Beautiful Bougainvillea

Miracle! Suddenly, we are in Caribbean. Going barefoot. Wearing shorts. Beautiful bougainvillea outside our bedroom window and draping over the patio below.

A couple of days ago, i was surrounded by snow and ice. The temperature was in the single digits. I kept chucking wood into the woodstove.

Change. All sorts of change--weather, clothing, location. Only one thing is changeless: can you notice the invisible Presence of the wordless? The screen upon which this entire play of life is projected. That which is with you all the time--closer than close.

Bougainvillea Home

My bougainvillea matches the trim on my house. They're both magenta.This summer, i placed my bougainvillea where i can frequently see it, and looking at it every time i'm in the garden brings me a lot of pleasure. It's so rewarding to find a place where a plant really feels at home.

Where are you at home?

I'm at home with calm and quiet. I'm at home in the garden and in meditation. I'm at home on my deck watching the birds come to the bird feeder.

Our natural home is in Nature. Go find one place in your garden where you can feel/sense this feeling of at-homeness.

The bougainvillea blooms beautifully in these warm summer days.

Glorious Bougainvillea

After 6 weeks in the tropics, i come home to snow and shiver the moment i step out of the airport.

The flowers and fruit of southeast Asia are glorious. Bougainvillea abounds. In Thailand, we drove by miles of multi-colored blooming bougainvillea in the median strip--a beautiful and very appealing sight to see during a 4-hour drive.

I come home to a pathetically blooming bougainvillea in my solarium.

I attended 2 meditation retreats: one in Yangon and one near Chiangmai in northern Thailand. There i saw the easy, daily access to Buddhist practice that is interwoven into people's lives.

Now i am home where i have to make an effort to attend to my spiritual practice if i don't want to look like my small, faded bougainvillea.