View from Inspiration Point in Yosemite

Being the curious sort, I searched for a photograph of the Jeffery Pine by Carleton Watkins, the first to publish such a print. Unable to find one, I selected another from Watkins which offers the same view of Yosemite National Park as the one taken by Ansel Adams and which appeared here on August 6. Yosemite became a state park in 1864 and a national park in 1890. This photograph was taken in 1879 and is displayed at the Princeton University Art Museum. Watkins, although not well known beyond photographic circles, was one of the premier early western photographers.

In 1933 Ernest Hemingway published a short story entitled, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." In it are the lines: "He disliked bars and bodegas. A clean, well-lighted café was a very different thing. Now, without thinking further, he would go home to his room. He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep." Those lines and the story itself are very profound in the sense of seeing into the core of the soul of some individuals.

I sort of think of vistas that way. Views of humankind monuments made to themselves are something I do not much care for; views revealing the splendor of Nature are something I find magnificent and adore. This panorama is one such sight .... it sort of reminds me of the final lines in a 1913/1914 poem about trees by Joyce Kilmer:

"Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree."  

 

Well, do you?

What is the "prime of life?"

There probably is no real answer to that question, only a number of words which sort of define elements of it.

Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir wrote a book using those words as the title. It was the second book of a four-volume autobiography. In a sentence, she was the "girl friend" of Jean-Paul Sartre. In a longer sentence, she was the writer of novels, essays, biographies, autobiography and monographs on philosophy, politics and social issues -- and, the companion / the confidant of Jean-Paul Sartre. I did not remember all the types of material she wrote .... I ran across them on the internet. Actually, I have read very little of her work, which, I suppose, is my loss. She obviously was a very talented woman who lived a very fascinating life.

Whatever .... this post is about the "prime of life," not about Simone .... another day, maybe, for her.

I have been thinking about the "prime of life" in context to myself and my own. I suppose this sort of stuff should fall under the category of not taking oneself too seriously .... which is difficult for me since everything about life seems complicated and serious to me.

Whatever ....

I think the bottom line is that although it has taken more than a few years, I finally have figured out that I will not live forever and have come to accept it.

Better late than never .... right?

Then again, I suppose it is possible I am imagining and/or dreaming things and that I will live forever .... maybe?

As Henry II said at the close of the play, "The Lion in Winter," to Eleanor of Aquitaine: "You know, I hope we never die."

Eleanor: "I hope so, too."

Henry: "You think there's any chance of it?"

The play ends then with no response from Eleanor .... do you? Think there is any chance of it?