Monday, September 28, 2015

Watering with Urine

The flowerpots on the front and back steps are looking fantastic. Their flowers are blooming and their vines are flowing beautifully. I suspect the lushness is due to watering the plants with urine every morning, as i mentioned in my July 3rd post.

Now that Bill is out of his leg brace, he's still finding it convenient to pee into a jar in the middle of the night. He's still training his proprioception of his right leg and foot. Every morning a pint of pee waters one flowerpot, so each one is "watered" about once every two weeks.

When we fertilize our meditation practice with daily sitting, our meditation becomes fuller. Even lush, with calm.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Eustress -- Too Much of a Good Thing

The garden club had its mum sale on Saturday, and i bought several. Usually the mums come just in time to decorate the bare front door or fill in on the back step, but this year, my flowerpots are filled to overflowing. The front step looks great without the mums.

Too much of a good thing--brimming flowerpots plus fresh, new mums--equals stress. This is eustress--the stress of the good.

Too much stresses us just as much (and maybe more?) than too little. I can't get out of bed in the morning because i can't decide what to wear. I have too many choices.

We think more is better, but think again.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Walking Meditation on the Beach

Bill slipped while hiking in June and had emergency knee surgery. Last week, he gave his leg brace back to the orthopedic surgeon. Her prescription for him was to go walk on a beach. Walk barefoot in the sand.

So, we went to the New Hampshire beach, and then wandered down to the fishing village of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Walking to the beach there, i saw lots of Rosa rugosa, the rose that grows so prolifically in the sand. The red rosehips were ripe, so, as we walked, i picked the biggest, reddest ones and popped them in my mouth.

If rosehip tea is good for you, the actual rosehips must be even better, right?

The texture is a bit mushy, and there are a gazillion seeds, which i think of as intestinal brooms. But they are sweet, and loaded with Vitamin C.

Bill and i did our walking meditation on the beach, wonderfully barefoot in the sand.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Sweet Nicotiana

When i walked out the front door to empty the compost last night, i was enveloped in the sweet fragrance of nicotiana (flowering tobacco). I have a white garden, a moon garden, at my front door--all white flowers that are visible even without the moon tonight.

The flowers look scraggly during the day, but at night they shine, as they pump out their scent.

I, too, look a bit scraggly by daylight, but, as they say, you can't judge a book by its cover. Ayya Khema, a Buddhist nun, warns us not to project a self onto others.

It has taken me years to understand what she means. Since we have a self (or so we think), we project one onto everyone we see. But this is not necessarily true.

The person who is self-less may not be visible to our ordinary eyes, but we might recognize her by the sweet fragrance of her actions.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Home, Sweet Home

I'm home! After a month of five wonderful vacations, including two retreats, i feel so happy to be home. Home with nowhere to go on the horizon. Ordinary life every day. How wonderful.

People ask me, "What are your travel plans?"

I don't have any!!!

Happiness is when we come home to ourselves.