Haiku

Since I was 13 or 14 I had kept journals with my thoughts, writing, everything. Over the past few years, I'd gotten away from keeping them mainly because I stopped writing poetry. Partly because my main journal-like activity has been the journal I keep about Zen mediation and the koans I'm working on. And partly because I have been inexplicably jock-ish for several years now. Yesterday, for the first time in over a year, I made an entry in the 'current' journal.

Many of the things I realize or learn while sitting in zazen create an urge in me to write them as poetry. I've tried it, but the poems always come off poorly. The other day I thought the problem might be that these epiphanies need to be communicated with the simple immediacy with which I experience them or they will come off as canned or insincere.  I hit on the idea of writing them as haiku. That would force me to crystallize them, and it would also help make the ideas 'stick' since what I learn in zazen should be carried into my everyday life.

Like any poet, I've attempted haiku in the past. The results were largely disastrous. However, I feel as though through Zen I have a better appreciation for what a haiku should do functionally. I also have a hardcover book of the complete haiku of Basho - the master of the form - who lived in Japan during the second half of the 1600s (his gravestone is picture here). So between having a better understanding of the spirit of haiku and with Basho's work as an inspiration and guide, I thought I would give haiku another try.  I'll start posting the haiku I write and, hopefully, if I continue with it there will be a notable improvement in my handling of the form over time!

First Place!

After two months of bowling, the Barracudas (my team) is in first place for our division and tied for first place in the whole league! Congratulations to us!

On the down side, my weird sinus problems that I picked up after flying back from Panama City Beach have so messed me up that I get winded very easily. Just not getting enough air, I guess. Done the antibiotics thing (twice), so now it's time to go back to the doctor, get hooked up with an ENT specialist and see about getting my whole sinus cavity flushed out.  I'm doing the home version of it, which is vaguely akin to water boarding yourself. But whatever works, right?

The fallout is that I had to sit down twice in Hapkido tonight due to being winded. I guess this is what it feels like to be an old geezer. How humbling!

Potential Travels?

Given that I have to use or lose some vacation time before the end of the year, I was planning on taking a bunch of Fridays off and then to be off from December 17th until the new year. Then I thought: why not try to take a few days during the week and go to a city and have some fun? I've thought about maybe going to New York City (or, as I'm typing, I thought about my earlier post about being a Chicago tourist...so maybe I could go to Chicago?).

Jim and I are also thinking about the next destination style trip, and the leading contender is a return trip to Hawaii. This time we'd go to Kauai. Sounds like there's tons of hiking and that you can also do horseback riding and kayaking to see the inside of the island. Maybe we could also do some more deep sea fishing (and maybe have better luck than we did in Panama City Beach). Plus beach and snorkeling.

We'll see what happens.

Delayed Halloween Post

Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out how to efficiently download pics from my Droid-X. I can't find a way to make it link up with my wireless home network. So, I have to approach this in a very 20th Century manner and email my pics that I take with the phone to myself. It's looking more and more like I'm going to have to break down and get a cord of some sort. Poor cell-challenged me! Anyway, here I am at my desk revelling in the results of having slowly decorated it over the weeks leading up to Halloween. Click pics for larger views. And please note that the pretty balloons in the background are not part of my decorations. They're for a co-worker's baby shower.

Anyway, I'm sitting there taking a break from our decorating efforts.  Our team decided to do a group costume and decoration theme around the BP oil spill. In this pic, you can see some of the people on my team standing before the oil platform we built. You can't quite get the full effect from this because our boss brought in a fog machine and fake flame gadget to make the platform look like it was really on fire. Meanwhile, another team member bought stuffed animals from good will, smeared them with black paint, and we created an animal rescue station complete with a vat full of dishwashing soap. For costumes, we all wore black trash bags, masks over our mouths and noses, and blue plastic gloves. Plus we had black tarps on the floor and loads of nasty anti-BP propaganda plastered around the office (courtesy of Greenpeace).

This one to the right is my personal favorite. Man, those people at Greenpeace sure get nasty if you piss them off!

Halloween Party Pics

My friend from work Cindy and her husband Kyle hosted a great Halloween party. Got these pics from her today. Was a fun time as you can see. PS: I'll post pics of me and Jim's pumpkins as soon as I can get them off my phone.

A New Novel?

I hesitate to post this, because I find that announcing new creative ventures tends to destroy all the internal tension needed to keep them growing. However, I feel pretty good about this. Just feel like something's a-brewin' inside of me. Perhaps it's the fall weather which I posted about endlessly last year as being a potent creative spark.

