Oregon Mozart Players Candlelight Concert 2025 at Central Presbyterian Church, Eugene, OR
I’ve volunteered for the Oregon Mozart Players off and on for over 25 years and was happy to usher once again for this year’s Candlelight Concert. Beautiful music for the season. The program included Alessandro Scarlatti’s Christmas Cantata, as well as a Concerto Grosso by Archangelo Corelli, and Suite III from Ottorino Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances. Even the names are musical. My favorite was a 20th century Christmas Suite by English composer, Alec Rowley, based on traditional English carols. [Photo Max Vollmer, Click on image to enlarge]
From an article titled 2025 Was David Lynch, by Jessica Winter in the December 12, 2025, New Yorker newsletter comes the following in a discussion of the Lynch film, The Elephant Man. “[Lynch] was not an empathic director but, rather, an uncommonly compassionate one. The word compassion comes from the Latin for “to suffer with”; it means to be present in another’s suffering, which is, in essence, the experience of watching “The Elephant Man.”
[Continued . . .]
In Catholic theology, to be present in another’s suffering is a means of breaking down false divisions between people. Love and community are inconceivable without compassion, and a void of compassion made possible the sadness, despair, and horror that shaped this past year. That void makes our humanity feel contingent, negotiable. Are you an animal or a human being? Am I a good man or a bad man? In the film, Lynch dissolves the scene before the question is resolved. Outside the film, no one who should ask is asking.”
Every year around this time I bake one of these cakes. I tried a new recipe this year and I’m happy with the result. The cake is light and springy but moist. There is Bacardi dark rum in the batter and the topping is chopped walnuts. The glaze is butter+sugar+rum. I have to share this or I could easily eat the whole thing. Yum! [Photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]
I took the photo in August, but today I walked the Willamette River Trail from Skinner Butte to this spot and beyond in 60 degree weather and full sun. The message is as clear as ever. [Photo Max Vollmer, Click on image to enlarge]
The open road and the Southwest, especially Utah, are never out of my thoughts. Spring and Fall are the best times to visit the desert. [Photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]
EveningChanging colors over Comb Ridge, looking southFading light to the west.
Young adventurer and lover of wild places , Everette Ruess, disappeared without a trace in 1934. He was last seen camping in Davis Gulch south of Escalante, UT. His remains were not discovered until 2008 near Comb Ridge, northwest of Bluff, UT. I’ve been reading Ruess’s letters and journal entries in A Vagabond For Beauty by W. L. Rusho. I can relate to his efforts to reconcile himself with the civilized world around him when he was in the wild one. Camped on the side of Navajo Mountain in the desert Southwest on June 7, 1934, he wrote this: “I have always been unsatisfied with life as most people live it. Always I want to live more intensely and richly. Why muck and conceal one’s true longings and loves, when by speaking of them one might find someone to understand them, and by acting on them one might discover one’s self. It is true that in the world such lack of reserve usually meets with hostility, misunderstanding, and scorn. Here in isolation I need not fear on that score, though the strangers I do encounter usually judge me wrongly. But I was never one to be content with less than the most from life, and shall go on reaching, and leaving my soul defenseless to attacks.”
[Photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]
Defazio Bridge Over To Alton Baker ParkAlton Baker Park Lagoon And SpillwayNorth Bank Of The Willamette River Under The Ferry St. BridgeUnder Ferry Street BridgeNorth Bank Trail by McMenaminsUnder I-205 BridgeGreenway BridgeSweetgum Tree Along South Bank TrailMorning WalkTrail Near Eugene Parks Outdoor CenterCedar GroveSouth Bank Trail Toward Skinner Butte
Having forgotten the Sunday before, I returned to Dharma Rain yesterday with the coast redwood tree, Sequoia sempervirens, given to me as gift and which I promised Yukyo we would plant on the monastery grounds. Yukyo and I chose a spot that we felt would provide adequate soil moisture year-round, as well as summer shade in the early years. This is our gift to Dharma Rain and the future. [Photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]
Hole dug on a narrow bench on the east side of the monastery grounds.Yukyo and me.
Having first written the journal entry below, I’m coming back to acknowledge that it may have some value for the uncounted number of people who struggle to create and maintain healthy romantic relationships, but it is myopic at the same time. The greater value in understanding and incorporating unconditional love into our lives is to apply the principles of acceptance and respect to ALL our human relationships! I am reminding myself daily to not judge others near and far, but rather to accept that everyone . . . everyone is involved in their own struggle through life.
JOURNAL ENTRY
The following comes from Psychology Today: ” When love is unconditional, these three signs are usually present. 1) When your partner loves you unconditionally, they love the version of you that’s right in front of them. There’s no secretly hoping that you’ll change with time, no ideal version they’re waiting on; 2) A lot of love is lost in the expectation of having it returned . . . Keeping score doesn’t help . . . this type of love turns bitter and eventually falls apart; and 3) When your partner thinks of the relationship and what would make you happy before their own ego, pride, and selfish desires, it shows more than just commitment. Feeling completely safe to be yourself around your partner and experiencing a deep emotional connection without fear of judgment is one of the biggest signs of unconditional love.”
[Psychology Today continues . . . ]
“A 2020 study published in Frontiers in Psychology proposed a comprehensive theory of love, identifying four core factors— attraction, connection, trust, and respect—that interact to create lasting love . . . Among the four essential components of love, the roles of trust and respect are especially important for creating emotional safety and prioritizing a partner’s happiness.”
I spent this past Sunday with my daughter Yukyo at the Dharma Rain Zen Center in Portland, OR. Yukyo (her given name was Emily) is a resident at Dharma Rain and a student of Soto Zen Buddhism. The monestary was co-founded by Kyogen (Gary) Carlson with his wife Gyokuko Carlson in 1986. Kyogen had this to say about his Buddhist practice: “There is so much to learn and so much to know. It’s good to keep moving forward. And yet, whatever we have is, in a very profound way, absolutely complete and always enough.”
Most Sunday mornings at the Zen Center, following meditation, a Dharma Talk (a lesson or teaching) is given by an experienced member of the community. On this particular day the topic was Seeking Refuge. It began with a parable known as the Gift Fulfilling Jewel.
In this parable, two old friends, one wealthy and one poor, are eating and drinking wine together. The poor man drinks himself into a stupor and falls asleep. Early the next morning, the wealthy one must leave on business. Before he leaves, the wealthy friend sews a priceless jewel inside of the robe of his poor friend, who is still asleep. Later, the wealthy man comes across his friend, who is still living in poverty. He points out to his poor friend that all this time there has been a priceless gem hidden inside his robe and that he did not have to be living in poverty.
This parable shows, in simple terms, the principle that every human is endowed with infinite potential and inestimable worth. It teaches us that the key to overcoming the constraints of our present reality, whatever they may be, lies within ourselves.
[Photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly… this is my way. (Anonymous)
Max Vollmer, Click on image to enlarge]
