America is a patchwork when it comes to walking the country. Of course, in the West, public land abounds, and is abutted by towns and cities, so something like an English walking experience can be had; in the East, not so much, with the much more restrictive property boundaries.
Transforming from landlubber to tar is a heady experience. The water not only becomes a new entity in its romanticism, but after a scrape or two, you realize that it can now also kill you... which somehow only adds to the romanticism. We channel the spirit of our risk-taking forebears in a modern world where life-and-limb risk now seems rare.
Hopkins' invocation of Psalm 2 in connection with the landscape of industry is classic English pastoral. Will Christ really judge the industrial revolution with his rod? I have my quibbles, but there's no debating that those landscapes are hellish in our imagination. Both seafaring men, and grimy coal miners, are icons of the great enrichment which took place during that time, but in our minds we connect the mill towns with hell, and the sea with heaven. I'd wager many more sailors died than miners.
It's a blessing that we now live on the far side of the great enrichment and have been able to clean up our wetlands, channels, hillsides so spectacularly in the developed world. And enjoy rambling through the landscapes. Repairing our damaged world is like bringing in the new heavens and earth. Well, probably not "like", more like "is".
Yet, where there are no oxen, the manger is clean...
I think businesses had to learn the hard way how to price in cleaning. It's much the same in households. Every time me, the wife, and kids start a project, we never budget the time or money for tidying up.
"God's Grandeur" is hard to beat... for my money, only "Kingfishers" edges it out, for beauty and pith.
I feel the same way about walking - I just spent three days walking from Ribblehead to Bowness and the fact that you can walk for days in the countryside (and sleep in B&Bs and pubs) is really special.
I enjoyed the vicarious rambling. Here is a fun and informative piece about the birth of the movement in England:
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/right-to-roam/
America is a patchwork when it comes to walking the country. Of course, in the West, public land abounds, and is abutted by towns and cities, so something like an English walking experience can be had; in the East, not so much, with the much more restrictive property boundaries.
Transforming from landlubber to tar is a heady experience. The water not only becomes a new entity in its romanticism, but after a scrape or two, you realize that it can now also kill you... which somehow only adds to the romanticism. We channel the spirit of our risk-taking forebears in a modern world where life-and-limb risk now seems rare.
Hopkins' invocation of Psalm 2 in connection with the landscape of industry is classic English pastoral. Will Christ really judge the industrial revolution with his rod? I have my quibbles, but there's no debating that those landscapes are hellish in our imagination. Both seafaring men, and grimy coal miners, are icons of the great enrichment which took place during that time, but in our minds we connect the mill towns with hell, and the sea with heaven. I'd wager many more sailors died than miners.
It's a blessing that we now live on the far side of the great enrichment and have been able to clean up our wetlands, channels, hillsides so spectacularly in the developed world. And enjoy rambling through the landscapes. Repairing our damaged world is like bringing in the new heavens and earth. Well, probably not "like", more like "is".
Yet, where there are no oxen, the manger is clean...
I think businesses had to learn the hard way how to price in cleaning. It's much the same in households. Every time me, the wife, and kids start a project, we never budget the time or money for tidying up.
"God's Grandeur" is hard to beat... for my money, only "Kingfishers" edges it out, for beauty and pith.
Here's Richard Burton reading a long one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhQwFf6Qb9U
I feel the same way about walking - I just spent three days walking from Ribblehead to Bowness and the fact that you can walk for days in the countryside (and sleep in B&Bs and pubs) is really special.
I've holidayed near Ribblehead with my family several times. Such a beautiful area of the country!
You'll have to take Susannah!
She definitely needs to visit. I'd love to take her on a rail trip from Settle to Carlisle too.