I've begun work on what I think will be a new novel! It's a horror novel, a genre I've never attempted even in short story form. I don't have any kind of leitmotif (i.e., 'ax to grind') with this one the way I did with my first novel (the hideously and, mercifully, unfinished 'Skyscraper') or my second novel (a military sci-fi/space opera called 'Chrysalis of Fire' that I have up for sale on Kindle).  This time, I'm approaching it in a much more straightforward plot-driven kind of way. I'm going for something classic, a creepy, atmospheric tale of terror filled with dark dread, something to read late at night in the dark.

I've only written 10 pages, so it's still way too early to know whether the dough is going to rise or if it'll just collapse into a sticky mess. But I have a rough outline for the plot and an idea of the backstory behind the evil that will erupt upon a small Midwestern town. Most importantly, I've enjoyed re-engaging in the creative process itself, which is something I've missed for some time now.

We'll see where it goes. Perhaps, as was the case when I posted about starting again with martial arts, posting this will make me feel an obligation to follow through and make it happen.  If I get further into it, I'll post a little something about the potential plot and share the working title.

At Last! My Blue Stripe!

Fate has not been with me in getting to rank tests lately. Business trips, sinus infections, vacations, something was always taking priority. This time I was just starting a new bunch of drugs to finally kill this sinus infection, and they were keeping me from sleeping. However, I refused to miss this test!

I got through it and, while I won't receive my strip until next week, the fact is that you are not asked to test until the Master thinks you are ready to move up. So unless you are a complete screw-up, by the time you are asked to test you have little chance of not passing. So I am now a green belt with a blue stripe!

I've already started work on Form #2, which is one of the things you do to move to a full-on blue belt. So if I can really stay committed, limit my time at work, and keep a balance in life, I should be able to go to class regularly once again. The next rank test is December 17th. Perhaps I should set a personal goal of going to class often enough so that I can try to be ready to test for my blue belt?

On a side note, I wasn't as nervous at this test as I have been at prior tests. Not sure if that's a function of being messed up on antibiotics, a steroid, and Mucinex-D or - more hopefully - maybe I'm not getting so worked up about these tests anymore. I hope it's the latter. Anyway, I'm so proud I've come this far, and I'm really enjoying it!

Mumonkan, Koan 7: Joshu's 'Wash Your Bowl'

A monk said to Joshu, "I have just entered this monastery. Please teach me." "Have you eaten your rice porridge?" asked Joshu. "Yes, I have," replied the monk. "Then you had better wash your bowl," said Joshu. With this the monk gained insight.

My interpretation differs from the one given by the translator. I think Joshu is saying that 'teaching' or 'learning' can occur in your everyday life, even when doing the most mundane activities if your focus is right and your mind is disciplined. I believe one of the goals of sitting in zazen and practicing Zen is to carry the mindset you reach during satori into your everyday existence. You are truly enlightened when that mindset is your constant state of existence.

In short, Joshu is saying: be in the moment and learning will come.

Sunset, Moon, and Venus

I forgot to share this picture I took in Panama City Beach of the sunset. Click on it to make it bigger and you will also be able to see the Moon and Venus in the upper left! Kind of a celestial gathering at the end of the day.  Also have a picture of me and Jim during the same sunset, relaxing on the terrace.

The Barracudas

The Barracudas is the name of my team in the gay bowling league Jim and I belong to. We've been going for quite a few years. It's only once a month so it doesn't get to be too much of a commitment but, on the down side, it's hard to build momentum in your game bowling when bowling so infrequently.

In any case, I think that might no longer be true. First game of the season saw my average go up to 125 (yes, I know, you're thinking: "why would he advertise that in his blog?"). Last night, I bowled within a few points of my average in all three games. The big deal about all of this is that my main problem as a bowler is consistency. I'll mark for several frames in a row and then get a pin or two on a few 'at bats' over the next several frames.

I still had some messed up frames, but I definitely 'feel it' more when I'm bowling and that's helping me do better overall. We took 5 of 7 points last month, and I'm positive we nabbed all 7 last night. If we're not in first place in our division, then we'll definitely be second!

Jim had one 200+ game last night, which certainly didn't hurt. Really the whole team did well. Plus we won the drawing for a round of free drinks! Mr. Jack helps me bowl better.

Me Teaching Children?

In general, I avoid children. I find most of them to be poorly raised, over-medicated, messy, and rather silly. So how odd is it that I actually enjoyed teaching children in hapkido class today? Very odd, I say, but there you have it!

How did this happen? Well, in short, I was ambushed. I went to hapkido class and out of the blue the black belt who was leading the class turned to me and said: "Get a target and train the white belts on kicks." I was stunned! I'd never been asked to do something like that before, and I had figured I was a few belts away from that. But of course you don't don't say no when a senior belt asks you to do something like that. So off I went. Next thing I know I was ordering the white belts (a group predominantly composed of five or six kids under the age of ten) to line up and telling them what kicks to do.

