Monday, November 11, 2013

Overlook

 
Well, by 1795 it seems to be over about Pantisocracy on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. Coleridge and Robert Southey have had a big dustup and parted ways forever. So the stage is set for the entrance of Wordsworth and Dorothy and eventually for the fine old Ancient Mariner. This book, Coleridge; Early Visions by Richard Holmes continues to be extremely well-written and the product of almost unimaginable research. I am delighted to have found it. And am looking forward (soon, I hope. . .but things take time) to Volume II, Coleridge; Darker Reflections.

Above is a pictured place I could wish to start my own agricultural colony, although the winters are pretty bleak in these parts. It's another Highway 94 fromthecar shot from the trip west, like I promised here that I was through posting, but I love to keep sifting through them. . .   I was struck by the blue sky caught in the pond and the situation of the house. I imagine they have harvested the standing corn by now. When one drives through these plains at harvest time, it is astonishing to see the stream of golden corn pouring from the harvester's outlet pipe into the waiting truck. If one learns anything about the SCALE of agricultural production, it is always full of astonishing information about huge amounts of produce.
Today we went to the Egg Factory so that Scott could get pancakes and I could get The Electric Pig, a fried sandwich containing only items that have lots of fats, ham, bacon, cheese, etc. We also had their delicious chunks called Factory Potatoes. Scott had sourdough toast and they brought us a dish of their special Marionberry Jam. Curious about how Marionberries might differ from blackberries, I checked Wikipedia on the iPhone. Here's the link to this fascinating hybrid. (I was advised to go to a slightly different article for Marion Berry, who used to be mayor of Washington D.C. Quite another story.) A single Oregon acre can produce up to six tons of Marionberries at harvest. My questions: who is picking all these berries? What about the thorns? Is there a berry harvester? What does a ton of berries look like? The jam is utterly delicious, by the way, just about perfect.

And so, with corn and berries, we are stuck here on the ground. There have been small flocks of Canada Geese in the air, whenever we went out. I think I have mentioned before that fine haiku magazine, Acorn. Here is Ferris Gilli's haiku from the current issue, page 2;

overcast morning
the roadworker's gaze
on southbound geese

And now good night!

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