If you haven't seen it already, there is a new poem about the visit to the crater below El Teide on frankenstina. It was an added bonus to the experience to have this poem beautifully read - at sight, and from my quirky handwriting - on our last evening by Chris, one of our leaders.
I've tried to convey something of the vastness which made me feel ant-like as I perched on La Fortaleza, one of the remaining original parts of the caldera wall, made of red basalt. I've borrowed an image from Eliot's "The Waste Land", and used it to suggest that the presence of a volcano is always an uneasy reminder of the forces over which we have no control.
Chris, your poem is truly thought-provoking! Yes, we are as ants on this planet!
ReplyDeleteI just visited your BIL's site, and was left feeling quite awestruck by the loss of life and damage from the sea. No matter where we live on this planet, it would seem we go on only by the Grace of God!
Your photos have been so fantastic, and I have enjoyed reading about your adventures! I realize that the stark reality is, I will probably never get to visit the places I should like to explore. Therefore, I greatly treasure your photos as well as accounts!!!!
Thanks, Katya - but do you not think our travelling might be part of belonging to such a small island? When I was in the USA I felt how irrelevant the rest of the world seemed to many of the people I came across, because their country was so huge and so diverse. Just a thought!
ReplyDeleteAh, yes true, Chris, but my roots are muc deeper than here in the US of A! My great grandmother was a McKelvey...would love to explore HER world before her family came to the US. My father's parents came from Ukraine. Not so sure about visiting there. When asked what nationality they were, they proclaimed (strikingly BOLDLY, might I add) "Americans"!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs far as exploring the US, well...I love New England, the Northeast, the Northwestern Pacific area.I guess the northern areas are what I enjoy. As far as south? Not too interested. Too hot. Too muggy. Tooo....tooo!!!!!I have seen Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. That was (tooo much!!!) enough! Guess my northern blood is too thick to appreciate heat...
I guess when explorers came and discovered just how big the American continent is, they did indeed think they discovered a "new world"!
I would hate to think that the rest of this big world is irrelevant...the US is made up of that big world, after all!