And at once I knew, I was not magnificent
Hello m' starry blossoms,
Got your cuppa ready for some semi-garden related ramblings? Warning: I do natter about two movies released almost thirty years ago in this post, but I've tried not to do any spoilers (I refuse to discuss movies with my dear brother, as he just can't help doing spoilers!).
Sometimes, when scenes are so vast, solace can be found in feeling small again. The stars in the night sky do not care for my leaky guttering, or shit hair day, yet their ancient celestial song is sweet and comforting. Mountains know themselves to be magnificent. Our mundane matters are not.
I am not a religious person, but occasionally, when outdoors, it is hard not to sense something... a greater presence..one that has its own pulse and agenda.
Recently I re-watched 'Last of the Mohicans' (Mann, 1992), based on an apparently hard to read book by James Fenimore Cooper (1826). It was one of my most watched mid-teen movies, not least because I had a crush on the wild Hawkeye, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. Embarrassingly, I wore out the VHS tape!!! At the time, I was thoroughly engrossed with Native American and Frontier History. The story is set in 1757, during the French and Indian War.
It is always worrying watching back movies. Monsieur and I had a good giggle at the rushed romances, that I'd just seemingly taken for granted the first time around. The high speed canoe chase and romantic waterfall scene is particularly fun, along with a white wine spritzer.... especially when Day-Lewis' accent suddenly gets a bit Irish.
Anyhow, I greatly enjoyed the movie and maintain that I 'd still definitely have an improbable 'period drama pash' with Hawkeye.
My other most watched teen movie was Bram Stokers Dracula (Coppola, 1992), with the wonderful Gary Oldman playing Count Dracula. (On this occasion, I read the book too, which is not at all like the movie). What these movies fueled, apart from hormonal lusts, was an awe for spectacular landscapes full of history, stories and folklore. The landscapes are not simply a backdrop for the unfolding dramas...they are living, breathing entities in their own right.
[Sourced]
In one starry night scene, Hawkeye explains where souls go (the Great Spirit) -
'My father's people say that at the birth of the sun and of his brother the moon, their mother died. So the sun gave to the earth her body, from which sprang all life. And he drew forth from her breast the stars, and the stars he threw into the night sky to remind him of her soul. So there's the Cameron's monument. My folks' too I guess.'
In Braham Stoker's Dracula, the Count has defied the natural world. Immortality comes at the expense of his soul. Still, he finds the sound of howling wolves 'music' to his ears and he transports with him to England, boxes of earth from Transylvania. These he must sleep in to recharge his powers (as well as the usual blood sucking!). If he is to simply exist, furthermore remain young, he must remain intricately linked to his homeland, the Transylvanian dirt beneath his fingernails.
[The Carpathian Mountains, described as cruel and impassable in Bram Stocker's Dracula]
Over the years, wild landscapes, experienced through the eyes of others (movies, books, music and art) have imbued themselves into my dreams... dreams of rocky crevices, pine forests, waltzing snow and powdered mountains.
Imagine then my excitement when I recently joined the Alpine Garden Society. Plants open up another way to experience far-flung places across the world. 'True alpines' describe plants that live above the tree line. They thrive in harsh conditions, exposed on windy heights to snowy winters and sun baked summers.
'Horticultural alpines' refer to any plant that would be at home in a rock garden. Planting up a Belfast sink of alpines may be a small emulation of some spectacular landscape, but the individual plants are always fascinating.
Being a AGS member means I can attend the online zoom talks, access the yearly seed exchange and receive quarterly journals through the post. The first journal has allowed me to travel to mountains in Crete and the Wallowas in Oregon.
One snowy February, years after my Dracula obsession was awakened, I did visit Transylvania. The Carpathians and Romanian villages were as ancient and enchanting as I had hoped. My brother and I went skiing, drank lots of cherry liquor, ate hearty stews and visited Bran Castle.
Bran Castle is loosely rumored to be the inspiration for the Count's home in Bram Stoker's Dracula. In reality, there is no real evidence to prove that and it does not resemble the crumbling ruin of the book. Regardless, the castle is breathtakingly beautiful.
When I visited, the ground was thick with impenetrable snow.
