Still Waters
22nd February 2014
"When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free".
(Wendell Berry)
Most who pass this way overlook the humble Fells of Torver Common, but they are missing out on a quiet, but also rugged area that is full of beauty. A place where profound stillness can be experienced.
There are two Tarns in this area, both have felt the hand of man by being dammed, but both are no less worthy for this. They are quiet areas of water, each surrounded by Fells of modest height but, with outstanding views into the rugged Mountain Massif of Coniston and over the length of its eponymous Lake. The Tarns attract a variety of insect and bird life. They both sit quietly, unassuming, their waters lapping gently up against the moorland; the border between the abstracts of the living and barren landscape.
The encompassing 'mini' Fells seem to have a collection of summit cairns. This, at first appearance, seems over the top, but when you consider the cairns have been constructed by those who work this land (and you appreciate how wild and featureless this landscape is) their marker status is understood. On my 'improvised' journey through the area the cairns became targets, but their positions also helped determine a perspective and sense of scale of the area. Along with the understanding of size and with greater exposure to the environment came the feeling Wendell Berry identifies in his poem..."peace of wild things"......"and I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light".
The two tarns, one at the beginning and one at the end of my journey add a perfect punctuation to the day. Their timeless and contrasting nature to the surrounding, rocky hills offers a pleasant, benign feel to the scene.
"I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water"
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free".
(Wendell Berry)
Most who pass this way overlook the humble Fells of Torver Common, but they are missing out on a quiet, but also rugged area that is full of beauty. A place where profound stillness can be experienced.
There are two Tarns in this area, both have felt the hand of man by being dammed, but both are no less worthy for this. They are quiet areas of water, each surrounded by Fells of modest height but, with outstanding views into the rugged Mountain Massif of Coniston and over the length of its eponymous Lake. The Tarns attract a variety of insect and bird life. They both sit quietly, unassuming, their waters lapping gently up against the moorland; the border between the abstracts of the living and barren landscape.
The encompassing 'mini' Fells seem to have a collection of summit cairns. This, at first appearance, seems over the top, but when you consider the cairns have been constructed by those who work this land (and you appreciate how wild and featureless this landscape is) their marker status is understood. On my 'improvised' journey through the area the cairns became targets, but their positions also helped determine a perspective and sense of scale of the area. Along with the understanding of size and with greater exposure to the environment came the feeling Wendell Berry identifies in his poem..."peace of wild things"......"and I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light".
The two tarns, one at the beginning and one at the end of my journey add a perfect punctuation to the day. Their timeless and contrasting nature to the surrounding, rocky hills offers a pleasant, benign feel to the scene.
"I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water"