tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post1437246050584438709..comments2023-12-30T17:31:11.883+00:00Comments on The Solitary Walker: Mystical Topography: A Naples Of The MindThe Solitary Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-88467134139475968222010-07-22T22:20:09.291+01:002010-07-22T22:20:09.291+01:00I really enjoyed reading your comment, Fireweed. T...I really enjoyed reading your comment, Fireweed. Thanks for sharing your special places with us in such an evocative way.The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-82350312251997469632010-07-21T23:40:32.869+01:002010-07-21T23:40:32.869+01:00How wonderful! And how wonderful that all those wh...How wonderful! And how wonderful that all those who have commented have understood completely what you mean. I have many of these places. They're mostly lakes or mountains, or lakes surrounded by mountains, and one from childhood which is less a place and more an experience, of swinging in the trees of a northern forest and looking up at golden aspen leaves shimmering against a glowing blue autumn sky and listening to the leaves fluttering in the wind, sounding like silky bracelets rattling against each other in a soft breeze, or a rushing river in the high wind. Such a perfect sensory memory. I must have spent hundreds of hours on that swing under those trees.fireweed meadowhttp://www.fireweedmeadow.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-83050314829414475022010-07-21T22:21:16.701+01:002010-07-21T22:21:16.701+01:00Thanks, Robert. I went to your "Dew-fall Haw...Thanks, Robert. I went to your "Dew-fall Hawk" posting of March 6, '09 and read Hardy's poem, "Afterwords." So great, so moving! It really captures what I was trying to say in my response. How dismal it must be to live a life of exploration and inquiry, only to be remembered for things that never really mattered. Personally, I would be content with Hardy's words as an epitaph: "He was one who had an eye for such mysteries."<br /><br />Thanks for sharing this poem with me. It will travel well with me as the years go by.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03959953035812596907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-32735784242380584212010-07-21T20:59:17.320+01:002010-07-21T20:59:17.320+01:00Thanks so much for your comments, Lorenzo and Alis...Thanks so much for your comments, Lorenzo and Alistair. I really appreciated them.<br /><br />Yes, Pat, it's nice to have a Naples - essential, probably. In Robert MacFarlane's book 'The Wild Places' he cites a couple of cases of prisoners who survived their captivity by constantly conjuring up specific mountains, or special wild places, in their minds.<br /><br />George, that was such a lovely response I read it twice! Now, if you don't already know Hardy's poem 'Afterwards', I shall not rest until you read it, for it's so apposite here. (I've quoted it in full in my post 'The Dew-fall Hawk' of 6 March 2009.)The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-67429783730541835282010-07-21T19:54:05.670+01:002010-07-21T19:54:05.670+01:00This is a welcome posting, Robert, one that could ...This is a welcome posting, Robert, one that could only be written by someone who has traveled often and well, across landscapes of the heart no less than those of the earth. Once again, I find myself in total agreement.<br /><br />"Revisiting sacred spots in the imagination" is something that I also do on a regular basis, not only to find contentment, but also to remember the essence of who I am. When they write my obituary -- which I trust will not be soon -- I would be pleased if they omitted the dates, degrees, job titles, places of residence, and social affiliations. Let them state simply that I loved strangers and strange places, walks through deserted back streets, the music of foreign languages, the fragrance of newly discovered flowers, the taste of spices that were previously unknown to my palate, the sound of a train clicking and clacking across the countryside, taking me to something new and challenging. These were the times in which the boundaries began to fall for me, and they have continued to fall with each passing year. These were also the times in which I was most liberated from the shackles of my worldly life, and with that liberation came a "lightness of being," to use Milan Kundera's words, a sense that all is well at the core of this mysterious thing called life.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03959953035812596907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-63200853761819514872010-07-21T18:23:06.723+01:002010-07-21T18:23:06.723+01:00Yes Robert, I would agree that we all have a '...Yes Robert, I would agree that we all have a 'Naples of the mind' - I think mine is a lane in the village of my childhood - a lane where my father and I walked every Summer, looking for wild flowers and birds' nests. It has long since gone to new housing and I suspect my memories of it all are 'embroidered by time.' But it is nice to have a Naples to refer to.The Weaver of Grasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13947971556343746883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-3835526275325775542010-07-21T11:14:08.993+01:002010-07-21T11:14:08.993+01:00I couldn't agree more. I still remember the fi...I couldn't agree more. I still remember the first time I saw wind sculpted snow on a mountain summit above Loch Lomond when I was 15. I can still see very vividly the sparkle and course texture of the ice crystals with a backdrop of a very blue Loch.<br />The stag that ran out in front of me on a cycle tour of the Trossachs when I was 14 is still frozen in memory, leaping out of the trees on a very still morning by the loch.<br />Thanks for an inspiring post.Alistairhttp://stravaiger.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-3016971655459866402010-07-21T09:32:40.912+01:002010-07-21T09:32:40.912+01:00Yes, you capture so well the treasures we all coll...Yes, you capture so well the treasures we all collect in our inner "mystical topography". Happily, you seem to consciously connect with them regularly and put the to very good use instead of keeping them hidden away in a dark forgotten attic.Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07522265816460154722noreply@blogger.com