The sign seen outside of a cafe close to Crescent Beach where we walked yesterday. Bald Eagles, squeaking from coastal trees, fringing the stony beach.
Can’t judge a creature by it’s voice and that’s for sure! Nor with human voice either. For sure.
Vancouver Island today.
Fungus! Every country child, at least in my generation, were taught not, repeat NOT, to snack while roaming in the woods. I never did and as a consequence never had my stomach pumped. Unlike others I’ve know.
Fast forward to yesterday roaming along Kingsway in Vancouver with my host Michele. An area packed with East Asian shops and restaurants. Shops packed with dried medicinal herbs and piles of fungus. We lingered in a doorway and I was tempted. We went in. The image below is of dried Reishi but neither of us were tempted! Brewing instructions talk of a bitter taste. No surprise.
Fungus are one thing people are quite another. We can at least learn to have compassion and not recoil when a sight or sound or smell has us turning away.
Castle Lake is over 100 ft at it’s deepest point. I’ve been swimming in it but not today. Brrr, it was cold up there 5,440 ft above sea level. An odd sense of airy mystery hung about the place. There is history here, violent history from over 100 years ago, which I’ll not go into. Enough to say this majestic place leaves one a bit unsettled. Perhaps it was the odd and unexplainable sound which emanated from the rocks across the water. Somewhere between a moan and…well, who knows what! However it was good to be out and about with my monastic walking companion. There is little time left for our walks together before I catch the train north early Tuesday morning and today was a welcome change of pace. Especially since, remembered half way through our time together, it is the anniversary of each of our fathers deaths this day. We sat and remembered them over a cuppa sitting outside in the sun.
There has been little time these past days to post here. Unfortunately. Each day I intend to write and yet by the end of the day I’ve not done so. My justification and truth is that ‘people come before posts’ and so I’ve spent a good deal of energy, gladly, walking and talking and drinking tea and visiting and listening.
Thank you for your patience.
Happy New Year everybody.
Such a lovely black and cold night here. The sky was dancing with northern lights. Here are a few words inspired by Rev. Master Meian’s recent Dharma Talk, These Thousand Buddhas
Stretch Out Their Hands To Us.
I follow my headlights through the blackness.
To the north a thousand Buddhas
gaze at me with eyes like stars,
sparkling kindness.
They wear robes the colour of jade
and float weightless over the void.
They are forever.
Now I see them.
Yesterday I didn’t.
Tomorrow does not matter.
Michael Burrows, Alberta Canada.
One of the monks took this photograph of Mt. Shasta this morning. I’ll call him an ‘associate photographer’ for Jade – there are others of course. This image really struck a note with me and so here it is for readers and viewers to enjoy. Last year the mountain had only a light dusting of snow and this year it’s fully iced. I’m thinking in cake terms as we are heading into cake decorating tomorrow. Something I always loved to do with Rev. Master Jiyu presiding over the holiday treat making.
The longest night passed without comment this year. Over on Warp and Weft Knitting there is this post, Lightly Held, on the Longest Night and wanted to draw your attention to it. If you are a knitter, there is much on this site to appreciate. And if not there is much you will appreciate especially the light touch and humour behind the whole blog. Keep on blogging. In the morning light shines, unrelentingly.
Thanks you people for returning again and again. Please do subscribe to receive blog posts directly via email. If you have trouble doing that leave a comment and I’ll write back. I’ve not sorted out the contact form and there is little chance of doing that before the end of the year. Oh, and please do leave comments. Reading them and responding is all part of the blog which I continue to enjoy writing and photographing for.