Watson Falls And The North Umpqua Inspire Peace And Tranquility

September 23, 2015 2 Comments

Although, we are now in fall and water is low, Watson Falls and the North Umpqua continue to be places that inspire peace and tranquility.  Watson Falls is a ribbon-like cascade that plunges over 270 feet, making it one of the highest falls in Southern Oregon.  The trail takes you to the very top where it is in the upper 40s and you are the recipient of drops of cold spray.  The trail meanders among boulders, which are sometimes covered with moss, depending on the heat.  But the vision of Watson Falls is well worth the climb.  It is located about 21 miles NW of Diamond Lake on the Roseburg Hwy.

Just beyond Watson Falls is the better-known Toketee Falls that you can walk around without any difficulty.  A few miles ahead is a power station which subsumes the flow of the North Umpqua.  Just above is a fish hatchery and Soda Springs Dam. It is the only dam on the North Umpqua.  In the high water of spring, rafting companies sometimes put their boats in below the dam to give their passengers a few extra rapids before reaching Boulder Springs Campground, the usual starting point.

Between Boulder Springs and Gravel Bin, there are a number of Class 2 and 3 rapids with one Class 4-, Pinball.  But the North Umpqua offers more than turbulent water, it also offers deep, quiet pools where one can sit by the riverside and just relax and reflect.  Shades of green and blue intermingle in the river currents, looking like oil colors on a painter’s canvas.  I especially enjoy looking at the solemn boulders, surrounded by swirling colors.  Indeed, it is a special place that inspires peace and tranquility.

Location of Watson Falls

Location of Watson Falls

Watson Falls trail

Watson Falls trail

Watson Falls

Watson Falls

Another view of Watson Falls

Another view of Watson Falls

A boulder surrounded by the calm of the North Umpqua

A boulder surrounded by the calm of the North Umpqua

The beauty and tranquility of the North Umpqua

The beauty and tranquility of the North Umpqua

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A New Low For The North Umpqua

September 16, 2015 1 Comment

Because the North Umpqua is not dam-controlled, it is not unusual for it to vary widely in size from season to season.  But nobody could anticipate that the river would reach an all-time low that saw this proud stream reduced to a creek.  But it happened last August.  In fact, the river was so low that the Oregon Dept. of Fish and Game banned fishermen from the stream.  The Dept. felt that the water was too low and too warm.  Now the North Umpqua is known throughout the world for its splendid steelhead fishing, so this was quite a disappointment for many eager fishermen and, especially for Steamboat Lodge, which offers a well-known late fisherman’s dinner.  Normally, the Lodge offered picturesque views of a falls, but the falls disappeared into a pile of boulders. A plethora of fires didn’t help any of the tourist businesses either.  All in all, a strange and sad summer for people who frequent the North Umpqua.

Sign Welcoming You To Steamboat Lodge.

Sign welcoming you to Steamboat Lodge.

Lots of luck floating this rapid. There is a sharp rock in the middle.

Lots of luck floating this rapid. There is a sharp rock in the middle.

Not much of the river left in the ribbon ahead.

Not much of the river left in the ribbon ahead.

Notice how narrow the river is.

Notice how narrow the river is.

Another view of the same rapid.

Another view of the same rapid.

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A Closer Look At A Chinese Dream, Part 1.

September 13, 2015 2 Comments

China has long had a great penchant and respect for literature in all its guises.  Beginning with the Book of Songs, that dates between 800-600 B.C., Chinese literature has blossomed throughout the passing dynasties.  And Chinese scholars made every effort to preserve the literature of each period.  The knowledge of literature and Chinese philosophy became a requirement for even the most median civil service job.  Candidates were also judged on their calligraphy.  In addition, they were expected to write an essay of note.  Those individuals that passed the examinations gained respect even if they came from the most humble villages.

Confucius was the philosopher that established moral and behavioral standards for Chinese life for centuries to come.  His life is described by Ssu-ma Ch’ien, the Grand Historian of China, whose writings have been translated by Burton Watson in an excellent 2 vol. edition, published by Columbia University Press.  According to Ch’ien, Confucius lived from 551-479 B.C.  Thus, he was one of the earliest seminal religious and philosophical thinkers.  Unlike other religious doctrines, Confucianism was humanist, emphasizing human relationships and not immortality or mystical spirits.  Perhaps, Confucius’s most famous statement is “the measure of man is man”. How curious that the Greek philosopher, Anaxagoras, says the same thing.  But what was unique in Confucius was that he didn’t distinguish between politics and ethics.  As Lin Yutang states in his book, The Wisdom of Confucius, “… Confucianism stood for a rationalized social order through the ethical approach, based on personal cultivation.  It aimed at political order by laying the basis for it in a moral order and it sought political harmony by trying to achieve the moral harmony in man himself.”  Confucius was quite concerned with filial piety and proper ritual to accompany certain rites and ceremonies.  Music was important, and calm, harmonious music reflected the calm, harmonious nature of man and the political state in which he/she lived.  In China, Confucianism held sway for over 2500 years and still has its adherents, while adjusting to other cultural trends.

