Let Ithaka be always in your thoughts.
To get there is your goal and destiny.
But do not hasten to your journey’s end:
it’s better if it lasts for many years
so that you'll reach the island when you’re old,
wealthy with all you’ve gained along the way,
not hoping Ithaka will make you rich.
Your marvellous journey is Ithaka’s gift.
Without her you would not have started out.
But she has nothing more to give you now.
And if you find she's poor, you’ve not been fooled.
So wise have you become, so much you’ve learned,
that you will know what Ithakas must be.
Source: Seen in passing on X-Twitter. Holler if you want the whole thing.
Author/Translator: Armand D'Angour, Professor of Classics, Oxford. Cello lover. Larkin about. Turning life into Latin verse, one hexameter at a time. Podcast “It’s All Greek (& Latin!) to Me”.
Posted: Feb 06
Cool insects !
Ralph – Certainly very welcome insects! Their eyes always look wrong to me – no reflection.
I had to look up “dragonfly food” to appreciate how great a superiority those insects have to humans’ unwieldy swatting tools. From nymph stage they are brilliant predators on most other insects, not just mosquitoes. And those eyes that give this specimen its cute and dopey expression? They provide surround vision with their 30,000 facets, sense in the ultraviolet end of the spectrum, have polarizing qualities like quality sunglasses, and allow the dragonfly to anticipate the location of its prey so it can arrive at that locus before the hapless bug flies into its clutches. Thanks for igniting another happy excursion into the wonders of nature!
Laurna – Thank you for sharing!