Posted on December 4, 2008
the zen of politics
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is. – Donovan
On November 4, 2008 the United States elected its first African-American president; it was an extraordinary, historic event. After observing Obama’s first month as president elect, the fact that he is African-American has shown to have little relevance to the extraordinary, historic nature of his transition to becoming president. And yet, at every press conference there he stands, the first African-American to be elected president.
I look at the bare trees in December, knowing that before long they will bud and produce copious amounts of leaves. The leaves will eventually change color and fall to the ground, leaving the bare trees for next December. Everything has changed and nothing has changed.
FollowPosted on December 1, 2008
the hawk
I saw the hawk on Saturday. He was gliding around over the houses and yards accross the street. Sometimes I wonder if anyone else in the neighborhood is looking up to see him.
Posted on November 24, 2008
the red tail
Yesterday I spotted the Red Tail hawk that lives in the neighborhood. I was pretty sure I’d see him because of the weather and the season. I haven’t seen the bird during leaf season – spring, summer and early fall. But when the leaves are off the trees, that’s when I see him soaring around.
This isn’t some sighting from afar. Last year I was able to watch him close-up. He was perched in trees in my neighbors’ yards and occasionally perched on a fence post in my yard too. In fact my dog spooked him off the lawn last year. I’d speculate that when the leaves are off the trees a hawk gets a better view of the ground as he’s gliding around, making it much easier to swoop in on some unsuspecting animal and gobble it up. Not too long ago, seeing larger birds of prey in suburban yards on Long Island was unheard of. Those damn environmentalists! Now I have hawks!
Now I’m not some kind of birder; I just happen to look up once in a while. I haven’t discussed this with any of the neighbors, but I’d be curious to know if anyone else has noticed this bird. So many people talk about getting back to Nature – you know green is in today. I just think it works out better when Nature gets back to us… except, maybe, for all those Canada Geese and those deer that roam the streets.
Posted on November 11, 2008
44
Did you know Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, wore number 44 at Syracuse University? Barak Obama the first African-American to be elected president will be the 44th president of the United States. Finally, the last time Virginia voted for a Democratic presidential candidate was 44 years ago! Coincidence? Of course.
Posted on November 3, 2008
watching the detectives
Last weekend I attended a taping of “Mountain Stage” a National Public Radio concert program. My ticket put me in the last row of the orchestra section, aisle seat, right next to the door. “Mountain Stage” is a two hour radio program and the taping is pretty much done in real time. Because there are no commercial breaks during the program, there was a constant stream of concert goers filing in and out of the auditorium. Some traveled back and forth to their seats during the playing of a song; but most managed to time there comings and goings between numbers. Audience members were waiting in the lobby or standing just inside the creaky door, until the song was finished before returning to their seat. At one point during the show there were two women standing just inside the door, one of them positioned right next to me.
Chka, chka – chka chka was the sound I heard coming from the person standing to my left. I was amused when I realized that this woman, while waiting for the song to end before returning to her seat, had taken out an emery board and was filing her nails in order to pass the time until the end of the song. Clearly someone not in the moment.
I’ve always been puzzled by what I have observed to be a reluctance by some individuals to spend time with themselves. Any period of time that presents itself as an opportunity for pondering ones position in the reality of the moment is quickly, almost instinctively, filled with the most mundane activity so as to act as a diversion for the mind. Actually, one could employ more intricate intellectual activity and still achieve the same unmindfulness. In a way this is what religious practice becomes.
Whether attending services to worship gods or sitting, counting breaths, the idea that “now I will concentrate on getting in touch with my spiritual side” doesn’t necessarily facilitate a truly religious experience. In exploring mindfulness there is a need to be more aware of the fullness of all experience, the richness of every moment, putting less emphasis on the mind. We don’t really live our lives instead life lives through us.
As long as I am in this world, I am the light of this world.
