tidings of comfort and joy

Waking thoughts

What asceticism might be about - not abusing the body because of its weakness and corruptibility, but aligning the higher and lower self when they are at odds on account of the thousands of kinds of addictions we suffer. It's a much broader issue than people's dependency on drugs and alcohol, it eventually will goad the subtle and pervasive dependencies like the need to feel perfect or better than others, to buy or wear what few can afford, to always win or succeed or exude specialness in some way. I guess this is what the lady was talking about when she said it was our strengths that we need to recover from, not our weaknesses. I've been waiting for more information on that point.

by the sea

Jamaica Bay, Four Sparrow Marsh, Mill Creek

sky music

I was walking down 18th St. and it seemed to me that the clouds were making something like a staff in the sky. I wondered what notes would roll by, or what kind of music cloud music is, in the traditional sense of the word cloud. I would expect it to warble inaudible tones.

My daughter asked me why water vapor floats, I did my best to answer, but I too wonder why the clouds float on a certain line, there's an invisible barrier there, almost as if someone had put painter's tape over the blue and sponged on some white. Or the reverse, depending on the day's predilection.