February 13th, 2015 Aiako Harria yesterday, first time this year; overtaken by the beauty. It is at about this time along the hillsides and in the thickets that the brown of the end of winter starts mixing with the green of the beginning of spring. But an outing like this, though refreshing, can do nothing for the interior state of mind when one is tired and helpless; it only offers a slight reprieve, but we are back again, missing it: the sights, the sounds, the smell of the forest--somehow it only adds to the misfortune. It is difficult to wander along the thin trails because we have built up a reason and an inspiration for our coming; there is a goal, a new plant to find; something to be attained, a new path to take. All the expectation dies with each step, and yet it is still beautiful, still appealing, still the key to some secret meaning we have created for ourselves; and when we stop and look at it all, we realize we are merely the sum of our attainments, the sum that keeps
October 12th, 2013 Morning and evening have such an effect on the mind that it is a great consternation to wonder if it is the incline of the sun or the opacity of thought that keeps us from experiencing the world the way we think it should be. From the one we are ever ready to see the intimacy for which to set ourselves down in its presence; and from the other to feel that instant of appearance wherein the whole land shall embrace an ephemeral perspective. Douglas Thornton