Hi Tad,

Just listened to a wonderful rendition of Vaughn Williams' "The Lark Ascending" by the violinist Christopher Warner Green. It is one of my favorite pieces of instrumental music and the musician did a delightful job improvising with the tempo to mimick the erratic, spurting flight of a bird. The piece reminds me of Canadian poet Archibald Lampman, who better than most captures the feeling of a lazy warm summer day. In both the music and poetry you can almost feel the warmth of the sun on your face, the dampness of the earth, the buzzing of insects and prickly grass. Lying back with eyes closed you can imagine you are back in the garden in love again with the world! But it is a bittersweet feeling, knowing we are still on this side of paradise, gazing through the mirror dimly. The temptation to step through that looking glass and be one again with the world is tremendous and can trick us into any number of addictions and false hopes. I would be careful falling to whichever way the wind does blow, no matter how soothing. It may be a malevolent spirit!

Nort