The Power of Place

Somewhere on the winding roads of West Georgia near Pine Mountain, there is a small drive along the top of a ridge which comes out at Dowdell's Knob and an edge-of-the-world view across a wide valley. Tucked on a protected ledge is a historic marker which declares "This Was His Georgia." As the realization hits that the sloped sidewalk had been a President's wheelchair ramp and that he had come here to make decisions for His Country, the place takes on new meaning. It was not lost on the fellows in the sketch I made that day.

I was reminded of the power of this place when reading my latest issue of Cezanne-2006 -- a newsletter which covers the celebration of Cezanne in Provence. http://www.cezanne-2006.com/news/news9_en.html I made the connection through this explanation of an exhibition of photographs and videos by Julien Oppenheim which explores Cezanne's fascination for the Sainte-Victoire Mountain.
"Exploring what links us to places, to a place, to a key place.
Displaying the physical link to the place, the link with the land, the stone and the trees.
Feeling how your breathing changes when in contact with the place,
feeling your body enter into the place and touch it.
To be within, inside the place and capture its power. The power of the place that I come from."

I wondered about the places which make my breathing change. I wondered about whether I can give to those places some sense of their power in my life in the way that Cezanne did with his mountain. It's something to ponder.