Buddha at the airport

Maya had her birthday again and we gathered to celebrate her. On the way home, a Buddha watched over weary travelers outside the Alaska gates.  Life is full of unexpected moments. Thank goodness for my beautiful family. I love them so.

We saw Trevor Noah Friday night and he was splendid and so funny. I brought a hanky so I could wipe my eyes and blow my nose. From laughing. And he FILLED a stadium with people. I sacrificed my tiny Swiss army knife when I wen through the metal detector. It was worth it.

Trevor was polite, no swearing or misogyny. Just plain funny. And he warned us that Pence is scarier than Trump. Gawd.

Yesterday we saw the incomparable Dina, also a need for hankies to wipe eyes and blow noses.



Judith and I will do the sing-along Messiah after I get back from SF and Maya's birthday.

I actually put tiny lights on my wreath on my gate. They've all burned out, guess they're not made for rain.

Another year almost at an end. Time to watch the 1957 version of A Christmas Carol with the incomparable Alistair Sim. Misanthrope becomes Boddhisatva, ta-da!!

Yesterday at the park! In the big city!

She was walking down the main path with purpose. She veered into the bush and came out behind me on the path again. Lots of people with dogs on leashes...Lots of people.

There are bunnies in the park, breakfast for this critter.

Why am I listening to the impeachment hearings? What a river of words. What badgering, talking over, buckets of sarcasm.

I saw "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" with the lovely Tom Hanks last night. Read the article the movie is taken from here https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/

Mr. Rogers was a thoughtful, kind and loving man who helped children (and adults). What would he say about our current political squabble. Squabble, hate-filled rhetoric, grandstanding, whatever you want to call it. Mr. Rogers would have waded in to confront the sad, angry, vengeful person with love. With kindness. With brave attention. With raggety hand puppets.

Really.

How old fashioned.

This morning my tai chi teacher and I walked back to the parking lot together. She is Chinese/First Nations and she's working on archives of Chinese people/families who were deported from the Seattle area back in the day because they were 'taking jobs' (sound familiar?). She says there are transcripts in English but lots of transcripts in Chinese including handwritten stories. The Americans also have written out Chinese names phonetically so that makes the investigation challenging. Local officials did sent people back to China; sometimes a child, sometimes a whole family. She says it's slow going but mirrors current border policies today. Ug.

We meet on Monday in Kabota gardens to practice. The man who designed the garden was imprisoned during WWII because he was Japanese.

You know what. I'm going swimming and then I'm gonna walk the dog and I'm turning off the radio.

Now.

Waiting for Judith to arrive. We are going to Cloud Mountain, a retreat center where I have spent many hours in silence. Consider it a monastery where we are invited to simplify our lives. We put down daily activities-no cooking, no cleaning, no electronics (!), reading is discouraged, no talking or eye contact. We have a simple schedule, waking, meditating, meals, an afternoon break, a talk in the evening, early bedtime, early rising in the morning. An opportunity to gather, make peace with inner turmoil (or at least greet it with some kindness)...

This weekend we are volunteering-cleaning the whole center; bathrooms, bedrooms, dining hall, kitchen, dharma hall. I've signed up for outside where we will prune the grapes, hack away the bamboo and build a bonfire for s'mores.

Mathew will cook for us. Living alone, another person cooking oatmeal for me is such a luxury. This trip, we can talk with each other, find out where we are from, have spirited conversations about politics, the eight fold path, how hard is it to knit socks...

Then we'll come back to the city, in the cold and dark rain.