Coqui--The National Frog of Puerto Rico

The signature sound of Puerto Rico is the coqui (ko-KEE), a tiny frog who sings all night long. For a miniature frog, it has an out-sized voice. At any given moment, and anywhere i am, i can hear at least a dozen male frogs singing.

Yesterday's yoga retreat focused on the throat chakra, and our mantra for the day was I own my power. The coquis certainly own their power. They have a very well developed throat chakra!

For some of us who are introverts, claiming the power of our voice is challenging. I take my intention from a line in the Metta Sutta: Straight-forward and gentle in speech. How can i be straight-forward and say what needs to be said? How can i be gentle in speech without bottling up my feelings or without telling a white lie?

The coqui can be my guide.

New Compost Bin At Long Last

I finally did a project yesterday, which had been waiting for 8 months. I rebuilt one of my three compost bins. Two compost bins were full of last fall's garden detritus. I use a third bin as compost for potting up plants i've divided from the garden. But that bin was completely empty. The pallets that make the bin were burned in the winter solstice bonfire.

Finally. Finally, i stopped procrastinating and went looking for pallets. This was the unpleasant task i dreaded. My usual sources of pallets had dried up, so now what?

As an introvert, i avoid making phone calls, except in those moments when i just pick up the phone and do it. I had managed to not drive the truck to town to scout out possible pallet sources; I'd rather drive my car to town.

So many avoidance strategies. Such a long line of unpleasant thoughts: need new bin; don't know where to find pallets; don't want to call and ask; don't want to take the time; don't want to stop and ask.

And then the day came. Someone told me where to find pallets. I drove there. I asked. I loaded up my truck. As simple as that.

Sweet Parsnips

While cleaning up the vegetable garden this afternoon, i found parsnips! Oh, right. I planted those last April. I immediately dug them up. They were small and hairy with roots, but i was going to be home alone for dinner, so i could eat as i pleased.

Fried in butter and salted. Oh, my. Melt in your mouth. And they were all mine.

It's wonderful to harvest a beautiful mind state--perhaps one we planted quite a while ago and have sort of forgotten about. I've been working on basic friendliness. Simply acting like a friend toward people i know as well as people i don't know. As an introvert, feeling at ease with people is not my strong suit.

Yet, yesterday i managed to act friendly and conversational toward people i barely know. Sweet!