Breakfast with a Heron

Our 3-star hotel sits in front of a marina, so last night and this morning, i took a beach chair out of the trunk, so i could sit and watch the water while i ate a warmed-over breakfast (last night's dinner). Just below me a heron waded in the water, as if she didn't even see me.

She was eating her breakfast too, poking her bill into the sand, grabbing something-or-other, and gulp-gulp, swallowing down her long throat.

Just think of all the emotions we swallow every day. We swallow our feelings because we are adults--we are not children who freely express every little emotional cloud that blows through their small bodies.

As adults we swallow our feelings, and there they lodge, stuck in the body. Sometimes, you can literally read another person's emotions by the (somatic) complaint/illness in their body. For instance, my sweetie's back used to go out every time i left home for a week. "You're mad at me," i would tell him. He denied it for several years until a male friend told him that a lot of lower back problems are caused by stuffed anger. That's when my sweetie looked inside and said, "Yes, i get mad at you when you abandon me for a week." After that, his back didn't go out again for 20 years.

Bee Stings

While visiting a neighbor's garden, he showed me his beehive. He was just demonstrating how friendly the bees were by putting his bare hand near their entrance/exit at the bottom. That's when i felt a bee buzzing in my hair.

I tried to gently shoo the bee out of my hair, but that only made her mad. When one bee stung me on the scalp, i started running away from the hive, but i could feel a couple of bees still in my hair. Another sting on my neck. Then the owner of the beehive started chasing me and swatting bees (and me!) One more sting on my arm, and i hurried away from that garden as fast as possible.

I could be mad at the bees. I could be mad at the beekeeper. I could be mad at myself for not just standing still. Or i could simply feel the next-day itch of each sting. Itching is what's happening in the present moment. The bees have come and gone. The stings have come and gone.

I'm going to look for the anti-itch gel.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

And now for one more angle on Pam's question about heat, humidity, and mosquitoes in the September garden, along with dire thoughts of climate change.

As Monty Python sang in "The Life of Brian,"
Always look on the bright side of life.

Cheer up, Brian. You know what they say.
Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad.
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle,
Don't grumble, give a whistle!
And this'll help things turn out for the best
And 

Always look on the bright side of life!
Always look on the bright side of life.

If life seems jolly rotten,
There's something you've forgotten!
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing,
When you're feeling in the dumps,
Don't be silly chumps,
Just purse your lips and whistle -- that's the thing!
 

And always look on the bright side of life
Come on!
Always look on the bright side of life
 

For life is quite absurd,
And death's the final word.
You must always face the curtain with a bow!
Forget about your sin -- give the audience a grin,
Enjoy it, it's the last chance anyhow!
So always look on the bright side of death!
Just before you draw your terminal breath.
Life's a piece of shit,
When you look at it.
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true,
You'll see it's all a show,
Keep 'em laughing as you go.
Just remember that the last laugh is on you!
 

And always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the bright side of life

Come on guys, cheer up

Always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the bright side of life

Worse things happen at sea you know

Always look on the bright side of life

I mean, what have you got to lose?
you know, you come from nothing
you're going back to nothing
what have you lost? Nothing!

Always look on the bright side of life.

     Songwriter: Eric Idle

Farewell Tender Young Spring

Welcome to late spring. Cool days are wafting away in favor of heat by mid-day. The lettuce-green leaves of trees have been replaced by a hardier green. Heat-loving plants will jump this week.

Farewell to early spring and mid-spring as the sun leans toward summer.

We ourselves were tender young hearts once upon a time, prone to cry, not only when we suffered pain, but also when our feelings were hurt. Before we had words for emotions--sad, mad, scared, frustrated.

Eventually, we hardened off our feelings and stopped crying because big kids don't cry, and bigger kids didn't cry.

Our tender young heart still beats within us. Listen. Make room for those feelings to grow. Recognize the various flavors of grief, sorrow, despair, irritation, annoyance. Now we are big kids, and we have the words to express ourselves.

Sitting very still, right beside the painful feeling, so still you don't notice it, is joy. Joy is holding the hand of those painful feelings. Give joy a chance to express herself, simply by being present with what is.