Dear Me,

I am okay....
Though I'm in one of the brightest points in my life, the cold air still blows right through me; I cower in the shade, rather than bathe in the sun.

Here's a poem, (written for a Natural Histories and Humanities course):

______________

Invierno

leap Frog, leap;

hide

winter is coming

Squirrels pack their nests-

a steady humming.

sleep Bear, sleep

Her heart

a soft drumming.

snow

through the wind

White Wolf is running

in the night

White Fox is cunning

the silence is stunning

awake Snowy Owl

___________

I've had two recent experiences with dying insects. The cold is growing too strong for them to survive, I suppose. This picture was taken in Venice. I found this grasshopper sitting next to a fountain where there were three turtles that (to me) should obviously not have been out in such cold weather and in such cold water. There were three- One was moving, one was barely moving with blacked skin, and one didn't seem to be moving at all at the bottom of the fountain. I suppose the people of the business who owned the fountain were simply indifferent or didn't know anything about cold-blooded animals. "How cruel", I thought. Anyway, I picked up the grasshopper and took it to a better spot for some shots. This was the best one. Here, it doesn't look like it's dying but I'm convinced otherwise. It was moving so slowly and could barely jump to get away from me. Then yesterday, I was walking down the street when I saw a praying mantis upside down on the sidewalk. I picked it up, one because I thought I had stepped on it, but after realizing it must have fallen from the overhanging plants on the balconies above, I tried to see if there was still life in it. It was an incredible creature. Even it it's slow movements, probably close to death, I was in awe of its existence. I held it tenderly as I walked, trying to find a tree to place it in. When I set it high above the ground on the bark of a tree, it seemed to perk up a bit. I wanted to wait there and simply watch it. But the embarrassment of being looked at awkwardly by passersby but more importantly, the image of it simply dying right there, persuaded me to walk on. The grasshopper, the praying mantis, and the turtles. Even in death, things can have the slightest hint of beauty.

more later,

gabriel