Sunshine

I have been labouring away at my computer for most of the day, but I decided to take a break and sit in the sun for a few moments - for the sun has finally decided to shine today.

To begin with it was lovely - I had been a bit cold inside - and the warmth was soothing. But then it began to be very warm and eventually, too warm and so I came back inside to write this quick post before launching into dinner.

For sunshine is not all good is it? Yes it is essential to life on earth. Plants cannot grow without it - or can they? We seem to have mastered a way of growing plants in huge buildings on racks, lit only by artificial light - so maybe in the future we shall indeed be able to do away with the sun. But whilst this approach might be alright for herbs and lettuce - I doubt it would work for the big grain crops or for grass, which sustains a vast portion of the animal population of the planet. So yes it is essential for the growth of plants, and without plants there are no animals and no food - even if you are a vegetarian.

And you know I have never wondered what happens in the lands of the midnight sun - the lands where the sun doesn't shine at all for half the year. I presume there is no plant life? In the winter anyway - and that is certainly true of Antarctica - is it true for those countries within the Arctic Circle too? Are the people there pure carnivores and what do their animals eat anyway. Lichen I think - which is not technically a plant. How ignorant I am.

But the sun can also be deadly - and it seems to be getting deadlier. Bush fires, skin cancer, heat exhaustion, drought leading to the death of plants, the need for extra power to keep oneself cool ... So too much sun - either for too long or of too much intensity is also not good. You've only got to look at the plants in the garden on a hot day. They wilt and droop and burn at the edges. Well here in Melbourne they do anyway.

Then there's solar flares - I read an article today predicting the end of the world almost if a massive solar flare hit the earth (as they do from time to time). All those satellites, all those power lines and power stations - all, it seems would be wiped out - and how would the world recover from that? It was a real armageddon scenario.

I tried to find a quote that somehow expressed the double-edged nature of sunshine, but could only find quotes rhapsodising about its benefits.

For me it's a metaphor for everything really. The middle way - not the extreme. It seems to me that this is the answer for just about everything. It seems so obvious - and Buddha certainly thought so a couple of thousand or so years ago. And yet we seem to worship (and excoriate) the extreme.

Do you think Van Gogh saw it as beautiful and life-giving in that painting, or is it just a tiny bit threatening?

Food is trapped sunshine.