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Taking Care
It is a service not only to yourself, but to everyone who ends up having to devote resources to you when you don’t, to be heedful of how extreme weather impacts your body.

Probably a Cooper’s Hawk
“Wow!” exclaimed the well-dressed woman who was walking towards the Senate office buildings as I was walking in the opposite direction to the DOL through the park on the North side of the Capitol. We had both paused absolutely still to appreciate the drama of the moment.
A raptor flew in and landed on one of the high tree branches. There were a few warning chirps and calls and then everything froze into stillness and silence. After a few minutes the bird flew off, and gradually the squirrels, sparrows, starlings, etc resumed their usual morning activities.
“Did you notice how every thing became still?” I replied.
“Yes,” said my companion in the moment of appreciation and observation. “It hardly seemed real.”
We then moved on to go about our business, becoming conscious again of the noise of the city as the small animals and birds went back to their usual activities.
I looked it up when I got to work. It was most likely an immature Cooper’s hawk.
I did not even think to photograph the moment lest I disturb it. These are the trees after the fact.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
When I am Settled
When meditating and practicing in a group, if I am feeling settled and grounded myself, it does not disturb my practice that others near me are fidgeting or not fully present. Just as I can meditate on a bus or in a waiting room, I am responsible for descending into my own inner space. If I am unsettled myself, then I am more likely to notice others fidgeting. But it is not their fidgeting that disrupts my practice, but that I am having a day when it is hard for me to center on my own.
It is true, though, when practicing with a group, that sometimes we will all be deeply centered and then the power of the group can bring all of the individuals to a deeper experience.




