Remembrances

Language, paradoxically, can perpetuate and reinforce the illusion of separateness, while also offering a solvent for its dissolution. It is the task of the writer, and all artists, to work the transformative alchemy of boundary dissolution and unifying integration in the crucible of their craft. Big Sur River Inn August 15, 2010 Something about this place immediately induces a feeling of calm and well-being in me. We are seated at a table outside on the deck, shaded by a colorful umbrella. The lawn slopes gently down to the Little Sur River; sunlight dances on the stones in the clear flowing water. You can never step in the same river twice, or so said Heraclitus – a wise man, it would seem. Perhaps in unconscious recognition of this, people have dragged wooden Adirondack chairs into the stream, arranging them in casual groups of two or three or four, so that they might leisurely while away the hours in the dappled shade, while dogs and babies cavort in pleasant harmony a...