I wonder as I read about humans killing one another. Animals only defend themselves when threatened. Do we feel threatened? If so, why? We live on a planet of abundance. A rattlesnake doesn’t use its venom unnecessarily because it takes time to replenish. A skunk is careful with spray.
On a houseboat, I watch the birds and tides. I walk along the bay, seeing the niches and how they change throughout the day.
Today is cold and the wind is howling so wildly, I turn the sound up on my computer to hear inside the houseboat. The gulls play with the wind; they dance, and without my glasses the white caps of the waves look like their wings.
I’ve now learned the Great Blue Heron who welcomes entry to our pier is a she.And egrets abound.
Great White Egret strolling by my dock at Low Tide yesterdayShe’s now used to me and is not afraid as I hover nearbyEach with a niche sharing space in the bayBack she comes toward the dock as she continues her exploration to feast and receive Guardian, guide, and sentry – Great Blue Heron yesterday afternoonThis morning, a Great White Egret and a Canadian Goose greet those who enter and depart through the gateThe waves for a timeMy heart reflects jubilation this Valentine’s Day
For those of us who like to think we have control, I post some photos of morning from the houseboat. Currently I’m wrapped in fog – very little visibility at all.
The eye of Mt. Tam peers throughFog at Play with temperature and spaceA guiding post for nowAt the end of the pier And now – this moment now -I feel light coming through, even as I type this – honor response
My three year old grandson loves Sausalito, loves the word, loves four syllable words. They’re fun to say: Hallelujah, Maserati, Lamborghini – and now I am with meditation, awareness of embodiment, the gift of connection, the pulsing gathering of flow. At first, I typed four letter words, and I wonder now about syllables, letters, and words, and how we divide and merge our thoughts and pictures.
This morning, I meditate in the dark facing an unlit fireplace, and yet with eyes half-open, I see flames.
I’m with these words on reincarnation.
Katie Cannon quoted in The Body Keeps the Score:
Our bodies are the texts that carry the memories and therefore remembering is no less than reincarnation.
Yesterday I was enjoying taking pictures of egrets when a man showed me a most wonderful Great Blue Heron standing statuesque behind some fronds. Such a gift!
Great Blue Heron and Great White EgretA well-camouflaged Heron GBH on a post the day before – Two Great Whites and a Snowy Egret Such majestyA Regal Pose of Presence and GraceMy Abode – Little Gem – no need for camouflage
I wake to the boat rocking, and the dock creaking with the up and down. At first, I thought I drank too much wine last night but no, the boat is softly moving. I’ve now learned that because there is no motor, it is a “floating home”. It can be towed but not move on its own except for this back and forth like a cradle right now.
Last night a friend and I went to a presentation, a celebration of Thornton Wilder. Sponsored by Sausalito Books by the Bay, it was at the Spinnaker Restaurant in Sausalito, a beautiful place on the water. There were two purposes. First, was to celebrate the works of Thorton and second to launch a new program, Literacy by the Bay. Thornton’s nephew spoke, and then four actors presented parts of Thornton’s works.
Many of us probably saw the play Our Town performed in high school and left it at that, but I see how important it is to revisit what we may have seen when young. That is true of all great works, of course. Reading Anna Karenina after having children is different than before.
There’s an homage documentary on Thornton Wilder called “It’s Time”. Time is his theme and it’s worth watching as an invitation to his life and his massive amounts of works, both novels and plays. I’ve always loved The Bridge of San Luis Rey since I first read it in high school. It’s one I re-read periodically.
The day is coming to light and the birds and I come even more awake.Ah, awe, and now I see fog or clouds over the hill, and the moon is still a light in the western sky.
Yesterday afternoon along the bayA tender sunrise What weather comes Moving in from the north
Ducks float around my boat. I’m the center of a carousel, a stillpoint, a pole.
I’m with these words of Pablo Neruda:
Does the earth chirp like a cricket in the symphony of the skies?
Which leads me to wonder what sound stirs the water as the feet of the ducks paddle around.
In Charles Genoud’s book, The Body as Presence, he writes;
Munindra, a 20th-century Indian teacher from Bengal, taught that if a meditator is sitting and he knows that he is sitting, then he is meditating.
Sitting, we know we are sitting. Then, standing, walking, lying down, we know the bars that hold the notes, the tune of our heart, harmonizing the parts.
Early Morning SunriseDay comesBooks by the Bay in Sausalito abounds with gifts for all, even cats.
I’m going between two places, a floating home, and a more permanent home. I’ve been struggling with navigating doing laundry and such at night in the permanent home since that requires going through a kitchen that is being remodeled as it is completely emptied and torn apart. Wires burst and hang sadly forth from open walls. It seems 1950’s wiring is not up to code. Who knew?
I feel like a spelunker when I put on my headlamp to navigate through the kitchen in the dark to the garage and the washer and dryer. Why am I not doing it during the day? Because it’s filled with men who know what they’re doing and I don’t. I stay away on a magical float, a houseboat complete with birds surrounding it in its up and down float.
Magic and living are doubled on the water – a nearby boatTwo of my companions and friendsOpen to the view
My grandson is three, and words like poop and poopie are very popular. When I read about the behavior of some people during Biden’s speech yesterday, I thought of how these people behave worse than three year olds because we teach our children kindness and cooperation as they test and tease.
I am beyond flabbergasted and I continue to try to put this in a container of oneness. Okay, I’m this and that, and yet, again, it doesn’t fit into my belief system of the basic goodness we are and share.
Here are some photos from yesterday to counteract the news. I don’t have photos of the seal that swam by the dock yesterday and peeked in, or the egrets in flight but I feel their movement, curiosity, and stability. I spread my arms like a bird opening wings, and open to air, lift, flight, and delight.
CirclingWalking along the waterfront, I turn my head and see a perching friendPlants line the dock as ropes intertwine below Honoring Entry
In Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s book, The Joy of Living, Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness, he writes of visiting the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower. He’s amazed at the beauty, creativity, connectivity, and vision that brought these buildings to rise. Then he is shocked to see the view blocked by barbed-wire fencing and patrolled by guards. He learns these are precautions to prevent suicides. What could lead to such despair?
His teachings are on opening the heart to Joy through appreciation and gratitude.
Today my abode is surrounded with ducks and coots. Their niche is high tide. They dive down leaving rippling circles and then pop up again. I’m reminded to go deeply within to renew and feed, and then pop up to air and share. There’s so many birds popping up and diving down, I can’t stop smiling. It’s hysterical. I’m surrounded with joy, as my head and heart bob up and down with their rhythm, and companionship.