Thursday, September 15, 2016

A Vision of the Four Elements, Part 4 - Water

Water is life. It supports life generously in the part of Kenya that we visited.

Bamboo along river bank, Kakamega
Waterside chores, Lake Victoria
Fishermen approaching shore
A Yellow-billed stork and a Sacred ibis
Istanbul derives commercial and strategic power from its position on the narrow waterway between the Black Sea (Russia) and the Mediterranean Sea. It bridges Europe and Asia.

Istanbul shoreline
Imperial caiques preserved in the Naval Museum
Sultans of the Ottoman Empire made royal appearances in these nineteenth-century boats.

The garden of the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
Precious water had a sacred place in paradise gardens of the arid Middle East.

Sultan Ahmet Square fountain
In modern Istanbul water is available more luxuriously.

 Coastal walk Le Sentier Littoral, Antibes
Natural splendor along the Mediterranean, French Riviera.

The Riviera, Nice
Recreational splendor.

Fountain, Nice
Playful splendor.

Holy water, Chartres
Sacred splendor.

Cathedral of Notre Dame, Chartres

Water lilies, Giverny
The water garden of Claude Monet.

The center of monarchy, Île de la Cité, Paris
The Seine River, lifeline of the French capital.

Fontaine des Mers, Place de la Concorde
Tribute to the Oceans, Paris.

Luxembourg Gardens
The rise, fall, and reservoir of water as enjoyed by light.

The Fountain of Saint-Sulpice
Icons of Church and State, Nature and Man, harmonized with water.

Water garden of The Rodin Museum
The present imbibing the past in a Parisian pool

Water defines life on Earth, and any other place we can imagine. When we speculate about the possibility of life on other planets we look for water.

Water is the essence of organisms and the physic of health. It may variously be an agent of creation and destruction, giving birth, dissolving, fracturing, eroding, transporting. 

Water absorbs and releases energy. Its changes of state from solid to liquid to gas condition our relationship to the physical world. It anchors our scientific standards of measurement and behavior.
 

Water flows through and around us as drink, as irrigation, as conveyor, as perspiration, as tears, as anointment. It underlies photosynthesis, metabolism, and respiration. It means existence.
 



1 comment:

  1. Martin, Such amazing poetry and perception in the spiderweb post. Your posts open my eyes to the extraordinary in the ordinary. I am reminded of Walt Whitman's line: to me a single blade of grass is no less the journeywork of the stars. The photography is breathtaking and the insights heartfelt and glorious. Thank you so much for these treasures, i also appreicate the blurb about the film and peace activism. Thank you, once again.

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