Thinking in Black and White under a Tree is Cool.

Black and White conveys something by itself. I like this picture. I like how the figure extends out of the rock. For me the human figure is the central focus of the picture. I like the fact that the trees have no leaves. I like how it is framed by the the trees and it is the light from behind that enables the picture to be seen. The person on the rock has to be either in deep thought or deep non thought. Both wonderful states.

If you believed that the runner I posted back a few blogs was me finishing one of my Saint George Marathons, then I will have to tell you this picture is really of me. Now if you doubt this, don't doubt for a minute that I ran 13 marathons, because I did. You might not believe that the runner was me or even that this person above is me but I can tell you they both, for me, reflect me.

Emerson's book Self Reliance perhaps would be reflected by or within this picture above in some way. For that matter, for me, the book Heart in Alantis by Stephan King is something I think of when I see this picture. In the book a young man runs down a small wooded gully to get away from trouble. One time I was in Washington DC. I was less than 10 minutes from the Lincoln Memorial driving into a residential area. Along the road was a deep gully, with a lot of trees. It was starting to get dark. I thought as I looked into the gully of the the book by Stephan King and that scene. I would be more useful for a 'blog ramble" like this if I had thought of Walden. If I do it again, start thinking far off thoughts as I look into a dark gully with shadows, I hope I will think of this picture above.

Thinking of Thoreau and Emerson, takes a person to Walden. Then, of course, a "pond" comes to mind. In Walden there must be a lot of trees, ponds, lakes, grass, and green things. This little purple flower above is down the road here in the High Desert, by the way. Then the pond in this picture is not in Walden either. It is in the middle of the University of New Mexico's campus. Just North of the Lobo statue and a little to the West.

Ducks are fine things. Seems like they are a much higher up the "ladder of worth" than pigeons. In Pocatello I recall the Pigeons under the overpass. When I was young I climbed up and caught a bunch. We took them to a cage we had built up the street from my house on Wyeth steet. We had big plans to have them take messages somewhere. I have listened to Thomas Monson give a lot of good talks where he remebered his pigeons. I think he kept them even as an adult. Then I recall the ones that seem to just live on the house tops in our neighborhood and they don't seem to be good birds. Pigeons don't seem as cool as ducks to me. Then again that has little to do with that black and white shadow above. On the other hand the central figure might be thinking about everything or maybe nothing. Pigeons might fit into that somewhere.

Some Quotes from the book Self Reliance

"the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

"Insist on yourself: never imitate"

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles"