One thing I know for sure is that the people of the Earth have focused their attention and prayers on the islands of Japan since news of it's monstrous cataclysm reached the far corners. Suzanne and I watch transfixed as the horror compounded itself in quickly unfolding chapters through the filter of our TV. The feeling of impending doom and helplessness is crushing. The pictures are difficult to fathom. This is no 1950's sci-fi premonition of a nuclear fueled cataclysm the likes of which crowd the shelves of video and pulp fiction libraries everywhere and so power the bad dreams of childhood. One does not stir from a true nightmare so easily, it lingers past awakening. The mind goes numb contemplating the scenes we are not seeing. As a member of the emergency response community my emotions get the better of me as I contemplate the working people charged with operating the hoses and valves that pump sea water into those crippled reactors in a sacrificial attempt to quell the nuclear inferno in the belly of the beast.The stakes on the table dwarf the power of words to express the urgency of their task. The Japanese people, with their quiet resolve, appear remarkably calm and well ordered in the face of it. I wish them strength and wisdom. 
.There is, I think, a Japanese sensibility, melancholic, poetic, piercingly sad and serene all at the same time. Occasionally I see the cross pollination of this style in my own pictures. This collection is a recognition of the elements of this iconic Japanese art form as they occurred spontaneously in my images rather than being the intentional goal. I remember looking through a series of Japanese prints collected by Vincent Van Gogh and being taken for the first time with the balance and force of the Shinto inspired elements of earth, air, and water. It was a look into the best part of the Japanese collective soul and a spirit worth emulating. In it I see a uncluttered oneness of spirit with nature. The Japanese garden, unlike my western Eden, has not fallen and the enviable innocents and naivety of a divine peace and order is clearly felt. Today though, artistic musings seems small consolation and frivolous when so many nations face crisis man made and otherwise. If there was no Hell man would have invented it, and so we have. The duality of human nature, as it juggles peace and destruction, is the constant subtext of our short and remarkable turn on the surface of planet Earth. My heart is with those souls in The Land of the Rising Sun as they endeavour to untangle this knot.
Now it's time for World Bird Wednesday.
This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from around the world to gather and share their photographs and experiences as they pursue Natures most diverse and beautiful treasurers, the birds. The Blogosphere connects like minded people from around our planet like no other technology can do. World Bird Wednesday will be open for posting at 12 noon Tuesday EST North America through midnight on Wednesday.
You are invited to link your blog with other bird photographers in a weekly celebration of these most diverse and intriguing of Earth's residents, the BIRDS.
#1. Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry. It contains a link for your readers to share in WBW. Or you can copy this link on to your blog page to share W.B.W. http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/
#2. Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with Linky.
#3. Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!
You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer to join in--just enjoy sharing what you bring back from your explorations and adventures into nature.
The thumbnails below are links to our contributors blogs where you can view their beautiful posts. The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compadres!
Come on it's your turn!
