Caveat: The well-composed in his burnished solitude

In the Element of Antagonisms

If it is a world without genius,
It is most happily contrived. Here, then,

We ask which means most, for us, all the genii
Or one man who, for us, is greater than they,

On his gold horse striding, like a conjured beast,
Miraculous in its panache and swish?

Birds twitter pandemoniums around
The idea of the chavalier of chevaliers,

The well-composed in his burnished solitude,
The tower, the ancient accent, the wintry size.

And the north wind's mighty buskin seems to fall
In an excessive corridor, alas!

-Wallace Stevens (American poet, 1879-1955)

 

[daily log: walking, 1km]

Caveat: on climate volatility

I have been so tired lately. I came home from work and took a nap today – the work-in-the-mornings Saturday schedule always discombobulates me slightly.

I awoke to a thunderstorm outside. In February? The weather is weird. This moment, an hour after sunset on February 13th, it is 16 C (60 F) in suburban Seoul. Meanwhile, according to the internet, it's -20 C (-4 F) in Minneapolis. Last month, these numbers were reversed. Both situations are abnormal. People like to argue about anthropogenic global warming and climate change, but I wonder if new terminology might improve the acceptibility of the concept to the sceptics, borrowing from the world of finance: "increasing climate volatility."

[daily log: walking, 6km]

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