soils

Alluvial - A combination of clay, silt, sand and gravel that forms over time from mineral deposits left by running water.

Calcareous - A soil primarily composed of calcium carbonate and high in chalk or limestone as well as fossilized shells.

Granite - A hard and granular rock with a high content of crystals, particularly quartz.

Jory - A volcanic soil composed mostly of basalt, which is in turn a hard and dense soil that often has a glassy appearance.

Limestone or Chalk - A soft soil made primarily from fossilized seashells.

Loam - A crumbly mixture of clay, sand and silt.

Marl - A crumbly mixture of different clays as well as calcium and magnesium carbonates with fossilized shells mixed in as well.

Sandstone - A combination of silica and sand compacted together by pressure and time.

Schist - A metamorphic rock derived mostly from clay, but it can be made from several other rocks. Schist is a soft rock that flakes and breaks easily.

Shale - Layers of clay-like, fine-grained sedimentary rock. On the surface where the shale breaks it often forms beds of sharp fragments.

Tufa - A mix of silica, calcium carbonate and sometimes volcanic ash that has been deposited over time by streams, lakes and other water sources.

Psalm by Aleksander Wat

I ponder you in clamor and in silence
Tracking you through the course of time, like game,
To see: are you my much sought-after falcon?
Should I kill you? Or kneel down and pray.

For faith's sake or the sake of denial,
Stubborn I search for you, and uselessly.
Of all my dreams you are the lovliest
And I daren't shake the sky to let you fall.

As if reflected in the flow of water
Sometimes you seem to be and sometimes not;
I've glimpsed you in the stars, among the fish
Like the wild bull when he is taking water.

And now, us two alone, in your great story
I stay to match myself again with you,
Without my wanting to emerge the victor.
I want to touch you and to shout: 'He is!'

(translated by Bantas and Perry)

a time of friendship

The train was late because the hot-box under one of the coaches had caught fire in the middle of the great flat field covered with snow. (paul bowles, 194)

clarity, color, and bliss

From the tantric point of view, whenever we open our mind and senses to the objective world, our perception is always related to a particular color. And each color that we perceive-- blue, red, green and so on-- is directly related to what is happening in our internal world. That is why the practice of tantra, with its visualization of deities and so forth, color and light play such an important part.

To give an idea of what I mean, let us consider the color blue again. As I said, the particular inner quality of radiant blue light is freedom from fantasy projections. If these projections are very strong-- when, for example, we are so caught up in ourselves that we cannot break out of depression-- then even on a perfectly clear day we are unable to see the blueness of the sky. All we see is greyness. This definitely happens and, along with the experience of seeing red when angry or being green with jealousy, shows the close relationship between color and states of mind. ('clear spaciousness of mind', introduction to tantra) 78