Come spring time, Transylvania is renowned for its native fauna and rich biodiversity. Traditional farming techniques have been employed for centuries - horse drawn wagons and pitchforks are still a common sight. Amazingly, pesticides and herbicides have never been introduced, and as a result, wildflower meadows bloom with the uninterrupted hum of insects.
Maybe one day, I will get chance to visit again, but this time in summer.
But I will forever be a tourist in an unknown land.
Maybe it is the people who have lived there or regularly traveled through these lands, whose eyes are to be best relied upon. They have passed down their knowledge and stories through generations, and they have the deepest connection to the earth.
Thank you for sticking with my ramblings. I think it is time to stick t'kettle back on and make some marmalade on toast. What are you up today?
Please send me gossip in the comments section below.
Lulu xXx
p.s. The title of this post comes from a song called 'Holocene' by Bon Iver
And at once, I knew I was not magnificent
Strayed above the highway aisle
Jagged vacane, thick with ice
But I could see for miles, miles, miles
Thank you for visiting!
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That castle is stunning isn't it. As for alpines...It's hard to believe that a flower so tiny can be so lovely. They could easily be overlooked but their tiny miniature details are stunning.
ReplyDeleteHello Cherie, yes and incredible to think the castle dates back to 1377! The views from inside were stunning too (I seem to have mislaid some photos so need to have a good think where they may be) I haven't got many alpines, so this may be the start of something! Happy gardening. Lulu xXx
DeleteLove your 'ramblings'. A pleasure to read even though I only have a glass of warm water! I don't know a lot about alpines, but we often visited Austria in the summer season. I remember snapping many of the Alpine flowers on our walks while high in the mountains, such a variety. All good wishes ~ Mike.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mike, you want to get some ice cubes and something with a bit of kick in that water! I 'd love to see your Austria alpine pictures if you have ever posted them ? Lulu xXx
DeleteI loved the Coppola version of Dracula too. The Mark Gatiss version was even more hardcore! We're tackling our garden too today. I've unearthed a pile of old glass blocks. Trying to figure out what do do with them - house or garden...
ReplyDeleteOooh, the Mark Gatiss & Steven Moffat TV version was superb! Such a clever take on an old story (I'm a big Mark Gatiss fan - going back to his League of Gentleman days). How exciting to find glass blocks. I found some lovely river washed pebbles buried in our garden, but also some less desirable items such as nylon y-fronts and socks! Lulu xXx
Deletep.s. your blog look great! I'm going to come over and have a proper read and look later on... when the sun goes down and the wolves start to sing... x
DeleteThanks Lulu. I must find the time to watch it. Really struggling with the glass blocks. They would look quite nice somehow incorporated in a wooden arbor, but constructing an arbor isn't top of our list. Our garden is full of pebbles. I'm thinking of using them to form a path somewhere if I can collect enough. Y-fronts and socks? Interesting....xxx
DeleteHello Claire, as a temporary thing, until you decide what to do with the blocks...you could stack the glass blocks into a tall tower and wrap them with fairy lights, then they'd look like a sparkly beacon at night. I have some construction jobs I'd like to do but I have to build up my muscles and motivation first. The Y-fronts will not be incorporated into the plan! x
Deletewonderful post!
ReplyDeletetoday is garden day - but only easy tasks like cutting back dry foliage as i feel a bit under the weather.......
never saw the last of the mohicans, but watched "dracula" many times - loved the costumes too - first in a movie theater when released in germany - and later in that year in a matinee where michael ballhaus (camera) got interviewed and talked a lot about the making of! and then every time it was on the telly.
i was hiking/mountaineering in romania in summer 2000 - we loved the country a lot. but lately i saw a docu about the deforestation of large parts of the anncient forests there. western wood companies operate there vicious overexploitation for cheap furniture and heating pellets...... without reafforestation. knowing that the whole land is made of karst, the next few rains will wash away the thin layer of soil......
so if you ever will visit again - do it soon.
the "presence" you´r feeling is called nature - she will be still here after we died out. and she will recover from us.
xxxxx
Thank you Beate! Hope you're that feeling better and a gentle dose of gardening helped.
DeleteParts of Last of the Mohicans do seem a bit dated now, but I still love the scenery and chemistry between Daniel Day Lewis and Madeleine Stowe. Michael Mann is so good at filming the mood of a place, as can be seen in his next movie Heat, with all those wonderful night time city shots across LA.
