5th August 2010
Puy de Dame, volcanoes, Clermont Ferrand, France.
This is where it really all started. It would be hard to do an appraisal of everything up to now – from then. Well … these 80 odd volcanoes in central France were last active 6000 years ago. Seeing one of these puppies in action would definitely be on my list. Molten rock … The power of the earth under our feet. Amazing to think it’s all happening down there all the time.
Rivers, – oceans of molten rock coursing around under the tectonic plates – and the plates like incredible ships sailing on top. It’s a slow journey. Africa, Europe and the Americas on their way to meet again as they circumnavigate the globe. Possibly. That would be something else. So I’m in this tree and clutching branches to balance. They are like reins. I’m riding this tree. Woody suggests how surprised we’d be if the tree galloped off monty python style. We laugh like imbeciles. It would be cool though, and scary. Could you tame a tree for riding(?) Not something I really need to worry about before the next phase of evolution. Could trees evolve in that way? I heard about plants that communicate, or at least send out radio waves. Or was that a dream?
Some plants have ‘muscles’ that tense up when touched – like venus fly traps … etc. Flowers turn towards the sun – following it to maximise the dinner. So – if we gave plants another billion years … ? So we all came from space (obviously we’re in space but you know what I mean). Then we came out of the ground, – out of these volcanoes. Then shaped into this, able to look back to when it began full circle – at least if you count the ability to see/understand as a return. A leap of time in the mind. ‘Vision time travelling’ or something. Anyway. I recommend riding a tree. You can make trotting and neighing noises too if you like. Or think of another sound it might make. Another perk of evolving – monkeying around with imagination.
