He Believes Nature Speaks
Moon vehemently rejects a materialistic view of the world. He believes nature speaks. More precisely, relics of the past—bones, tombstones and spearpoints, when combined with human engagement of the good earth, provide discernible clues to the reason for our existence. Moon’s philosophy for finding lost things, “if it’s there, it can be found. If you can’t find it, you simply haven’t looked hard enough, long enough, or retraced your steps and movements accurately enough”, was also always rigorously applied to our common human quest for meaning and understanding
Excerpt from Moon Sunn
“Shane, it’s startin’ to cool off, I thank we should go up there to that lake near Walnut, it cools down up there a little sooner. Cooler weather makes them fish turn on, a fattin’ up for winter.”
We loaded up before daylight and drove to Walnut, Mississippi, less than twenty miles from the Tennessee state line. Summer days shortening, the ‘dog days’ loosening their grip, a hint of fall in the air, the very light of the sun seemed different.
Moon is a keen observer of flora and fauna. Around noon, he waded toward me holding something in his hand. I knew something was up because of the way he approached.
He waded up beside me and said, “Shane, look at these!”
He opened his clinched fish and revealed a handful of shark’s teeth he’d dug out of a clay bank beside the lake.
Gesturing with is arms, “Shane the ocean used to cover all of this. I bet Hernando De Soto and his men traveled right along here 450 years ago.”
Moon has an uncanny ability to remember precise dates, places, names and every minute detail related to American history.
“This used to be Chickasaw territory. Them Chickasaw were more warlike than them Choctaw. American settlers arrived here earlier than other parts of Mississippi and there were lots of skirmishes with the Chickasaw. Finally, in 1837, at the Treaty of Doaksville, the Chickasaw purchased land from the Choctaws and resettled in Choctaw territory. That was the beginning of their demise and they were never the same after that. The Chickasaw didn’t stay in Choctaw land long. That Indian Removal Act had already been passed and the Chickasaw Nation walked that Trail of Tears just like the Choctaw Nation did. When that land greed gets in your blood, there ain’t no stoppin’ it.”
That day beside the lake in Walnut, Mississippi, Moon told me the story of the Chickasaw with such elucidation that I could visualize a real Chickasaw war party there on the shore beside the lake, and in some small way, I felt the Trail of Tears. But it wasn’t only his vivid account, it was the whole experience, the crisp autumn day, the sunlight, the water, the fish, the shark’s teeth, the geology, the history, the fishing. The detectable changing of the seasons and the stories summoned a sense that something mysterious, yet real, was coming just over the horizon.
Moons philosophy of education---of motion combined with history and stories worked with me. I’ve never forgotten his descriptions.
As I work to publish my first work Moon Sunn, follow me on Instagram more updates and publication progress as the book nears its release. I'm looking forward to sharing these stories with you!