Wow, I bet is was so interesting seeing Michael Ballhaus being interviewed about making Dracula. Turns out he did the cinematography on one of my other favourite films - The Departed.
Your hiking trip sounds wonderful and something to savour. I went to a garden talk a couple of years ago given by a chap who had been plant hunting in Transylvania. He said the brown bears left him alone, but the wild packs of dogs were terrifying. It is so sad and worrying to hear of the deforestation of Romania's ancient forests! Yes, hopefully mother nature will one day recover from us.
Lulu xXx
Yay! I sent my real-life friend Claire over (Winter Peach) over for a visit, I knew you'd get on!
ReplyDeleteI think we might share similar tastes in actors. Loved Last of the Mohicans and as for Dracula? Oh yes! Mind you I've had a thing for Gary Oldman since Sid and Nancy and loved him even more as George Smiley.
That photo of the Cretan mountainside makes me a bit sasd, we'd planned to visit this Spring to see all the wildflowers...ah well, there's always next year.
The castle is like something from a fairytale, pretty in the snow but I'd love to see it surrounded by flowers!
Have a lovely week! xxx
Thank you Vix for sending Claire over to me!
Delete[cue Dracula's maniacal laugh, mwahahahahahaha]
Gary Oldman as Dracula - yes indeed!
"See me, see me now" - oh I see you Gary!
Can you believe that I still haven't seen or read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I need to put that wrong to right very soon.
Disappointing about your Cretan adventure, but the mountains will still be there next year, waiting for you. Stay wonderful, Lulu xXx
I do like a bit of a rambling, and this was a good one - love that Bram Stoker gaff and the bear rug! not very eco friendly I know but it is rather lovely in it's own setting. I have never given alpine gardens a thought but I will now - you are on to something interesting here methinks. My own major almost religious experience in nature as they say was when in Vietnam at Sapa in the Hmong Tribe hills, a remote place (Sapa Lodge, google it, it's fabulous) where the clearness of the air, the brightness of colour and beauty of all those rice fields and a lot of humungous butterflies wafting around was almost too much for me - I still go there in my head rather too often :) Sometimes less is more, that same place had the most basic eco friendly little rooms with nothing decorating them but stones, wood and a leaf in a vase (no tv), I felt so calm and have tried to replicate the atmosphere in my own home - still working on it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Betty :) I would worry about the brown bears in spring and summer. At least in winter, they are sleeping. The bears are supposed to be quite shy, but our ski instructor had had a scary encounter with one, when he was out alone.
DeleteI just googled the lodge - wow! what an incredible looking place. My brother's been to Vietnam and absolutely loved it. The giant butterflies sound mesmerizing. I can see why you'd want to revisit the place in your head.
I've tied to do calm and minimal in the home, but the flippin' barbies have taken over! Most days it looks like a malibu pool party all over the carpets. Lulu xXx
I love your posts they are so informative. I went to Whitby a few years ago which has links with the Dracula story and the Abbey is very impressive.X
ReplyDeleteHello Jane, thank you! I'm glad there's some info amongst the rambling.
DeleteAh yes, Whitby Abbey! Brahm Stoker stayed in Whitby, whereas he never actually ventured to Transylvania. I always meant to visit when I lived up't north, but now it seems so far away. Lucky you to have visited. I hear Whitby does the best fish and chips in the land. Take care, Lulu xXx
That castle is wonderful! I think I need to go to Transylvania! It sounds a great place to visit- I love the fact that pesticides and things like that have never been introduced.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of plants taking us to other places. How great to be part of the AGS!
I've not seen either of those films (or actually read Dracula! My husband has recently too, which is shocking, as he rarely reads! I'm scared of vampires...
Whilst I AM a Christian, rather than not religious, it's when I am in nature that I sense God's presence the most!
Hello Kezzie,
DeleteTransylvania is a wonderful place and the people were very friendly and lovely too (with amazing accents!). I wonder if your husband enjoyed reading Dracula (?). It is classic horror. I have to admit I do like a good vampire story.
It is funny, as I never feel alone when walking out somewhere in the wilds.
Lulu xXx