-Perces National Historic Park, Wikicommons - Public Domain

The Power of a Word

I rarely consider the power of a single words but recently I was reminded how powerful an impact they can make. Consider the simple utterance "please". Context is everything and "please" in context can be joyful, painful, humiliating, laughable and a myriad of other possibilities. A single word spoken with conviction in the right circumstance can bring you to your knees, lift your heart to the heavens or leave you breathless with anticipation. A single word whispered can make your heart beat faster and shouted can bring you to your feet. A single word can be the difference between success and failure, hope and despair, life and death. A single world can change everything. A single word recently changed everything for me. Three letters, one syllable, simple but so very powerful. She said, "yes".




Text © Crownedstoat – All rights reserved

The pleasures of moonlight

Last night I saw the moonlight. It danced over the beautiful landscape and the images still lingers in my mind.The way the light played over the landscape was mesmerizing. Shadows of complete blackness, highlights of stark, beautiful white and the dappled effect as the two met echo even now hours later. The colors were muted and few but that didn't matter because somehow the textures seemed more intense. Edges seemed as sharp as daggers and when the clouds obscured the light everything became softly rounded and out of focus like an impressionistic painting. It is an endless fascination that I come back to explore again and again. The night falls and the moon shines and another world awaits. I await for the evening to come.







Text © Crownedstoat – All rights reserved
Clifton Suspension Bridge with a full moon in the background photo courtesy of Wikicommons - Cako