A special welcome to all of you! Several of you know and remember Ken Olson very well. Since stories do travel, many of you may have heard about Ken along- the-way. Very possibly for some of you, this will be an introduction to Ken Olson. Like all of us, there were many facets to his life. For this post, Ken was a man-of the- cloth, a seafarer and a naturalist. What matters is what he has to say here . . .
Ken loved to talk about all kinds of stuff and tell stories. I’m asking you to imagine having a conversation with him and listen to what he might contribute to the chat. You could be anywhere but most likely outdoors with him on a dock, at the helm of a boat, or the back end of a skiff. Later on, you will most likely find yourself mulling over how you respond to Nature . . . Tim
From Ken’s Journal:
“I believe there is some act of new creation going on in all reality, paradoxically contrary to the trauma of the self-destructiveness of the rulers of the age. I believe its spirit is caught in an infinite number of acts of tenderness and valuing of the earth in new ways. It infects the world. The epitome is the accepting of each other in our unlikeness. That is Christianity at its best.”
IN GROANING SIGHS TOO DEEP FOR WORDS
Ken Olson
If Nature is equated with evolution
(what else can be said?)
and evolution is a flawless system
(and why not?)
then though humans
destroy themselves
they are simply continuing
What might be considered
a benign process.
After all Nature shows little concern
for individuals
or even species
so long as others replace them
continuing the abundance of life.
No, even that makes no difference
for Nature just happens.
That is why Nature is chaste and gracious.
No judgment falls on us.
Freedom to think and choose
is merely an accidental occurrence.
As an unimportant aside
an observer might say
that quite carelessly
Nature has evolved
beyond the unintended
into a passionate reaching
a transcendent possibility
at this insignificant moment in time.
A longing for beauty can be mentioned.
From Ken’s Journal:
“I watched the sun coming in the wheelhouse window. Frost on the floats and 38 degrees inside but a strong sense of a new season. Incredible beauty with mist over mountains; what a winter it has been. How shall I recapture it? The storms, the snow, the cold, the long walks in the woods. The waterfall frozen and gushing. . . . The way seawater held the snow until it looked like one could walk on it, the skimming seagulls eating mussels, the mergansers, the buffleheads, goldeneyes . . . “
THANK YOU FOR READING AND VIEWING KEN’S RESPONSE TO HIS EXPERIENCE OF NATURE!
CREDITS:
Writer: Ken Olson
Photographers: Hans Weingarten, Nancy Olson, Dan Olson, Keith Olson & Friends
Graphic Designer: Tim Olson
Editors: Lorelie & Tim Olson
NESTER url: https://notesfromanester.com
Hi, Ken:
I am assuming you are Tim’s brother since i have head your name from his lips so often. My wife, Lee, and I are long time friends of Tim and Lorelie, having met them in 1963. We have met your mother on several occasions. Your remarks about nature have a freshnness and a crispness about them. Where do you see the beginning and continuing acts and inaction of the Creator in all of this nature that we enjoy and admire so much?
Roger Lageschulte