Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/09/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Happy birthday, George, I like the first photo best. I sympathize with your questions there. Mary Warnock talked about 'concrete imagination' to describe when an artist or philosopher uses a natural phenomenon to help explore and express an idea that is usually thought of as only abstract. Concrete imagination makes more sensual what is otherwise only dimly intelligible and not easily picturable. I think that's what you are doing too. Like when Heraclitus described reality and all in it as a constantly flowing and renewing river. Or when Sartre described morally dubious people as "slimy". This blossom, fallen on aging cedar, gave you a pleasant "happy birthday" surprise and said something to you. Maybe we can imagine the message and the metaphors. The flat parts of the petals rest softly on the aging wood, while the tube in the centre has not yet wilted. It points up, back to the source from where it fell. Like you do, on your birthday. Peter Cheyne