GRIZZLY PEAR
The kids managed to entertain themselves for half an hour playing hide and seek.
He would climb onto the bed, crawl to the side where she was hiding between the bed and the wall, and then both of them would giggle uncontrollably for a moment.
Then he’d crawl to the other edge, threaten to fall off, and then I’d pick him up and put him back back to the ground.
Rinse, lather, repeat.
A few weeks ago, we went out to Willow Beach to look at the wildflowers. It’s about an hour away from our place, and I was sitting in the back row of the Odyssey.
I couldn’t sleep, so I started surfing the phone.
I didn’t get the headache I normally get from reading in a moving car (I don’t have that problem in airplanes or busses).
One the one hand that’s kind of cool, but I’m not sure having yet another place I can be in touch with the internet is a good thing.
Like everyone else I’m trying to cut back.
Yesterday, we went to the annual World Tai Chi day festivities at the Delmar Gardens.
This time, some of the familiar faces weren’t there.
But then again, some of them were. And I got to introduce my daughter to my new teachers (at least when I can make it to class).
As the calendar continues its march through the year, many more such moments are due for the school.
Such is the fate of life I guess….
On another note, I ran into a coffee acquaintance and he mentioned that one of his former coworkers had started with another shop, just earlier that week. It really is a small valley, everybody is somehow connected in multiple ways.
I’ve been watching and rewatching some tai chi videos from my school to relearn the 48 form they teach. It would have been a whole lot easier (and better!) if I just kept practicing and I don’t have to relearn it every couple years. That said, it has been good to go over some things which I never really got figured out correctly in the first place.
Also my wife and I just watched Paprika. We watched it a decade ago in the theater. I still have no idea what just happened, but dang it’s a glorious spectacle.
For take your kids to work day, we met at lunch and then took our daughter to the Governor’s office for a little event in his conference room.
After that, we had a little time before her dance class, and it was the grand opening of the East Las Vegas library, so instead of going to my office we took her to the check out the new place.
After all grand openings only happen once.
That afternoon, I got into a really good flow at the office. I checked in with home and was given the green light to keep cranking, so I blasted through the set I was reviewing.
But by the time I finally did get home, the kids were asleep.
Bummer.
Nothing comes for free in this world.
The little marsh pheasant
Must hop ten times
To get a bite of grain.She must run a hundred steps
Before she takes a sip of water.
Yet she does not ask
To be kept in a hen run.Though she might have all she desired
Set before her.She would rather run
The Way of Chuang Tzu, translated by Thomas Merton, pages 48 & 49
And seek her own little living
Uncaged.
A good challenge to those of us in comfortable jobs. Being part of an organization may be a great opportunity to do things one couldn’t do on their own.
But it could also be a trap, especially for someone like me, who has fairly conservative tendencies.
I woke up this morning with multiple things on my list. Everything needed to be addressed. Now.
I had barely enough discipline to perfunctorily exercise for a few minutes and a deep breath and look at my things to do list.
And then I started to jump in.
But then I felt thirsty and went to the kitchen to heat up some water.
And then I realized I forgot something.
Why hello world!
After blogging daily for half a year I’ve made it less dangerous to miss the commitment.
By blogging a couple times each morning for a few weeks, I now have a four week backlog of scheduled articles. And I even have a few half baked blog drafts that I could deploy relatively easily if I miss a day.
I wonder if I’m missing an edge to the writing because I no longer have a sharp deadline of all or nothing every single morning.
But maybe that would be an unnecessary artificial constraint. I’ve already made a mental commitment to blog every morning (at least until the solstice). Trying to satisfy that commitment is plenty enough, without the stakes of actually having nothing to publish that given morning.
Who knows, maybe I should should be looking for other thrills, such as sharing my blog posts to others, and seeing what their feedback may be.
Five years ago, while my wife and I were caught up in the maelstrom of being first time parents, we were suddenly struck by the reality check of the passage of a friend’s child.
It was a sobering reminder that there were no guarantees for how much time we would be given with our own daughter.
Since then, I’ve made a point to contemplate this uncertainty and hold the kids a little extra tight this time each year.
Yesterday afternoon, we found an old kite from a local kite festival. The extreme temperatures over the past three years in the garage had finally taken its toll on this dollar store giveaway.
It was was falling apart, but our daughter insisted on trying to fly this old kite. While we were running around the driveway unsuccessfully trying to get aloft one last time, I remembered that April had almost passed without taking stock of the brevity of life.
Time moves forward inexorably, but it is on us to savor the moment and keep our memories alive.
