Naked love, defiant courage, and salty grace
Some wonderbringers for me this week:
How to live a miraculous life: Not long before his untimely death by an aggressive brain tumor, author Brian Doyle — who described himself as “a muddle and a conundrum shuffling slowly along the road, gaping in wonder, trying to just see and say what is” — took up the question of how to live a miraculous life. His answer became the posthumous essay collection One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder. Maria Popova examines his advice which includes:
“You do your absolute best to find and hone and wield your divine gifts against the dark. You do your best to reach out tenderly to touch and elevate as many people as you can reach. You bring your naked love and defiant courage and salty grace to bear as much as you can, with all the attentiveness and humor you can muster. This life is after all a miracle and we ought to pay fierce attention every moment, as much as possible.” - Brian Doyle
An ancient astronomer who signed his work: Inside a hidden room at the ancient Maya ruins of Xultun in Guatemala, archaeologists have decoded the celestial equations of an astronomer-mathematician dating back to AD 781. Painted on and etched into the wall are more than 50 faint mathematical “microtexts” detailing the the cycles of Venus and Mars. Amongst them are 11 glyphs that turn out to be the signature of Sak Tahn Waax, or “White-chested Fox”. One archaeologist described it as “looking at an old ‘whiteboard’ in someone’s abandoned office.” As the first and only Maya astronomer to be credited for their work, Sak Tahn Waax now sits alongside other influential astronomers and mathematicians like Pythagoras, Galileo, and Newton.
Don’t play with your food (unless you’re an Orca): These orcas ram a sunfish so hard it explodes. But why? Off Cabo San Lucas, biologists watched one orca hold a sunfish steady while another lined up and rammed it at speed, scattering the remains like confetti. The reason behind this newly described “stabilize-and-ram” behaviour is still being debated. “We think this may help younger orcas feed more easily — or it could also just be for fun,” scientist Kathryn Ayres says. “Orcas are known for playing with their food.”
Wondermaker of the week, Thomas Dambo, the garbage artist hiding giants in forests: Danish artist Dambo has built more than 150 giant trolls from scrap wood and pallets across 17 countries, hidden in forests and parks with a public treasure map so people can hunt them. He rejects “environmentalist” for his own title, preferring “garbage artist”. His goal is to have a giant in every US state. “There is endless, endless trash,” Dambo explains, “So that basically means that we’re throwing out unlimited wealth, and that wealth can be translated into great artistic experiences.”
As usual, I will be taking a little break in August, and use it as a chance to share some of your favourite previously published Wonderbringers from the last year. I will also be using that time to switch newsletter platforms, so be on the lookout in September for a new look and a new platform!
I hope you have a wonderful end of summer!
With Wonder,
