Delicious Dogwood Fruit

My variegated dogwood tree (Cornus kousa x wolf eyes) has lots of red fruit this fall, which makes the tree look quite festive. The fruit is small and delicious. I think it tastes like paw-paws; someone else thinks it tastes like a cross between mango and pumpkin.

I love a tree or shrub that looks interesting in at least two seasons. The variegation of the dogwood makes it interesting to look at in spring and summer, and now in the fall, it looks rather Christmas-y with red balls of fruit hanging all over it.

I planted a fruit tree without knowing that i was doing it!

Our meditation practice yields the fruit of the spiritual path. Two of the first fruits are equanimity and fearlessness. Both of those sound delicious. Calm and freedom from fear.

Even beginning meditators notice the calm of meditation. There it is. The first fruit waiting for you to notice it.



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Light at the end of the Tunnel

Going to writing group today, i walked down a long dark hall with a pot of white mums sitting near the end. Just seeing those flowers made me want to walk toward them.

My 93-year-old hospice client tells me she has been "in the tunnel" twice. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel coming closer and closer. She had no fear then, and she says she is not afraid of death now. In fact, she's sort of curious to see what's on the other side.

Her grumpy sister died a year ago and came to her in a dream. "It's not what you think," said her sister, smiling.

The Friendliest of Birds

I consider chickadees to be the friendliest of birds, and here's why: they are almost fearless. They arrive at the bird feeder while i am putting the sunflower seeds in it. Yesterday, one chickadee made a touch-and-go landing on my outstretched hand full of sunflower seeds. You really have to mindful to feel the glorious happiness of a small puff of feathers clutching your finger for less than a moment.

Compared to other birds, the chickadee is foremost in friendliness. The tufted titmice are skittish. The goldfinches, still in their winter olive drab, travel in flocks and scatter at the mere breath of wind. The cardinals zoom off if you so much as move your eyes.

Metta is often translated as loving-kindness, but it stems from the word maitri, the Sanskrit word for "friend." It is just as accurate to translate metta as friendliness or loving-friendliness. One aspect of friendliness is freedom from fear. In other words, fearlessness.

As tiny little fears poke their way into my mind--anxiety, worry, uncertainty, unease, dread, jitters, or what have you--can i respond like a chickadee? Can i fly right into the heart of the unknown?

Partridge on Partridge Road

I live on Partridge Road, so named for the ruffed grouse (aka partridge) that live at the foot of the road. For years, when i meditated on my deck, i'd hear them drumming, sounding sort of like a distant motorcycle.

I haven't heard them for the past several years. Then, as i stopped at the mailboxes, a partridge flew low over my windshield, landing just 10 feet away. The partridge have returned to Partridge Road.

Several other neighbors have reported seeing the bird--it attacks their car, it follows them into their driveway. The one i saw seemed fearless and very curious.

I do know that foxes live just a few hundred feet away, and i've seen a fox jump up and grab one my neighbor's chickens in mid-air. So, even if the partridge isn't afraid, i am.

Fear assumes there is a future, and that something bad is going to happen.

What if we were like the partridge--fearless in the moment and curious?