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Sunday, October 17, 2010

10/17/10 GITCHEGUME, PLACE OF POWER, BEAUTY AND DANGER

WEEKEND FISHERMEN
MAYBE HE'LL CATCH ONE

Sunday, 9:00 AM. 50 degrees, up from 30 degrees at dawn. Wind WSW, calm. The sky is blue and the barometer up, a gorgeous day.
The lake was calm at the beach this morning. There were fishermen because it is the weekend, but little action.
The lake is a tremendous attraction, it has a presence and a power that can overawe, and it is extremely changeable in its moods. It is easy to understand how “primitive” cultures attributed strong spiritual powers to seas, mountains, swamps and other beautiful and dangerous places. I say dangerous, because they are so. Another local woman drowned in the lake last week, I don’t know the circumstances and wouldn’t comment on them in any case, but this is not an isolated event, and I am often amazed at the otherwise sensible people who paddle out on plastic kayaks and such, or into the teeth of a violent storm, evidently unaware of or perhaps attracted to the danger of such actions. The human mind is a complicated and often perverse entity, and its demons can be many.
The subject of danger brings up adventure, and Eric Larsen, son of friends Andy and Judy, just climbed Mt. Everest, after reaching both North and South Poles, all in the same year. I believe he is the first to do so.

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