Sunrise Earth
One of my staples of life has turned out to be Sunrise Earth. For those who haven’t run across it, high definition cameras are set up somewhere picturesque and left to run as the sun comes up. I have two favorites, the Li River Cormorants and Mediterranean Port.
In China, they have men who stand atop thin bamboo rafts to fish the Li River. But they use birds to do the work. They tie a piece of twin around the bird’s neck to create a restriction that allows them to breathe just fine, but not be able to swallow fish. The fisherman set the birds loose and they do their thing, diving for the small river fish. When they get two or three in their gullet, they paddle back to the boat where the fisherman unceremoniously grabs the bird by the foot and with one motion, they milk the few fish from the birds throat and send it back into the river. The birds are trained to do all of this, of course, and it appears that the birds enjoy doing it.
Atalya Harbor, in Turkey is where my next favorite comes from. The harbor is tiny but filled with colorful and odd sized fishing boats. As the film moves ahead, we see the little port come to life with boats starting out for the day or returning from fishing the night.
They allow us to hear the sounds about as they filmed, making for a kind of window that we can open to absorb the atmosphere of the venues they film. I have about 25 of their recordings (so far) which I recorded with my DVD. I use these films much like a window or a background activity with the sound turned down. But each of the films are beautiful and rich with the elements that make the places special.
Sunrise Earth is become a friend in a way. As I sit here thinking or reading, working on electronics or robots, I play these films and do my thing, whatever it is, to the rhythm of the program. Of course, I wish they had a film of a ship making it’s way across a stormy passage –or even the salmon fishers as they head out for the day.But then I really enjoy the seas.
They help to build my little world. It stretches me and sends me to places I can’t really go in real life, and informs me in the gentle way the world teaches us its mysteries as children. A little at a time. It beats the brash and brassy sounds of modern television programming with its Good Deals and Special Opportunities by a long shot. Offering some calm in the sea storm of promotional noise foisted off on us by the ton on television.
Regular television is getting just to abrasive and unfamiliar as new faces crop up and time passage retires the faces I once knew. There are just too many things to tell us about and advertisers are determined to see us experience it all, even if they have to feed it to us a few commercials at a time. Here is 90 minutes of peace to go with the solitude that my life has become.
Like a muse, the scenes make me think about my world and the things that take place on it. And the programs simply cause my imagination to let itself loose now and again, spurred on by something I saw or some sound I heard. It makes the isolation see more familiar and acceptable; where the people let me down with unfaltering dedication, these little programs are the antithesis. In spite of life and the course it has plotted, these vignettes are a little slice of peace and pastoral time passage.
