Figs Ripening
This is the second round of fruit ripening on the small tree I brought into the garden this spring. Will these figs ripen enough to be picked before the first frost?
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Misty Dawn Walk
I just returned from a trip to the Catskills for a long weekend of yoga, meditation, and a swimming lake in green mountains. I woke each morning before dawn and went out to be with the rising of the light. One morning dawned with a dense mist and fog. The doe was about to bound across the path as I was walking. She stopped short. I stepped back. Both of us equally startled. We looked at each other benignly curious. Then she ambled off and I did the same. On the way back to the guest house, I saw a porcupine run across the lawn. I understand that they are great pests, but I truly enjoyed getting to see one. I think I might like the porcupine as a spirit animal.
New Spinach (and Udyamo Bhairava)
The fifth sutra in Abhinavagupta’s Siva Sutras, is “udyamo bhairava” — the great upsurge of consciousness. When we are open and aware, we can witness this upsurge, the very pulsing of life energy in all that is in and around us, from the springing up of thought in our minds to the burgeoning of spring. The more we practice and live attentively, the more we will see the joy in this upwelling.
When I go out into the garden on the early spring days to see what needs to be cut back, what is volunteering, and what is coming up from fall plantings, I approach with great openness. When we plant in the fall, we do not know with any certainty what kind of winter we will have. Although the long-range forecast was for colder than normal with precipitation near normal (which translates into more than average snow), who could have expected three mammoth snow storms?
I plant with hope and some expectation, but am ready for the loss of some perennials, the failure of some seeds to germinate, and the unexpected pleasure of experiments working or welcome volunteers. This steady planting without specific expectation, with openness to discovery, with joy and attention to the miraculousness of what rises up in the spring, is a very tangible example of what I read in the yoga philosophy. It is how I, I believe, we most optimally would approach asana and meditation, as well as all aspects of our daily being.
Below: new spinach coming up in a container from seeds I planted around Thanksgiving from an expiring packet.
Signs Around Town (and International Women’s Day)
In the window at Clothes Encounters–a woman-owned small business on Capitol Hill. I wasn’t feeling the need to bring anything new into my closet, but I went in to say how much I liked the sign. I enjoyed trying on a tourmaline necklace that looked like it came from India.
Hot Pavement, Discarded Gum, Lucky Penny
I have never understood why so many people spit out chewed gum onto the street. This old wad caught a lucky penny.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
