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Nov. 2 | The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Symbolic creatures frolic — Canis Lupus; Panthera Unica Unica

Snow leopard taste:
chapatis
Arkansas Black apple
At home: oatmeal
Snow leopard sight: horns of argali, antlers of extinct Sikkim stag, fresco of garuda - mythical hawk; bright-painted mandalas
At home: light-blue walls
Snow leopard sound:
Shey Gompa = Shel dgon-pa; East wind rattled
At home: rain patter
Snow leopard smell:
incense, tea
At home: hand-sanitizer
Snow leopard touch:
-13 degrees Centrigrade
At home:
a fevered brow
Snow leopard word of the day:
kalachakra - circle of time
Snow leopard quote of the day: "Wolves!"
Snow leopard notable:
Ch'ang Tartars of Central Asia the original Tibetans; four great rivers — the Karnali, the Indus, the Sutlej, and the Brahmaputra—flow down in a great mandala to the Indian seas
Snow leopard extra: Journey to Shambala - how to transcend time (death); Avalokita, the Great Compassionate One is also Mahakala, Great Time the Lord of Death
At home:

"As in fiction, the nonfiction writer is telling a story, and when that story is well-made, the placement of details and events is never random. The parts are not strung out in a line but come around full circle, like a necklace, to set off the others. They resonate, rekindle one another, stirring the reader with a cumulative effect." — Peter Matthiessen, "Peter Matthiessen, The Art of Fiction No. 157," The Paris Review
Snow leopard gratitude: knowledge, teachings passed down from the ages
At home:
knowledge, teachings passed down from the ages

Panthera progress:
filling in the outline, character maps, vocabulary

What is this? Blogging The Snow Leopard project.

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