The Beauty in the Beast (Mountains, Northwest Vietnam)

In addition to its exceptional beauty, the water buffalo is also considered to be the unofficial national animal of Vietnam. Perhaps its most qualifying characteristics are its gentle nature, loyalty, and diligence. I was told that when a male dies in the Black Hmong tribe a buffalo is often sacrificed. The reasoning is that as the two souls unite in death, they will emerge in the afterlife as "soul(help)-mates". This allows man to be sufficiently aided in his continual quest for survival, and perhaps beyond.

River's Rumination: Denial in the face of one's ultimate demise has been a recurring theme in my world travels. Having to reckon with the eventual loss of accumulation is undeniably the culprit, or so I believe. We spend our entire lives accumulating things (e.g., houses, cars, clothes, money, etc.), and people (e.g., mates, children, friends, etc.) and . And perhaps our greatest stockpile is found within ourselves. That desperate accumulation of thought centered around "I just want to be me" inevitably falls in defeat. Instead of choosing life, we find in the end that we've chosen to take cover. So, in order to simmer the terror that begins its incremental boil at the moment we're aware of our mortality, we latch onto the bloated breast of fantasy for both our sake and the sake of those we love.