Harmful Impulses

Intense core conflict

Just because 'time heals all wounds' doesn't mean you should act on a harmful impulse.

Took Sadie up Twenty-Mile today to play and listen to the ice cracking and shifting. Hard to make a film that shows the beauty of ice shifting and cracking so I left the camera home this time.

After a few quick tennis-ball throws (she has an injured shoulder), we sat on the river's edge and listened to the cracks and occasional deeper sounding 'whumps'.

Those are awesome and scary. They reverberate up and down river both directions and let you know something serious could be coming.

Sadie gave a few concerned looks, so I took her off the ice and higher onto the bank.

She relaxed. The wind got in her face more and she loves that.


Nostrils working overtime.

I've been alternating between Twenty-Mile river and Portage valley.

The other day we trekked through new snow towards Byron Glacier trail in Portage, then headed off down a frozen creek-bed towards the lake.

Only footprints were moose and rabbit.

Came across a little blood in the snow and found where a moose had shed one of its antlers.

We looked for the other one, but didn't find it. Hopefully he didn't have to walk around off-balance for too long.

I had my Go-Pro camera this day, and with the wind whipping dry snow across the ice I stopped to try and capture some shots ala the opening of The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser:

[Wind blowing through grain-field]
'Can you here the screaming? The screaming men call silence?'

After the antler find, the creek-bed grew narrower, the alders thicker.

Sadie went on leash cause I was trying to: Watch for moose, film swirling snow, not break through the ice, enjoy being alone in the silence...

I have never found silence to be screaming - although if you watch 'Kaspar Hauser' you'll better understand the movie quote above.

Desert silence is peaceful.

My favorite places are deserts. Hot or cold, wind-whipped, seemingly barren.


Their silence isn't really devoid of actual sound, but it does let you see things clearer. At least it helps me clear my jumbles.

Silence in a relationship screams.

Any relationship - friend, lover, husband, wife, co-worker.

Silence screams loud enough for people to take to the roof ledge sometimes.

Ever experience one of those long, silent screams? Goes on for months, then years, then seemingly a lifetime?

If you live long enough, time will heal that wound.

But why put yourself through it?

The best films usually strike a nerve (funny, sad, whatever) because they have managed to create intense conflict at their core. So if your life begins to sound like the quote from a movie, you probably have some intense conflict at the core.

If it didn't, though, would you be any happier?

Probably bored.

Which is why we act on harmful impulses.

And then spend long hours in sand and ice deserts trying to find peace again.