Yin and Yang in the oboe reed

I sit with a lot of (seeming) contrast this morning..
about the shift from heart to tip: how the transition between these two parts requires the sharpest knife to get the subtlest gradients. 

how I see this in the way the earth moves from winter into spring: 
last week the daffodils, speedwell, and fig buttercups bloomed in the warm sun of a planet turning towards spring. This morning the sleet and snow is blowing down in the frigid wind at a 45 degree angle.

When I was 18, I read an essay by my professor about yin and yang in oboe reeds
I didn't really get it at the time
but revisit the concept often

Perhaps these are not really contrasts: sharpness and subtleness, warmth and cold, darkness and brilliance, but the light inside the dark and vice versa. seemingly contrary but really complimentary

maybe the contrasts simply demand of us the greatest presence and respect to properly perceive them..

the gradual transition is created by the sharpness of the knife the way winter turns to spring: 
with what appears at first as a contrast 
the sharpness facilitating the softness;
the light in the dark and dark in the light. 

Happy oboe-ing! 🕊️