by Ray Jason
Photo of AVENTURA by Tor Pinney |
The building of boats is one
of the earliest chapters in the book of human history. Tools and fire and dugout canoes were all
essential to the beginning stages of the voyage of humanity. And lazing about in the Archipelago of Bliss,
keeps me directly connected to this heritage.
Every time a weathered Indio sells me a fish from his cayuco, I am
looking down at a hand-carved canoe whose design harkens back even further than
the Pyramids.
This pleases me. For I believe that a philosopher’s task is to
seek out that which is elemental and enduring; and discard that which is
artificial and ephemeral. My job is to distinguish
between events that are only important in the moment and those that are
genuinely momentous.
But often this is an
emotional burden. My last three essays,
which examined the Social Engineering that almost invisibly controls our
existence, left me saddened and depleted.
So I have decided to let my senses and mind wander around my little ship,
and rejoice in how splendid she is - both tangibly and symbolically.