Aeolian music

-There can be no very black melancholy to him who lives in the midst of Nature and has his senses still. There was never yet such a storm but it was Aeolian music to a healthy and innocent ear. Nothing can rightly compel a simple and brave man to a vulgar sadness. I trust that nothing can make life a burden to me.

-In eternity there is indeed something true and sublime. But all these times and places and occasions are now and here. God himself culminates in the present moment, and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages. And we are enabled to apprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by the perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality that surrounds us.
-from Thoreau's journals.


There was a great seminar this weekend in Corvallis by two exceptional and high-ranking Shotokan instructors, Bob Graves and Jerry Fitzpatrick. The subject was kumite (sparring) and much fun was had with no exceptional bruises.