And you know what? It was a lot of fun...and very rewarding! I suddenly had this weird nurturing/protective feeling come over me. I wanted them to learn, get better, have fun, and feel good about themselves. Not that I goofed off; I did correct them if they needed it. But I cracked jokes to make them laugh and heard myself saying all sorts of encouraging things to them, and they responded with this very happy glow that only children can give off. (I cannot believe I'm writing this, by the way).

How strange and unexpected. I never thought this was something I could do even remotely well, and the fact that I did it and actually enjoyed it is just a total shock to me.

272 miles!

Did another 20 today with the fall color just getting underway. God, it would be great if we could at least make it to 300! Strange thing is that even with the fall sunlight, the trees turning colors, and Halloween coming up it still doesn't feel like autumn yet.

'Zen Training' by Katsuki Sekida

My translation of Mumonkan was done by Katsuki Sekida, and both his translation and his commentary in the volume (which also includes his translation of Hekiganroku, more commonly known as The Blue Cliff Records) was so thoughtful that I was led to check out what else he may have written. In doing so, I came across this book and bought it.

Buying it was very out of character for me because, as I've probably noted in this blog somewhere, I avoid modern texts on Zen. I find too many of them to be recycled hippy-isms, thinly veiled New Age delusions masquerading as Zen, or meaningless ramblings written by frauds to whom Zen is big business. I believe Zen is practiced by doing zazen, pure and simple, so in my opinion reading books, going to retreats, being a vegetarian, etc. is all just 'window dressing'. 
 
As a result, I've kept my Zen reading to minimum. That's been tough, because when I get 'into' something I'm typically a voracious reader on the subject. But in the case, I've sternly restrained myself. I have the koan collections mentioned above, a slender volume of works attributed to Bodhidharma, some haiku by Basho, and a few translations of ancient texts. That's about it! Not saying my way is the best way or anything, but I'm setting the stage for how hard it would be for a modern book to cut through my formidable mental alarm systems and cynicism (but it's not cynicism if it's true, right?!).
 
Simply put, this book is amazing! Many things I've learned through zazen are woven into this text, so it's clearly an authentic person writing a legitimate treatise on Zen. Some key terms mentioned in Zen texts are described in a very straightforward manner. While I haven't yet appreciated the hardcore physiological passages on breathing, the focus on the tanden is dead on. Interestingly, this focus mirrors what I have always been instructed to do in my martial arts training.
 
For anyone reading this that is thinking about trying Zen out, I would not recommend this book to you (not at first). A person new to Zen might inadvertently use the text as a 'how to' manual or adopt its content with a dogmatic attitude, neither of which was the author's intent (or would move your work in Zen in the right direction). Rather, I think it's best to read it after spending some time in zazen and figuring things out for yourself. After you have some experience, this book would then have a positive impact.
 
For me, Zen Training has provided some valuable guidance and compiled many key concepts I have found to be important into a single volume. While this doesn't make me interested in checking out additional modern works, I'm certainly thrilled to be proven wrong about my blanket dismissal of modern Zen texts. This is a very thoughtfully written book by someone who clearly has spent a great deal of time practicing Zen.

Snorkeling Panama City Beach

During our vacation in Panama City Beach we went snorkeling and saw a bunch of amazing stuff, some of which I have not experienced ever!

One of the first things we saw were several kinds of jellyfish. A cannonball jelly that was midway between the size of a softball and a basketball. A sea nettle with long white tentacles draping out behind it, probably pretty nasty stings on them too.  The most beautiful however was what is pictured here (thanks to whoever snapped this and posted on the web - click to make it bigger). I've never seen a jellyfish with bioluminescence like this. There were a couple just floating around with every color of the rainbow flowing through these veins of color like fiber optics.

Of course, there were also plenty of the usual colorful reef fish. The largest fish I saw was a critter that was like an angelfish but had less dramatic fins. It looked a little bit like this guy pictured here (click to make it larger). He was easily a foot and a half long and tall, with dark green and bluish coloring (I think). He had a bunch of little fish hanging around him as he plucked algae off the rocks, and he seemed completely unperturbed by me being so close to him. Also got to see some small stingrays in the shallows.

The most amazing part was that there were these huge schools of bait fish swimming in about eight feet of water.  I was swam amid them and then they just were all around me! Like a hurricane of fish, and I was in the eye.  They were about two or three inches long, transparent, and each had a neon blue strip inside of them. Sorry, but I couldn't find a pic of them on the web to post here.

Anyway, there were literally thousands of these little fish! They were so thick and the school was so big that I couldn't see the seafloor beneath me, nor could I see through them in any direction. As long as I floated and didn't kick the surface of the water, we just swam along together.  It was like I was part of the school! Amazing!

