Morning coffee really hit the spot this morning ☕️
2019
I like those days when I slip into a grove for work. Everything just seems to flow. Hopefully I haven’t spoken too soon?! 😬
I was looking at my iPhone and caught that moment when it switched to dark mode. Just passing on the news. 😁
Listening to The Musica Box by Genesis from their 1971 album Nursery Crime, when Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett were in the group. Everyone is out, and so the volume is turned up a little! 🎵
Haleakala at dusk this evening.
I went to see Dark Waters last night. I enjoyed it very much, if “enjoy” is the right word? Really the telling of a true story that effects us all, it angered me what big companies will do in the name of profit & power, even if that means harming others.🍿
Playing around with the new double exposure film in the FIMO - Analog Camera, on my iPhone 7 Plus.
Reading Gary Snyder’s poetry on this fresh, cool morning.
Blue skies, little cloud, birds singing.
Voices carrying across the clear air.
When I am bewildered as to how other people are acting, it might also be a sign for me to shine a light on myself. How am I not showing up appropriately? Where might I look at my behaviour?
I am grateful for my Bullet Journal. It drops into the present moment and helps me clear my mind.
Everyday I recite to myself the Tibetan Buddhist text, Eight Verses on Thought Transformation. I find it helpful in managing the vicissitudes of life, with varying degrees of success! The poem is part of the Löjong or Mind Training genre of teachings in the Tibetan tradition.
A couple of decades ago I suffered from chronic fatigue. There was little I could do apart from rest. One of the symptoms I would get was a pain in my left wrist. To this day, if weariness is creeping into my body, my left wrist starts feeling pin pricks of pain.
Our grandson shows up, walking over from his home next door, and walks straight in. No knocking on the door for him. We are his second home, and that feels good.
Winter mornings on the north shore of Maui.
This Micro Monday I would like to recommend @johnpeterharvey. John posts some wonderful and evocative photographs around London and elsewhere. For me his photos of the UK take me straight home.
For panoramic views of Maui, head to the summit of Haleakala on a clear day. If you are lucky, you will even be able to see Mauna Kea on the Big Island. This view looks across to the West Maui mountains covered in cloud.
As I look out of the window I see wind and almost horizontal rain. I can imagine some people commenting, “What horrible weather.” For me though I am grateful right now. It is a break from the hotter Hawaii weather, and being a Sunday it is an excuse to stay inside.
I’m going to keep going with the microblogvember prompts until December 6th to keep that post everyday muscle flexed (even if I do post something else).
Listening to Classical Sunday Morning on Apple Music on this wet and windy Sunday morning. 🎵
Gazing into Haleakala's Crater
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Looking down into Haleakala’s crater (photo courtesy of my wife), yesterday. It was as a beautiful day to be up there. Up above the clouds, no wind. I have not visited the crater for two years, but so love being there. It is a different world. The size of the crater I find hard to grasp, and then the power of nature that created this mountain that rises up 10,000ft. A few years back I walked through the crater and want to go back, this time to stay overnight in one of the huts available for long distance hikers.
Eucalyptus trees at Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park.
Walking the beach at Baldwin Beach Park on Thanksgiving morning.
Well I have done it. A month of posting to micro.blog. Thank you to @macgenie for curating Microblogvember. The next challenge for me is to build on this habit.
For meditation to be truly effective it must be integrated into your daily life. This can be helped by setting yourself some personal guidelines like watching how you speak. Such guidelines go towards increasing your awareness and with that quieting the mind.
I wouldn’t say that yesterday, Thanksgiving, was fantastic, but I would say that it was just right. A mellow morning, a walk on the beach, home late morning to start cooking. A small family gathering, a late evening visit to see friends, then rounding off the day with a movie.
I watched The Irishman last night. From the opening scenes I knew that I was in for something special. It was long, yes, but I felt well paced, told a story beautifully, and was took you back to a time & place. Directed & acted by giants of cinema. Go see it. 🍿
There are challenges in my life at the moment but that is no reason, in fact it is the reason to give thanks this Thanksgiving. Thank you for family & the friends in my life, for the beautiful property that I live on, and for good health.
A young crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter at dusk this evening.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 →
I sometimes say that my years living in a Buddhist community were the most rich time of my life. And then I think of other things that I have been fortunate enough to do. That was a rich time, and I have been blessed with others as well.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 →
Odd things I do: Stand outside at night while cleaning my teeth so that I can stare up at a star covered sky.