R.L. Swihart's Blog, page 41

War & Peace: The Ant Heap

It would be difficult to explain why and whither ants whose heap has been destroyed are hurrying: some from the heap dragging bits of rubbish, larvae, and corpses, others back to the heap, or why they jostle, overtake one another, and fight, and it would be equally difficult to explain what caused the Russians after the departure of the French to throng to the place that had formerly been Moscow. But when we watch the ants round their ruined heap, the tenacity, energy, and immense number of the delving insects prove that despite the destruction of the heap, something indestructible, which though intangible is the real strength of the colony, still exists; and similarly, though in Moscow in the month of October there was no government no churches, shrines, riches, or houses--it was still the Moscow it had been in August. All was destroyed, except something intangible yet powerful and indestructible. The motives of those who thronged from all sides to Moscow after it had been cleared of the enemy were most diverse and personal, and at first for the most part savage and brutal. One motive only they all had in common: a desire to get to the place that had been called Moscow, to apply their activities there.

Eastern Kingbirds in Jackson, MI

Eastern Kingbirds in Jackson MI. Perching on fallen oak branches in the morning sun. Have a safe & fun Labor Day. Don't go back to school.:)🎈♥️

#rlswihart13 #jacksonmi #brownslakerd #fallenoak #pasture #morninglight #laborday #2023 #kingbirdsofinstagram #easternkingbird #lifer #nature #poetry #beauty #walking #readmorepoetry2023 #ukraine🇺🇦🎈♥️

Cedar Waxwings in Jackson MI

Another Session with the Cedar Waxwings @ Jackson College. Like having my own pets. Jackson MI.

#rlswihart13 #jacksonmi #jacksoncollege #aroundthepond #waxwings #cedarwaxwings #birdsofsummer #nature #beauty #poetry #readmorepoetry2023 #ukraine 🇺🇦🎈

War & Peace: Blue-gray Dog

Early in the morning of the sixth of October Pierre went out of the shed, and on returning stopped by the door to play with a little blue-gray dog, with a long body and short bandy legs, that jumped about him. This little dog lived in their shed, sleeping beside Karataev at night; it sometimes made excursions into the town but always returned again. Probably it had never had an owner, and it still belonged to nobody and had no name. The French called it Azor; the soldier who told stories called it Femgalka; Karataev and others called it Gray, or sometimes Flabby. Its lack of a master, a name, or even of a breed or any definite color did not seem to trouble the blue-gray dog in the least. Its furry tail stood up firm and round as a plume, its bandy legs served it so well that it would often gracefully lift a hind leg and run very easily and quickly on three legs, as if disdaining to use all four. Everything pleased it. Now it would roll on its back, yelping with delight, now bask in the sun with a thoughtful air of importance, and now frolic about playing with a chip of wood or a straw.

War & Peace: Prince Andrew

"The fowls of the air sow not, neither do they reap, yet your Father feedeth them," he said to himself and wished to say to Princess Mary; "but no, they will take it their own way, they won't understand! They can't understand that all those feelings they prize so--all our feelings, all those ideas that seem so important to us, are unnecessary. We cannot understand one another," and he remained silent.

Green Heron in Michigan

Michigan Summer Birds: The Green Heron. First time I've ever seen one of these reclusive beauties in Michigan (and the first time I've seen one in green giraffe mode:)). When Mother's pond was low (so he could stand in the water or on the steep bank) he came to fish (equals: to frog) for three days in a row, camouflaged by all the greens and browns, skittish as heck. When the rains filled the pond to the brim he disappeared. Is he eating at his private water hole in the woods? Or has he flown south? Come back, my little Greenie.♥️ TGIF.

#rlswihart13 #michigan #michigansummerbirds #jacksonmichigan #summerrain #summervisitors #heronsofinstagram #greenherons #nature #beauty #poetry #tgif #ukraine🇺🇦🎈

Sandhill Cranes in Michigan

Michigan Summer Birds: Sandhill Cranes in Jackson MI.

#rlswihart13 #summer #michigan #birdsofsummer #cranesofinstagram #sandhillcranes #nature #beauty #poetry #readmorepoetry2023 #ukraine🇺🇦🎈

War & Peace: Prince Andrei

"Compassion, love of our brothers, for those who love us and for those who hate us, love of our enemies; yes, that love which God preached on earth and which Princess Mary taught me and I did not understand--that is what made me sorry to part with life, that is what remained for me had I lived. But now it is too late. I know it!"

War & Peace: Prince Andrei

Like all the others near the speaker, Prince Andrew looked at him with shining eyes and experienced a sense of comfort. "But isn't it all the same now?" thought he. "And what will be there, and what has there been here? Why was I so reluctant to part with life? There was something in this life I did not and do not understand."

War & Peace: Prince Andrew and Kutuzov

Prince Andrew could not have explained how or why it was, but after that interview with Kutuzov he went back to his regiment reassured as to the general course of affairs and as to the man to whom it had been entrusted. The more he realized the absence of all personal motive in that old man--in whom there seemed to remain only the habit of passions, and in place of an intellect (grouping events and drawing conclusions) only the capacity calmly to contemplate the course of events--the more reassured he was that everything would be as it should. "He will not bring in any plan of his own. He will not devise or undertake anything," thought Prince Andrew, "but he will hear everything, remember everything, and put everything in its place. He will not hinder anything useful nor allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something stronger and more important than his own will--the inevitable course of events, and he can see them and grasp their significance, and seeing that significance can refrain from meddling and renounce his personal wish directed to something else. And above all," thought Prince Andrew, "one believes in him because he's Russian, despite the novel by Genlis and the French proverbs, and because his voice shook when he said: 'What they have brought us to!' and had a sob in it when he said he would 'make them eat horseflesh!'"