to be faster than an angry elephant

Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.                - Michael Pritchard

 












- and from Rules of the Wild, Francesca Marciano:

It was as if the silence of wilderness had seeped into me and had quietened the useless noise of my fear.

The incredible thing was that the more we ran, the more we laughed. We kept holding on to each other, laughing hysterically, like children playing a game. We burst into camp panting and shaking with laughter."

"Huyu, anaweza kukimbia sana," said Lenjo to Adam and the other guys, pointing at me and shaking his head with a smile.

"Of course I can run, what did you think?" I replied jokingly, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

And suddenly I felt victorious. It was fun, after all, to be faster than an angry elephant.

 
































 Train Window: Lura Astor Art

Woman with Baby Elephant: credit unknown
Elephant Reading: credit unknown

Quiet Treat

For friends imbibing in Silent Retreats, Heart Retreats,
daily walk re-treats

Paul Simon says it here in his Quiet

 











I am heading for a time of quiet
When my restlessness is past
And I can lie down on my blanket
And release my fists at last

I am heading for a time of solitude
Of peace without illusions
When the perfect circle
Marries all beginnings and conclusions

And when they say
That you're not good enough
Well the answer is
You're not
But who are they
Or what is it
That eats at what you've got
With the hunger of ambition
For the change inside the purse
They are handcuffs on the soul, my friends
Handcuffs on the soul
And worse

I am heading for a place of quiet
Where the sage and sweetgrass grow
By a lake of sacred water
From the mountain's melted snow
-Paul Simon

pastel: Berlin Pond Vermont   Deb Dwyer

photo: Forsythia   Deb Imershein