Montana - The Journey of Understanding

"When we tug
at a single thing in nature,
we find it attached
to the rest of the world."
-- John Muir

Like other exploration in nature, the journey in Glacier National Park once again brought me unexpected joy. One of the most memorable moments came on an early morning in Rising Sun Point, surrounded by Lake St. Mary and snow capped mountains. The pure sunshine, the pure wind, the pure water, and an inner peaceful silence. I took in the smells and listened to wind and water, full of happiness. It was soothing and soft; but it also could be scary and inviting, -- I even encountered a grizzly within 30 feet, face to face. It's impossibly adequately to describe the romantic charm of Glacier. I can show you pictures of the mountains and valleys of snow, but to know the feeling you must come up here and fill your lungs. Also, the lens won't record the silence.

Aquamarine blue, topaz yellow and garnet red ... The wild flowers of Glacier National Park are as briliant as a dowager's jewel box.

The superior glory of Glacier national park is in its wealth of water. Glacier silt adds special blue-green color to high lakes.

Lake St. Mary

Lake McDonald

Glaciers (rivers of ice) sculpted these pristine mountains.

"The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there... To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the
sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top." -- Robert Pirsig

Early sunshine projected on a silent mountain in Logan Pass (6646 feet).

Glacier's animals. For the first time I saw a moose eating in the lake. His silhouette was elegant in the sunset, harmonious with the environment. To avoid disturbing his dinner, we didn't use flash and couldn't get a clear picture. Other photos of animals not displayed here include hickhall, snake, and various marmots.

white-tailed deer.

big-horn sheep

Close Up and Personal -- Mountain Goat

Now let me introduce the leading actor of this play: Grizzly Bear, the very one Jennie encountered! Face to face, less than 30 feet! (Originally, both bear and I were in the trail. This photo was taken when the bear walked away up the hill. Not quite clear, but still put here for illustration. Thanks to siang-Yu who recorded this grizzly. Another exciting picture, Jennie running right in front of bear was taken by an unknown hiker but I forgot to ask for his contact information.)

So what should you do if you run into a grizzly? Here are some suggestions straight from the park guide:(1) Talk quietly or not at all; (2) Do not run! Back away slowly! (3) Bend at the knees and turn sideways, etc. So what did Jennie do at that very moment? Screaming, turn back swiftly and run! ... You know the outcome, right? Otherwise, I bet you cannot be reading this traveloque now. I was lucky since the mother bear was not around, or more likely because this grizzly was not hungary.

Still this experience shows two truths. People more often and more easily act on instinct in emergency, ignoring rational thinking. -- I am a good example. Whenever he goes, a grizzly bear owns his entire surroundings. He carries a patent of ownership.

St. Mary Lake on a calm day

A life is like a pebble / thrown into a pool / the water ripples / then becomes still

a breeze whispers / blowing past unheard / a wisp of motion / creating sudden waves

a life floats by / reflected in a mirror /of water in liquid flow / becoming a shadow

the earth cools / as the warmth fades / then returns as rays/ shine unobscured brightly

the water still / again awaits the motion / the return of a pebble / thrown into the void.

--- Dale Clark, the pebble (abstracted).

Renting a boat here. It's kayaking time! Come with me!

Another sight from Rising Sun Point

This is native Indian tent, called Tipi (tee-pee). Now it serves as a decoration in front of our lodging. At the end of the day, you will sleep soundly breathing the fresh mountain air, flavored with scents of mountain pine.

A glacier lily unfolds its modest elegance.

The four-day journey in Montana is a time for replenishment and inspiration. I arrived there with anxiety and left with tranquility. I better understood the mountain, the lake, the wildflowers and my life, my worries, and my affection. It is a jouney of understanding. Things became simple and I know how to face the obstacles. People became clear and I realize who are the important in my life. Over the past nine months I haven't been so close to hear my own voice.

When sitting in the shore of Lake Mcdonald, I was flipping Paulo Coelho's Eleven Minutes in the sunset. One page unexpectedly came into sight, on which I ever underscored the following words with a green pencil: But their relationship was based on freedom, and no other sort of relationship would work - perhaps that was the only reason they loved each other, because they knew they did not need each other." ~Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes, p. 234

Photographed by Jennie Bai.

Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.

(Note: The article was originally written in July 2007.)

秋茶翦繁

Already three weeks in New York, I gradually settled down and got on the research track. Yet I still couldn't conceive a feeling of "home". Maybe, this is not important. Ultimately, it doesn't matter where I am, as the pursuit in life would always be the same. My roots are inside of me. - Jennie

夜很静，
静得坦诚，
静得踏实，
静得可以听到自己的心声。


拿出六安瓜片，
撮一小撮，沏入沸水,清香四溢。
茶汤清亮，叶片绿嫩，
气味高爽，回甘鲜醇。


小瓷杯盈盈握住，
心里便一点一滴地暖起来。
清茶汤淡淡嘬进，
心中郁积便一点一滴地散开去。


茶入口，心释然。


“暂对清泉涤烦虑，
况乎寂寞成且欢”


到纽约已经三周了，依然没有家的感觉。但还是满心感激，至少这其间度过了一个温情美好的中秋。秋天来了，凡人总是容易添愁绪。莫要，莫要。一起来喝茶～！

My European Trip 10 -- Museum Burlesque

Sketching on the train from Bonn to Cologne
(The original work is from Kunst Museum Bonn)

Visiting museums, like eating and sleeping, is an integral part of my life. Whatever city I visit, museums are always on the top of my to-do list. It is hard to tell to what extent those museums have exerted influence on my life. But I do feel at home with peace and joy, every time I visit a museum. It is the place for inspiration, learning, and enjoyment.

Europe is such an ideal place for museum-lovers. France surely has the most famous collections from museums like Louvre and Orsay. But to my surprise, Germany has numerous impressive museums as well, especially for the modern art. In this article I will share with you some art works from Art Museum of Bonn, Museum for Modern Art, and Städel Museum in Frankfurt.

I. Kunst Museum Bonn

Interestingly, most modern art museums in themselves are great artistic works. For example, Guggenheim Museum, MOMA in New York and San Francisco. This is Kunst Museum Bonn (Museum of Modern Art in Bonn).

The interior design.

Sculpture by Max Ernst, a painter and sculptor of Dadaism and Surrealism.

RECLINING NUDE, by August Macke, one of the leading members of the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider).

II. Museum für Moderne Kunst

Museum for Modern Art in Frankfurt. Another impressive building.

This museum was holding a special exhibition dedicated to Bernard Buffet. It was the first time I got to know this great French painter, and I was immediately attracted to his unique paintings.

Painting, we do not talk about it,
we do not analyze it,
we feel it.
---- Bernard Buffet

Bernard Buffet was once feted as being one of France's most important painters and the legitimate successor of Picasso. As the "painter of existentialism" and the man who found the images to describe post-War sensitivities, Buffet's works had a visual presence and renown in West Europe that almost no other painter has achieved since.

Unlike many artists, Buffet wan huge success all over his life. He had his first painting shown at a famous salon at the age of 18 and had his first solo exhibition at the Librarie des Impression d'Art in Paris at the age of 19. Ever since then he kept winning recognition throughout the world.

Poster of Bernard Buffet's exhibition in Taipei.

Chairman Mao on the cover of Magazine Stern (Star in English).

III. The Städel Museum

The Städel Museum is located directly on Frankfurt's "museum bank" opposite the high-rises of the financial district. Established by a banker and businessman in 1815, the Städel Museum is the oldest and most prominent museum foundation in Germany.

The special exhibition held there was "The Magic of Things. Still Life Painting -- 1500 - 1800."

I generally don't have much interest in still life paintings. Though still life offers the most brazen opportunities for artistic arrangement of color, texture and light, they are anything but a purely aesthetic matter. However, a painting called "PEARS WITH INSECTS" caught my special attention. It reminded me of the fleeting nature of life, a universal thought symbolized by the perishable pear.

Perishable fruit -- staged like a monument and unusual among the skill life of the eighteen century -- is like an ironic commentary on traditional still-life painting.