IVIV (1) Shasta

[Kevin Troy]

I'm coming in late to this IVIV biz.  So maybe someone already pointed
this out.  (I tried my best, Doug, but the search functionality on the
pynchon-l archive is very crude.)

"When I first caught sight of [Mount Shasta] over the braided folds of
the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and
weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary
since."
--John Muir

(quoted in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Shasta)

Kinda reminds me of that Kirgiz Light.

Now I must admit that all through IV, I kept hearing "McNasty" anytime
Shasta's name came up.  B-but Shasta's real last name is Fey, which is
a "real" last name (i.e. you can find Feys in many phone books), but
also suggestive of otherworldliness, being of (or at least in tune
with) faeries, being able to traverse two worlds.  And it's also
reminiscent of Morgan Le Fey, the enchantress in Arthurian legend who
(depending on the source) is either a friend to the Round Table, an
adversary, or both.  The Italian for that name is Fata Morgana, which
has been adopted as a term for a large-scale mirage that can appear at
sea, making it seem like there's a landmass on the horizon where there
isn't one.

"Shasta Fey" -- rock-solid mountain in the first name, and protean,
nebulous last name.  Best feng shui I've ever seen.

Cheers,
Kevin T.