556. Starlight Nights by Leslie Peltier. I learned so much from this book. The universe is infinite whether one looks at wasps dancing on the carpet of earth or viewing the countless objects in the sky- both are without limit and both deserving of attention. Delphos, Ohio must be thanked for giving us such a insightful soul. I was constantly struck by the strength of his expressions and the reach of his mind. I began to copy quotes. Here are a few. I can not over stress the importance of sound and image in these.
When talking about how willingly youth absorb he writes:
Impressions sink in deepest when the clay is warm and fresh.
Of observing he wrote:
In a nearby thicket a mocking bird rehearsed it entire repertoire, then finally an owl, somewhere in the gloom, began its round of questioning.
After removing the shutter from his observatory he fell. His description:
The shutter which I had abandoned in midair, descended with a burst of brand new stars right on the bridge of my nose and from that night on that rather ample member has been quite a little out of line.
He wrote: Genius and precocity are qualities of the individual; blind instinct guides the hive and the herd.
This he wrote of the elms dying in his yard:
Then slowly, year by year, they drop their tattered garments piece by piece until at last, to a drum roll of admiring flickers, they dominate the sylvan stage in shameless nudity.
Mere rarity in itself is not a virtue.
This book is a journey through life. Butterflies, Vega, paramecium, comets are interwoven in such a way as to form a compete and tangible whole. His love of mystery is eternal and infectious.
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