Post from Paradise

Working on this sermon that Nicola Masciandaro asked me to write for an event called The Paradise Sermons has me, at this moment, sitting in the grace of what some might call the Black Madonna. She's got me by the back of my neck like a tiger mother.

Becoming satured with her truth is like drinking from the well of embodiment and seeing the halo around all the *inadequacies* of reality. Weep! Thanks to Nicola for the engaging me in this experiment.

More explanation at Sunday's event. Info here.

wet weather

exuberance

on the berm

We had a chance to walk along the top of the berm that runs along PPW this week, I like to think of it as the neighborhood's closest thing to the Appalachian trail. We found an evergreen weeping sap, a tree with a hidden charcoal-black recess, varieties of pine cones and needles, bottle caps and some rusted batteries. My daughter and I will go back and clean those up, and my son would like to but is worried about being caught in the act and considered a 'dork.' Don't judge him, though, he reminds me of how many young people must think it's cool to litter and uncool to bend over and pick something up. Often it seems that to be read as "good" by another is the last thing person wants, perhaps it even seems vaguely dangerous.

I saw a man on a subway platform suddenly drop a dollar on the ground, and at first he showed great concern, although he didn't bend over to pick it up. As soon as he saw other people had noticed, and when another man bent over to pick up the dollar and hand it back to him, the man acted as if he wouldn't condescend to touch that dollar. Is this pride in action? Is it an atavistic instinct to fear that as soon as one bends over another will see this as a sign of submissiveness and subserviance, just like pack animals read each other's behavior for signs of weakness? People are complicated and there's much to understand about why someone would throw or drop something on the ground and neglect to pick it up, and another would gladly collect it without worrying about how they'll be viewed. We all seem to be wrapped in layers of our values, conditioning, and instincts so thickly that we can't really understand each other's choices and tendencies very well. Seriously, call in the anthropologists, this city is full of diverse tribes.

What makes someone volunteer to pick up other people's garbage in Prospect Park? I would wager it's often LOVE for the park, plain and simple. Thanks to the park volunteers.

light through lakewater

My daughter tested the lake pH and reports that it's 5. She triple checked and tells me the lake has a pH equivalent to black coffee - I'm not sure about that. There's lots living in it - I'm not very good at photographing micro invertebrates but if I were you'd see abundant copepods swimming in some of these shots. My child also tells me that the lake was originally meant for ice skating - did it ever freeze solid enough for that?

hawk and prey

Well, I always assume any hawk I see around here is Red-Tail. But maybe it's a Coopers?

dreamland

some orange

Still not sure what that card that was served to me with the homemade orange/carrot cocktail said. Well, thanks anyway.

Dream Guru

Wondering about the man in my dream a few days ago who looked like an aboriginal Maharshi. He said, in a kind way, "you're either running or crying,,.. running or crying...." which today has me wondering...when my soul cries, do I hear it? What sort of courageous effort does it take to just take care of one's own soul much less solve all the world's problems? What does it REALLY want?

The soul is a difficult treasure to foster. But some manage! Buddha said, "straighten yourself." Meanwhile my email is filled with endless requests from different organizations trying to solve the world's problems, perhaps casting yet another lasso of agenda around the mummified hostage. OK, I choose, ummm, gratitude that those groups have the fortitude and focus to sincerely try.