Dome's hulking presence behind me, illuminating a ghostly image of
the radar site watching over the world from atop mountain's elevated
perspective. In front of me lies the tangled waters of an ancient
peat bog, dotted with tiny islands of tussocks with hairy mantles of
sedge grass and cat-tails.
I come to this spot on this evening to relax and to gain perspective on my days thoughts of computer network
complexity, office dynamics and modern family life. I also come in
hopes of learning to better identify the various waterfowl that share
this part of planet with me.
The pond service is glass smooth and mirrors the soft evening sky
above. Innumerable V shaped wakes distort the reflection, etched
there by the plethora of ducks paddling through the channels like
self-propelled toy boats. Occasionally a noisy fracas of quacks
erupts and flapping wings carry a pod of disgruntled participants to
a more peaceful section of the marsh. I sit excitedly fiddling with
the focus knob on my spotting scope, trying desperately to bring
individual birds into focus for proper identification. I watch a
given individual for a time, forcing its many distinctive markings to
be recorded in my optical cortex. Then I drop the scope and quickly
begin thumbing the pages of my bird book hoping to find a photograph
matching the quickly fading image I'm holding in my mind. I find this
process difficult. My mind seems better wired to hold abstract,
verbal descriptions than actual images....perhaps that is why I am a
network nerd instead of an artist. Images, like melodies, are
composed of innumerable discrete components which blend together
forming a "whole" of more significance than all its parts. My poor
brain seems incapable of reconstructing images or melodies but can
appreciate the magnificence of both.
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