Naked Ladies

Naked Ladies are blooming, all soft and pink and odalisque. Lycoris is in the amaryllis family, and like amaryllis, it shoots up a bare stalk of glorious trumpet flowers.

Unlike amaryllis, the leaves appear first--in the spring--then die back. In August, just as i've completely forgotten them, here they are, trumpeting their glorious arrival.

Once in a while, meditation feels like this. We put all this effort into green leaves, but after a while, maybe we forget to meditate.

Suddenly, one day we are surprised when the kindness or calmness of meditation blooms, right in the middle of a heated discussion.

It's a good thing to plant meditation in our lives every day.

Hemlock Christmas Tree

Since we are leaving for vacation the day after Christmas, i wanted a little tabletop Christmas tree. By the time we got around to buying one, we looked at each other and said "$35?" "Nah."

We live in the woods with lots of evergreens--white pines and hemlocks. When i was single, throughout my 20s and 30s, i used to take my saw into the woods and cut down a sort-of-full little hemlock. "How about a hemlock?" i asked Bill. To my surprise, he agreed.

We found our woodsy hemlock (read: thin) and now we have this 3-foot tall "branch" sitting on a table. "It's a real Charlie Brown tree," says Bill. I admit. It is a pathetic looking Christmas tree.

We may judge our meditation efforts as being rather pathetic. Still, a 3-minute meditation is a meditation. A minute of loving-kindness is a minute of wholesomeness.

Even a  little Christmas tree can bring light into my life. Even a little mindfulness, a little kindness can light up your life.

Great Blue Heron at the Fishpond

A great blue heron has been spending a lot of time at our little fishpond. Herons have a reputation for eating all the fish in fishponds, but so far we have some goldfish remaining. The frog population seems to have been decimated though.

Death comes to those we love. This is the way of nature.

When i raise the window shades at six in the morning, the movement scares the heron away. It goes to roost at the top of the weeping cherry for a couple of hours. It is a much more patient creature than i am.

When i look out the window at dusk, the heron flies away. Oh, it is persistent.

Patience and persistence are two of the qualities we need in meditation. We wait without "waiting." We effort without efforting.

The heron flies away.

Better Late Than Never

Mike's girlfriend wanted compost bins for her summer birthday, so Mike researched the possibilities and finally decided to build them himself. Since his girlfriend is a renter, the landlord had to approve the location and design. Mike knew he'd need a couple of days to bang the white cedar bins together, and he did, the day before Thanksgiving. And more importantly, just before the foot of snow that fell that day!

We have our good intentions--for ourselves or for those we dearly love. Yet the press of the daily grind reorders our priorities. We are consumed by the day, by the small stuff, by the ego wanting comfort right now, right now, right now.

Our good intentions take us out of our comfort zone into effort, making an effort, using our energy. And when we finally do, we are so happy, with the deep happiness of living in line with our intentions. A happiness deeper than the surface happiness of just doing what's easy or comfortable.