If you plan to read Chinese literature, however, and you don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of Chinese culture, you will need more than an understanding of Confucianism to see you through.  I recommend that you purchase a book on Chinese mythology(especially critical for Wu Cheng-en’s long Buddhist allegory, The Journey to the West), a book on Chinese history such as the recent China:  A History by John Keay, and the indispensible guide to Chinese thinking, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated and compiled by Wing-Tsit Chan.  With the proper guides at your disposal, you should be ready for a preliminary investigation into Chinese literature.

The Chinese wrote in every possible genre, while truly excelling in poetry, which reached its peak during the T’ang Dynasty(618 A.D.-906 A.D.).  But I would like to concentrate on the novel.  To start with, there are six novels that the Chinese consider classics.  They are:  The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Lo Kuan-chung(ca.  1330-1400), The Water Margin by Lo Kuan-chung(authorship is still a matter of debate), Journey to the West by Wu Cheng-en(ca.  1506-1582), Chin P’ing Mei author unknown(probably because of its many pornographic passages), The Scholars by Wu Ching-tzu(1701-1754) and the most famous Dream of the Red Chamber by Tsao Tsueh-ch’in(1715-1763).

Note:  For those readers who want to learn more about the Chinese classic novels, they can do no better than to read C.T. Hsia’s The Classic Chinese Novel.

What I would like to do is focus on the last novel which I will call The Story of the Stone after David Hawkes.  In it we see the rise and fall of the Jia family and the illumination of various characters as they play their different roles in a creative tapestry. We will take a closer look at this special stone and understand better the separation and intermingling of two different worlds.

 

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“Have You Not Done Tormenting Me With Your Accursed Time!”–Pozzo, From Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot

September 5, 2015 4 Comments

Bert Lahr As Estragon In Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot.

Bert Lahr as Estragon In Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot.

In Act 2 of Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot, the previously conceited and self-assured Pozzo has lost the watch that regulated his life and gone blind.  His slave, Lucky, has become dumb, which is in stark contrast to the long, rambling, and disturbing speech he gives in Act 1.  In Beckett’s work, virtually all of his characters suffer from some physical ailment that makes life even more painful for them.  Vladimir, the more intellectual side of man, suffers from kidney problems, while Estragon, the more earthy side of man, suffers from pains in his feet.  The above photo shows Estragon suffering from acute pain, both mental and physical.  But Waiting for Godot is about more than pain;  it is about time and its manifestations.  The very title implies time.  In Beckett, time exists as an abstract entity, but it does initiate specific changes that are crucial to the dramatic power of the play.  It is not surprising that the play is often described in musical terms, because music embodies time and variations in tonal patterns.  When we examine the events of Act 2 as opposed to Act 1, we see some musical parallels.  On the whole, although Estragon and Vladimir don’t change in Act 2, the people around them do and they create a more menacing, threatening tone.  Pozzo, who dragged Lucky as his slave on a long rope in the previous act is now blind and guided by Lucky, who is now dumb and on a short rope.  Also, Lucky wears a different hat.  His previous one remains on the stage.  In the second act, Vladimir is alone with the Boy, Mr. Godot’s messenger, as Estragon is asleep.  Without Estragon’s loud, whiney voice, the scene is subdued and unbearably sad.  The hopelessness that Vladimir feels when he learns that Mr. Godot “does nothing” is tangible throughout the audience and the confined space of the theater.  “Tell him that you saw me” are the last words that Vladimir says to Godot’s messenger.  While Vladimir can recognize the Boy, the latter can’t recognize him.  Beckett appears to be saying that our existence is so meaningless that our individual characteristics count as nothing.  Quite a contrast to Pozzo’s trumpeting ego and arrogance in Act 1.  Time inevitably brings death to a human life and both acts deal early with words about death.  In Act 1, Vladimir and Estragon discuss the possibility of hanging themselves.  In Act 2, Vladimir sings about a dog that a cook beats to death with a ladle.  He repeats the last words of the song four times, the last line five times, “Then all the dogs came running and dug the dog a tomb.”  Time has done its job.  The crescendo arrives with Pozzo’s anguished outburst:  “Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time!…, one day he went dumb, one day I went blind, one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the same second, is that enough for you?  Then, what follows is Beckett’s view of life that reverberates in several of his works:  “They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more.”  Pozzo and Lucky go off, leaving an ominous silence.  But, throughout all the darkness and despair, the once barren tree has produced a few leaves and Vladimir and Estragon’s friendship will continue…

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