(Happy Post Script) THAT RAINBOW STRING BAG

Famous to readers of this blog, Caleb O'Connor was the 'angel' who found and returned my missing rainbow string bag left on the Amtrak train that carried me back home from a week away in Massachusetts September 3rd through the 11th.  It was his kindness and above and beyond diligence that ended my anxiety with a phone call at 10:30 PM on the 12th, and he personally mailed all via UPS which arrived in tact safely on the 16th.

Since then, I have informed all the many Amtrak employees, the Amtrak police, and the company Caleb works for of the good news, and my gratitude to all.  Yesterday His wife, Emily got in touch by email "We just got your lovely card. Caleb is not much of an email user so I am emailing on his behalf ☺️ we would love to read your story. I am so glad he was able to get your purse back to you he is a special guy and I too have been very proud to share this story." I sent her the "Story" contained in two posting on my blog:

1. http://mscomfortzone.blogspot.com/2016/09/im-back.html

 2. http://mscomfortzone.blogspot.com/2016/09/miracle-update-915.html

But the new news is that they are on Instagram, and "you should follow along our little hobby...Marydale is our name or we have a website." Oh, hooray, it is a simply beautiful Vermont paradise!
(forgive the sometimes blurry screen shots)

There are Goats...

 and Hens...

 Ducks and Geese...

 Squashes and other seasonal Produce.

There's a shop too where one can order textiles and apothecary items!  Have a look around:

www.marydalefarmvt.com
~*~
 

SEPTET OF DAYS

SUNDAY
Little Teddy Sending Bear Hugs-thinking Kind Thoughts.
There's comfort in compassion when big tragedies arrive.

~*~

TUESDAY
Tripped off to the High line for Stargazing
The night was cool and bright. Thanks to the NY Astronomers club volunteers sharing their telescopes, I saw Saturn as a tiny white oval with a single ring.

Wandered among stargazers lounging on beach chairs along paths where summer plants are coming into bloom:

Echinacea

 Forgot the name

 Astilbe

Life size sculpture called "Sleepwalker".  Various people posed with him for selfies.  To me it looked like violation, and I had an interesting conversation with two older men also waiting in line.  They agreed, and we talked a bit about how nakedness make us uncomfortable, nervous.  We three identified with the vulnerability.
Read what the sculptor says:
(link at the end)

A cool-Jazz trio serenaded at one end, and a disco DJ at the other where a film was in process with mostly men dancing.  Emerging near Christopher street I headed back North along 10th Avenue where many stores are closed or closing. 

Then a brief sweet encounter with a beautiful drag queen on her way to an event, her costume of cleverly draped stiff cellophane was worn over shorts and top, and she was quite happy to pose.  I didn't ask her name and she didn't offer it.
(Anonymous)

~*~

WEDNESDAY

After a Zazen at the Zendo,
I headed West on 23rd Street.

Walking leisurely until the sun set, then

caught the bus back East to home.

~*~

THURSDAY
Mask at the Opera Thrift

The hand of a metal plated Buddha on display

 

A homeless man napping on 21st Street

~*~

FRIDAY
Unwell, but bumbled through the day doing chores, getting my notice to the post office to hold mail while I'm away for a week in Massachusetts
(Clover and Ialanthus in neglected street tub)

Cooked and froze all foods that might spoil.
(Potato, cumin and coriander in broth)

 Did some hand laundry and pre-soaked sheets and towels. 
Now ready for a trip to the laundromat.

On the advice of a trusted wise-friend, I tuned in to this Omega session with a favorite teacher, Pema Chodron and found it most helpful.

https://youtu.be/YwTSWG64rZE
~*~

SATURDAY
7
The number of notes in the traditional Western diatonic scale (major or minor), there are seven musicians in a septet or a septuor, and today is the seventh day.
(Read about the many meanings ascribed to it)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_%28number%29
 ~*~

LINKS
"Sleepwalker"
 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/controversial-sleepwalker-sculpture-high-line-403190