Monday, September 16, 2019

SOME DAYS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS

Thursday
9/14
Gallery Opening at Tibet House
22 West 15th Street
NY NY

 
Two beautiful people I spent time with
~*~

Friday
Spent the whole day in and out of Bed. Then to the Zendo for our once monthly meeting of Elders.

Waiting for the Bus
No photographs of our session of course. We were about twenty women and men. After brief meditation, read a Mary Oliver Poem and let it lead us in lively and intimate conversation. Chodo Sensei read this one before a final meditation to end our session:

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it's over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Mary Oliver

Caught this image of the Full Harvest Moon at 6th Avenue on 23rd Street. Difficult to be stable with a hand held camera surrounded by a Friday crowd in a great hurry.
Hence, elongation.

Almost home, I noted these ice cream lovers from the local precinct and only saw the one staring at me after the fact.

READ  
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/well/mary-olivers-poems-taught-me-how-to-live.html
~*~

Friday Late Night
Read some, watched a movie "Everlasting Piece"-Against the turbulent backdrop of Belfast in the 1980's, fellow barbers, Colm, a Catholic, and George, a Protestant, form an unlikely partnership to corner the toupee market in Northern Ireland. But with rival hairpiece company, Toupee or Not Toupee, getting a jump on the competition, Colm and George have to come up with some creative sales techniques to bring a different kind of piece to Northern Ireland-It's a comedy.
~*~

Saturday
Where did it go?  Poor sleep, too many thoughts and afterthoughts. Puttered, napped, washed clothes, cleaned a bit. Walked out with no destination in mind. Kids in the playground of the public school were tooling around on their skateboards and this little guy in his new red car was having such a joyous time navigating.
Thoughts of childhood.
Thinking! Thinking about everything still, I kept walking and walking until I was too tired to go on.
Came home and fell asleep.
~*~

Sunday
My Massachusetts friend is celebrating here 8th Decade on earth and I wish I could have been there.
We spoke on the phone.


https://youtu.be/cIARNcFlRbQ

A Useful Distraction
Food Preparation:

Persian cucumbers marinated in rice vinegar
add drops of liquid Stevia to sweeten.
Delicious on cream cheese sandwiches
and fine for snacking.

Red grapes soaked in light solution of rose water
plump up and last long. Another great snack.

Chopped fresh spinach with Feta cheese
dressed in rice vinegar and spices.
Nice salad side dish.

I get a certain comfort from the work itself and from having these items on hand in the fridge.

Then, while messing around on the internet, I completely erased all my tabs in error and Sunday morphed into
Monday
Unable to sleep I finished this Post.
<<>>

2 comments:

Mo Crow said...

(((Michelle))) the Mary Oliver poem is very timely with one friend leaving this mortal coil via cancer and another is giving up all hope and contemplating suicide

Ms. said...

Mo...Sorry for your loss. May the parting be painless for both your friends.