Reel or Real

No bank of 'real reels' available 

Connection to the past ~

a journey in and of itself

‘memorybank movies’ ~ described by Margaret Laurence in the Diviners ~

Reels that may or may not be real are 

coloured by emotions, sensations or even ages of 2 feet tall when short and tall giants are all around always remaining real until edges fray and images fade with time and exposure to the elements. 

Real photographs, white rippled edges surrounding black and white images of years before colour and clarity, pick up some thready reminder ~ the cold damp feel of grass, the soft touch of grandfather’s roughened hand, the pungent smell of newly turned soil………..like beads of water clinging to windows after a rain ~

these connections, tenuous at best, threaten to fade when 

wiped away by someone else’s ‘memorybank movies’,

vanish into black holes from illness or fear ~ ‘Access Denied’

yet most remain real with the colour and clarity of heart and soul.

“There is one thing that the photograph must contain, 

the humanity of the moment.”

~ Robert Frank

A Risky Journey

A fresh new bean shoot

Always a risk

to climb higher each day,

vining around supports with

no knowledge

if a deer's razor sharp teeth will 

nip the steady climb toward sunshine,

no knowledge 

of cloud cover or wind

that may slow upward progress.

Taking a risk anyway ~

the only task for seeds

planted in moist, dark soil.

“A seed, after all, is an embryo, a potential plant waiting 

for its moment to grow. It has what it needs to begin. 

But it can also put itself on pause. It can wait.”

~ Robert Krulwich, journalist

The Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises - Time Travelling

On this past Sunday I met with a friend for lunch and a trip to the museum following. Recently I purchased a membership to the Royal BC Museum and took advantage of this purchase to see this wonderful exhibit ~ at least part of it. The Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises exhibit opened May 17, 2019 and will continue through December 31, 2019.  Visitors to the exhibit included families, a wide range of ages, little ones in strollers (mostly asleep) and individuals of all levels of ability in wheelchairs. So, for me it was a bit crowded, but then it was a lovely summer Sunday in early tourist season days. 

I was most intrigued by agricultural practices we 

use to this day, water conservation techniques and the literary and artistic legacies of this ancient civilization. This civilization, primarily patriarchal, grew to some 40 cities with some still to be located in the Rainforests of Mesoamerica and primarily located in the tropical lowlands of Guatemala. We were only able to see a small part of this exhibit as we had set ourselves a too short time frame. 

I also took a lot of time to read all the posted information, watch a video of what Mayan life would look like and take my time viewing the various exhibits. The Royal BC Museum allows pictures to be taken and certain replicated artifacts touched. The children are treated to some participatory activities. One game is a series of rotating blocks that show the progress of cocoa leaves into a cocoa beverage. Eavesdropping on a discussion between siblings is quite enlightening! So another trip is in the offing. What I’ve included in this post is a very tiny drop in the bucket of the history of the ancient Maya civilization.

**From the Royal BC Museum website: “This exhibition coincides with UNESCO’s year of Indigenous Languages and highlights the 30 Maya languages that are still spoken today by almost half the population of Guatemala.”

“Don’t go to a museum with a destination. 

Museums are wormholes to other worlds.”

~ Jerry Saltz, Art Critic