I've written three books, each a part of my journey to elderhood. Now with this blog my intention is to give a moment to moment accounting of my life as it is now, and now, and now. I'm a leader and student of Sensory Awareness, and a practitioner of Rosen Method. I believe in the connective and collective power of Love.
As a child, I watched the conventions with my family. Last night I watched with a smile on my face, reveled in the open hearts, love, and beauty as we gather as immigrants, even if generations back, and neighbors, to celebrate feeding and educating children for the good and future of democracy and this country.
I’m thrilled.
Heather Cox Richardson ended her “column” with these words:
Tonight, after his acceptance speech, Walz walked off stage to a favorite song of his: Neil Young’s “Rockin‘ in the Free World.” Neil Young personally allowed the campaign to use the song. When the Trump campaign used it, Young sued to make them stop.
And therein, the contrast between the two parties right now.
Where I’ve been? On Sunday I went to Stinson Beach on a foggy morning. Low tide invited me to walk west of huge rocks.
The weekend before I participated in a four day meditation retreat. I knew that a retreat begins with the goodbyes, and yet, I didn’t realize the depths in which I was still dwelling until today I see I last posted August 10th.
What am I most with? Impermanence and Purification, being with and watching breath. Simple, right? At times, yes, and at other times, a tangled web that stayed with, untangles and purifies, or at least, that is what I currently understand.
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche says there are three lifelong skills to study and cultivate.
One is compassion and loving-kindness which involves “being okay with not okay”.
Second is awareness, coming back to the breath, and not being lost in thought.
Third, wisdom, is “being with the breath as it is.”
Jane Hirshfield says it like this: Zen pretty much comes down to three things—everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.
Creativity at the BeachA Gathering of GullsFishingA Natural GraceA Place to Sit
My husband sent me this video as a great campaign song for Kamala Harris. I can’t embed it but you can go to YouTube and type in Keb’Mo’ Put a Woman in Charge.
I open the book Walking: One Step at a Time by Erling Kagge to these words:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that one saves time travelling only two hours from one point to another instead of spending eight hours on the same journey. While this holds up mathematically, my experience is the opposite: time passes more quickly when I increase the speed of travel. My speed and time accelerate in parallel. It is as if the duration of a single hour becomes less than a clock-hour. When I am in a rush, I hardly pay attention to anything at all.“
He goes on to write that one’s sense of space gets smaller with an increased pace. He compares it to driving toward a mountain rather than walking to it. Walking, “The mountain up ahead, which slowly changes as you draw closer, feels like an intimate friend by the time you’ve arrived. Your eyes, ears, nose, shoulders, stomach and legs speak to the mountain, and the mountain replies. Time stretches out, independent of minutes and hours.”
“And this is precisely the secret held by all those who go by foot: life is prolonged when you walk. Walking expands time rather than collapses it.”
Circling the top of Mt. Tam Making a Treasure Map with a trail of water
What a thrill it is to see two people who smile with their whole being rather than scowl, lie, and hate.
Wow!
And yet we must continue to stay involved, and not become complacent. I’ll be writing postcards today and each of us can find our way to continue to promote the changes that the Biden administration has begun that will continue with Harris and Walz.
I love this from Heather Cox Richardson today.
Trump and J.D. Vance expected to continue their posturing as champions of the common man, but on that front the credentials of a New York real estate developer who inherited millions of dollars and of a Yale-educated venture capitalist pale next to a Nebraska-born schoolteacher. Bryan Metzger, politics reporter at Business Insider, pointed out that J.D. Vance tried to hit Walz as a “San Francisco-style liberal,” but while Vance lived in San Francisco as a venture capitalist between 2013 and 2017, Walz went to San Francisco for the first time just last month.
Head writer and producer of A Closer Look at Late Night with Seth Meyers Sal Gentile summed up Walz’s progressive politics and community vibe when he wrote on social media: “Tim Walz will expand free school lunches, raise the minimum wage, make it easier to unionize, fix your [carburetor], replace the old wiring in your basement, spray that wasp’s nest under the deck, install a new spring for your garage door and put a new chain on your lawn mower.”
Vice President Harris had a very deep bench from which to choose a running mate, but her choice of Walz seems to have been widely popular. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who are usually on opposite sides of the party, both praised the choice, prompting Ocasio-Cortez to post: “Dems in disconcerting levels of array.”
Harris and Walz held their first rally together tonight in Philadelphia, where Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who had been a top contender for the vice presidential slot, fired up the crowd. “Each of us has a responsibility to get off the sidelines, to get in the game, and to do our part,” he said. “Are you ready to do your part? Are you ready to form a more perfect union? Are you ready to build an America where no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, or who you pray to, that this will be a place for you? And are you ready to look the next president of the United States in the eye and say, ‘Hello, Madam President?’ I am too, so let’s get to work!”
“Hello, Madame President.” In my lifetime. Yes!!
The Larkspur ferry bringing friends my way!!Vision for All!
Today is our usual summer mix of sun and fog. We’re re-doing our garden, keeping the plants, but adding new soil, updating the irrigation system, and replacing rotting posts with stone. Yesterday, it wasn’t until evening that I saw stones had been placed. Today I saw the man who does the work alone.
View of the ridge todayStones placed yesterdayWork continuing todayPlaced with careGratitude for this whisperer with stone
Abbott’s Lagoon has sand dunes. The river otters slide down them. The tide was low when I was there yesterday so I didn’t see otters. I was entranced to see plants growing on the sand by the lagoon.
I’m with these words of Leonard Cohen:
If you don’t become the ocean you’ll be seasick every day.
The importance of transition with sand dunesPlants growing on sandA natural wreath with a white feather held in embraceA place for a variety of species to live and thrive
Today I went to Abbott’s Lagoon to meditate, ground, and renew.
First View 9:06 AM Rabbit on the TrailContinuingGreat White Egret by the bridgeOne of two coyotes passing by Soothed and exhilarated by the oceanReady for a catchLooking back before leaving: 12:15
We’ve been with our four and a half year old grandson the last three days.That means being with happy people as we visit the places people of all ages and backgrounds gather and celebrate. We live in and share a world meant to nourish and be generous with All.
Sausalito on a Sunday afternoonFrom the top of Mt. Tam Monday morningStinson Beach on a summer MondayTuesday morning at the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park: a ray in the reef lagoonPresidio Tunnel Top Tuesday afternoonThe PlaygroundCampfire Talk at 4:00
Cathy's Blog! 