On the Way Home from Work
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Murtis Around Town
Seeing this painted murti brought a flash of childhood memory of the garden statuary Venus de Milo in my grandparents’ garden that my uncle spray-painted dayglo orange.
Lightening Long Branch Creek with Willow Street Yogins
I woke and dressed myself as early as if it were a work day to take the metro and then the bus to the little playground/park where we entered the creek. It was already promising today’s humid heat in the sun, but it was pleasant in the shade. The group was a good size. Large enough to get some work done, but small enough to stay easily connected. We divided the work — path or creek — based on who wore which shoes, which allocated the cleaning well.
It was a beautiful way to appreciate off the mat the Anusara axioms, “look for the good,” and “respond from the highest.” As you can see from the pictures, Long Branch Creek is a lovely sanctuary of greenery and running water. It is evidently not fresh, but it is still giving its all. We could see the beauty, but also recognize that the creek could more powerfully share the energy of nature if it was not so dirty. Rather than complain that the creek was dirty and dangerous and stay away from it, we were invited to appreciate both what it is and what it could be and got our feet wet and ourselves dirty to be with the creek. I wish it weren’t necessary, and I will be looking for more ways to try and contribute less waste, but I think in the meantime, it would be right to do this more often.
The Wondrous Light of the Moon and of the Street Lights
The moon was incredibly full and bright in a clear sky tonight. When I was walking home from work, I saw a tourist taking pictures of the Capitol. “You’ll want to photograph the moon,” I said, after having just taken a few pictures myself. “Yes, I did,” he replied with a big grin.
As bright as was the moon, the street lights would not have needed to be on so fully as when the moon is just a sliver of a crescent. As I gazed in awe at the luminous beauty of the moon, I thought also about the wondrousness of electric street lights. How is it that we so often take for granted electricity, but marvel at the moon? Is not light in all its forms a source of wonder when we stop to remember? Why resent the street lights for dimming the beauty of the moon when we can instead see their own beauty?
