Early in the morning, I fished potatoes out of hot water. It was 5:45 am and the warmth was perfect for my hands to mash and mix them with olive oil and spices. I thought about putting love in them as a concept.
I put it in each time I pushed, mashed, spiced, and oiled. It was easy. I was a Country Fair volunteer in the kitchen.
On the bus going to the country fair, a bald eagle flew over with a snake wriggling in its talons.
I don’t like pain but when I’m injured I gain empathy. It’s the most direct route. My low back felt stuck in a vice grip wrapped with barbed wire connected to an electrical fence. I was limited in every position.
I went out and laid on the ground under the ash tree and looked up at it while a gentle breeze passed through. After a week, it got better.
Before the potatoes, I worked on a horse the week earlier. I used a curry brush and it got me wondering about the saying to curry a favor. So I looked it up.
It was used in a very long poem with political implications using a horse to symbolize a certain person, but not too specific, written in the 1300s. After the brushing, I felt for acupuncture points and pressed into them.
I put in some needles including Jianjing, Shenshu, and Mingmen. Shortly after I took them out, Summer pressed and held her nose firmly in the center of my chest, CV 17/ sea of qi. The classics say this is where the “heart resides, our imperial palace, central alter.” She beamed right into it. It filled up. So much for my efforts to help her, she was already a master.
When it’s hot, like its been, I become water, or near water, like an amphibian, watery, of both worlds. We went to the slough off the lake and pulled our boards into the weeds nearby the train tracks in the shade. I laid on my back on top of the water with my arms elbows and hands floating in the warmth of the top layer. I felt like a frog, a newt, a listless water skipper. I slowed my breathing using the gills in my mind.
Do you know where your drinking water comes from? We talked about this and our proximity to rivers, for one reason someone asked us to sign a petition while we waited to catch the bus to the Country Fair. The petitioner wanted to get corporations to be more responsible. One of us said we need to get everyone more responsible and how to do that I asked and was told they need to know where their rivers are and how to treat them. Where are their rivers, if they can’t see them I thought out loud and the answer is the storm drain near your house. Think of these as your river. Take care of them.
This week I was in a reservoir, pond, slough, canal, river, and ocean. By the pond there was a rat and a snake facing off under some trees near the edge. I thought the snake was going to eat the rat. But no, the rat looked genuinely irritated and raced after the snake and bit it as it left in haste.
At the ocean we saw splendid iridescent seaweed.
After a lot of fun with company, they caught the train north. The best parts of the visit were early morning chats and late night recaps outside in the lounge chairs.
I attended a meditation in the art museum opposite a large glowing egg shape on the wall that changed colors. Peace came into the room. It’s a little like water, I want to note where it comes from and where it goes. By the end of the hour, I felt more empathy, not from pain, but from allowing the connection to happen by just being there.
[Intro music: Let It Whip, Dazz Band].
Empathy