I began writing blog posts in the dawn of the 2000s. A few years later, we would refer to this block of time as “the Bush years.” The very concept of ‘we’ — as well as the notion that this was a shocking period of time — underwent a major shake-up some time ago. This period is now nearly two decades ago. I find myself looking back, as a thinker and a writer, and I wonder where my thinking and writing have gone. These practices mostly went to academic publications, which very few read. (Rather, we academics all too often skim in order to use, a tendency that precludes understanding and dialogue altogether.) My intellectual energy also disappeared into social media investments, to which I no longer feel particularly committed. The time has come for a return to public writing.
The photos below were taken in one of my favorite spots in the Alps. I went there today to look for one of my favorite trees, pictured here in this picture from several years ago.
I couldn’t find that tree. I found others, though.
You’re in the forest and suddenly you pop out onto a clearing and it almost always changes your mood. The difference is so striking. A returning.
