Meditation and Death

Allen Ginsberg: "Dying, I do that every time I sit down on my Zafree [a meditation pillow], abandon my mind, observe thought-form fading, and the gaps between thought-forms, and breathe out my preoccupations. At the moment, one ideal death would be sitting on a pillow with empty mind.”

-- from a 1977 essay on how men of letters imagined the end of life by George Plimpton



"...abandon my mind, observe thought-form fading, and the gaps between thought-forms, and breathe out my preoccupations."















yeah, 'cept i would like to do that nestled in a sand dune while seeing The lake and partly cloudy sky

It Is Autumn

dune path on the right between beach grass






could be a summer day, except for the yelps i heard coming over the dune (water 57*)







sand castle










even Michigan gets it right sometimes

Every Picture Tells a Story

don't it

Yesterday my neighbor talked about Laketown Park, so it was in my mind to go there today, as i hadn't been for a few weeks. Gilligan Lake, on the way. It's even more beautiful in person, but this is a pretty good slice.






Luv to be at Lake Mich. The sound of wind and waves blow/drown out any irritating thoughts,feelings, moods. Today though, as soon as i pulled up, another car came in with the radio blaring, and that was almost all i could hear up the dune on the first stretch of half a kazillion stairs. Ahh, then the wind in the trees took over. There are another kazillion stairs up and down more dunes, but i choose to go down the dune, and was standing there trying to get the colors of the water, when someone came up panting behind me. He waited, so i feel i rushed the shot and it could have been better framed, but therein lies the story.





We walked down the dune together, and along the beach to the stream that comes out of the woods. We spoke of cabbages and kings, and many other things. He said the water was cold, no, refreshing, said i, last i checked yesterday, 60 degrees. He wanted to go swimming, come on, no and no again. So he went in while i want to sit on the sand, when suddenly my mind saw me sitting at home tonight wishing i had gone in. So i did. Refreshing indeed.

He had to go somewhere, so we walked back, and he wanted to meet up again Friday. I sat at the bottom of the stairs and meditated (smoked a ciggie really). The last guy i dated, last summer, was 14 years younger than i, and i think he was even younger. Not that age matters, it's all relative, time is a dimension, right? Whatever, nice to know i still got it, whatever it is.

Progressive's Progress

Yes! Some good things happened this year.

The war on Syria was halted on the Peace Prize winning Prez's track. He seemed willing to bomb "terrorists" (and women and children) without Congress or the peoples approval, but when the Brits stood up to their Prime Minister and just said no to war, the Prez's push seemed to stall. Then Putin the Peacemaker (wtf?) offered an interim solution.


O's pick for the Fed chair, Larry Summers went down. Hey Larry, way to help deregulate the financial markets, you were an elitist choice for sure.


1.9 million home care workers rights were advanced. Sept. 17, 2013 (doesn't go into effect until Jan. 1015) Obama and Labor Secretary Perez announced they would no longer be exempt from minimum wage laws, and overtime protection.


The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a new rule the corporations reveal their CEO to average worker ratio annually. In 1980 CEO's made 40 times the average worker's pay. The current gap is 354 times.

 h/t: AlterNet


Autumn is bursting out all over.

Holding On To Summer

Dear NSA

Is it you causing problems with my blogger account? I keep getting a pop-up box when i click anything from my dashboard , that says i'm logged out on another account, do i want to log in again? If i click, you open the same dashboard in a new tab with the same results. Around and around we go, log out of everything, log in in random order, until finally you randomly open a new post, go to comments, etc. You've probably left so many back doors open that you've befuddled my poor computer's circuits. And, you've successfully cause a kerfuffle in my brain circuits too. I'm the determined sort though. Or is that stubborn? Anyway, please take a hint from John McCain, and just sit around and play online poker, wouldya?


This tickled my sense of humour:

Just Breathe

To be mindful means to dwell deeply in the present moment, to be aware of what is going on within and around us. Practicing mindfulness cultivates understanding, love, compassion, and joy. This practice helps us to take care of and transform suffering in our lives and in our society.


"Allow yourself to relax and release all the tension in your body, and all the worries and the fear in your mind, because these things are preventing you from healing. Let go, release, take full refuge in the Earth and in the sun, and allow yourself to be healed."

c/v: The Mindfulness Bell





“If you focus your tensions on your inner breath, something extraordinary will happen - the clock in your mind will stop.  There will be silence.  So your regret and sorrow will eventually pass and your fear and uncertainty about the future will also stop and in turn you become much freer. That is what we call the practice of mindful breathing – bringing the mind whole through the body and helping you to be fully present in the here and now to get in touch with the wonders of life for your nourishment and well-being.” -- Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh 

If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.

Yes

Went to the Kazoo River last week. This scene looks so prehistoric, in fact, equisetum  (horsetail or snake grass) is the only living genus in Equiseataceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds, and is a living fossil, the only living genus of the entire class Equisetopsida, which for over one hundred million years was much more diverse and dominated the understory of late Paleozoic forests. Some Equisetopsida were large trees reaching to 30 meters tall. (h/t Wiki)

Scarlet Lobelia, or Cardinal Flower, Most of these beauties were inaccessible except by sight, found this gem just off the path.

Can't remember the name of this flower (it's listed on an info board at the park) but it was all over. Made for a pretty light and shadow scene.






Goldenrod, framed by a tree, caught my eye while i sat on a bench.

Special Request

Grab your walking stick before you leave home.




We're about to walk through the cornfield across the street.





Ahh, it's windy.





Ready for harvest.





side trip





little bit of sunshine





but the woods are dark and deep





the journey's worth it    *sits and meditates*





Homeward bound, the tree line is filled with these red berry trees, this one caught my eye because autumn lurked in its shadow.

September Sunset

After reading some history of Labor Day, had to get out for a just-out-the-back bike ride. Twilight begins on the ground.






This one hangs onto the light.