Sunday, October 05, 2008

Exchange at Lancieux-sur-Mer, 26th September.


Meaning matters, I said (although I think perhaps I'm wrong...).

We come here, perhaps, to make a memory, or simply perhaps to look at blue,

and sails,




and sun-umbrellas,




and hand our sister over.


There's meaning there, my brother said. (I think perhaps he needs a camera...)

What then? A path to take, the inner structure broken and revealed, the curl of nature set against a human-made geometry? Perhaps...


The strata of the stone, we note, resembles that of wood, but with the laying down much slower.

Fractals, I said (although I think perhaps I'm facile...).


Our understanding, said my brother, is bound to time. If we could live as long as trees or stones, we might be wise.


I feel, I said, as though I work now only with impressions, ideas defeat me (although I think perhaps this doesn't matter...).


We are deterred, my brother said, by others' excellence.

To see ourselves as second-rate, we hesitantly posed, may be as much delusion and more dangerous, as to assume we're something special.

Sixth child and second son (although I think perhaps that's not germane...) we struggle to believe it.

21 comments:

Dave King said...

Some really fascinating photographs. Enjoyable in themselves and inspirational as well.

Zhoen said...

Dog's got it figured, just fetch the stick.

julie said...

*Sigh*

Once again, your photos and poetics leave me humbled, and longing for the seaside.

Rosie said...

that last is a blue to lose yourself in...

Granny J said...

Ah, Lucy, when you reach my age, you will be content to savor the seaside and take beautiful pictures to share.

Anonymous said...

Such lovely photos of sea, sand, rock, wood. Time with sister and brother is precious indeed.

Fire Bird said...

Very tasty post

Crafty Green Poet said...

lovely selection of photos, specailly the second one

herhimnbryn said...

Sigh.

Roderick Robinson said...

That looks like a GR mark on the truncated concrete post.

Any more info on the strange looking yacht-ish sort of boat?

Lucy said...

We meet up hereabouts once a year, as it's something like halfway between where we live and my brother and sister-in-law's home, to handover our sister, who usually spend part of her visit with us and part with them, so it's becoming something of a family custom. We chew the fat and have a walk; it's a pretty bit of coast. And yes, that really is enough to satisfy the soul!

I don't know what the sailing ship was, or how to find out; there seemed to be a few square-riggers of varying sizes about that day, I don't know why. They make a seascape look more beautiful...

Julia said...

It looks like a gaff-rigged schooner to me, with just its mainsail up (and a few hankerchiefs in the bow ;-).

Beautiful pictures, I love the blue so much.

Avus said...

Yes - exquisite pictures, beautifully observed and framed.

Anil P said...

You've articulated your thoughts beautifully, as always.

I suppose most of us make meaning out of time, carving our impressions on it as it moves through our lives. And in remembering the moments we probably seek to rewind time so that we may live the life we once lived.

vicki johnson said...

Ah, Lucy...i don't dare even go there. Being overwhelmed, as i am, by attempting to earn a living by needing to always attempt to guess at what will be meaningful to others. If only i did not need to earn money, my site could clear up substantially. i have a very difficult time grasping an image of the bigger picture and how the need for money fits into it all...and all because i lived too long with a parent who raged over...money, and the lack of it.

i suppose, now that i think about it...there is meaning there.

in college, i indulged myself in such discourse. But now, i simply try to keep my integrity intact.

Bee said...

Lucy, your "impressions" are as beautiful and dense and meaningful as any "ideas" that I've come across lately. Small things are always the best illustration of "big" things, I think.

I keep musing over your second to last paragraph. No helpful conclusions, though.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Beautiful. All.

Pam said...

Hmm, lovely pictures and words but a bit enigmatic - I'm prosaically glad of your explanation (being as I am very nosy).

I wish I had a sister to hand over... or indeed to keep.

HLiza said...

Ah..seaside..when was the last time I walked barefooted there?

Lucy said...

Cheers, y'all! Lovely comments.

Anonymous said...

It is always those events which occur once a year, on a certain date or whatever that fix things in my mind and make me wonder. I don't mean Christmas or anything - but I always see my mother during certain holidays and there are other things too.

This post reminded me a lot of Fifi. I notice she is not on your sidebar. Have you ever read her blog (Strange Fruit) - I think you would like it.

She spirits me away whenever I visit her, in much the same way that you did here.