Of course my mischievous side took over and I let my fins kick at the surface to create a disturbance as I darted forward into the thick of them.  They immediately begun swirling around me like a real hurricane but of fish not winds.  They also started jumping, and I could feel them skipping across my back and legs as they darted around me to escape. Weirdest of all, As I swam forward and kept near the surface I could see that some were apparently leaping out of the water. Because ahead of me I could see fish dropping into the water as if it were raining neon blue fish.

I so LOVE the ocean!

Mumonkan, Koan 6: 'The Buddha Holds Out A Flower'

When Shakyamuni Buddha was at Mount Grdhrakuta, he held out a flower to his listeners. Everyone was silent. Only Mahakashyapa broke into a broad smile. The Buddha said, "I have the True Dharma Eye, the Marvelous Mind of Nirvana, the True Form of the Formless, and the Subtle Dharma Gate, independent of words and transmitted beyond doctrine. This I have entrusted to Mahakashyapa."

I was quite happy that I was able to interpret this koan rather quickly. It's about the transmission of Zen, and how this has to be something through personal experience and not something that is conveyed by teachings. This is what is meant by the words "independent of words and transmitted beyond doctrine". Words cannot convey Zen understanding to another person; they must find it and experience it for themselves. So, in truth, the Buddha didn't entrust anything to Mahakashyapa. Mahakashyapa perceived it on his own. This is how Zen Buddhism is "passed on". (By the way the photo here is a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in Taiwan. It's the largest seated Buddha statue in the world).

While meditating, I had my candle lit as always. Although I had some trouble quieting my mind, I did have an experience of kensho. I've massaged it a little to create my own koan.  See what you think!

Peter was asked if burning a candle while sitting in zazen helps him attain samadhi. He replied: "A candle doesn't burn to reach the end of its wick; it reaches the end of its wick because it burns."

Panama City Beach

Jim and I got back a while ago from visiting my parents in Panama City Beach, where they usually rent a condo for about a month each year. Happy to say that the water and the beaches were absolutely pristine! No tarballs that we could see.  Of course, some of the 'tarballs' that are sometimes shown by the media are really just dead sea slugs. Definitely disgusting but not the fault of BP. Still, the place was a bit deserted as you can see from this picture taken from the balcony of the condo. Beautiful beaches and not a lot of people...a perfect combination. (Click the pic for a bigger view).

We went deep sea fishing but, this time, Poseidon wasn't with me. I caught one fish, a sea bass that wasn't large enough to bother carting off to be cleaned. Actually none of us really did that well. However, I honestly can say that I enjoyed the fishing regardless of the catch (or lack thereof). It's just great being on the water. I think it would be worth it to pay extra and have fewer people on the boat so that things could be even more laid back. So strange, because I never thought I'd have the patience for fishing.

Only bad thing was that, on the flight home, we descended into Chicago rather quickly and I was suddenly struck by a sharp pain behind my brow. It literally felt like capillaries in my forehead were bursting, and it hurt bad enough for  me to lean forward and grunt. Jim was a bit worried, and the flight attendant was virtually useless. Jim asked for an icebag, and that did the trick. Best of all it reassured me I wasn't having anything serious happen. Turned out to be a sinus infection, and I've been on antibiotics to kill it ever since.

Lesson: Don't ever get seriously ill on a plane. When I looked at the flight attendant during the exchange, I could see a thought bubble over her head with the words "Oh God, no! Not on my shift!"

Jersey Shore Night Out

I do NOT watch The Jersey Shore, but we're having a team outing to a new nightclub called Lit. Pauly D from The Jersey Shore will be there (apparently DJing ). Someone on my team superimposed our faces onto the bodies of the human slime that makes up the cast. I have the dubious honor of having my head placed on the body of The Situation. It's a funny picture, and I must admit that I'm looking forward to a night at a posh club with friends.

Mumonkan, Koan 5: Kyogen's 'Man Up In A Tree'

Kyogen Osho said: "It is like a man up in a tree hanging from a branch with his mouth; his hands grasp no bough, his feet rest on no limb. Someone appears under the tree and asks him, 'What is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West?' If he does not answer, he will lose his life. What would you do in such a situation?"

This was an easy one. I would say nothing, because it's impossible for anything I might say to answer the question. Such a question can only be answered by the person asking it. For example, the answer would be very different for someone who has attained enlightenment versus someone who thinks Zen is bunch of new age mumbo jumbo. Trying to spoon feed meaning to someone is futile; we all have to figure things out for ourselves.

Even more fundamentally, there is no meaning in his coming from the West. The action itself has nothing to do with truth or Zen or anything. Sort of like the old adage of the man who travelled around the world, but when he came home he realized he had not moved an inch. I practice Zen to find truth, not to assign meanings to every random occurrence. That would be like trying to see a beach by handling each individual grain of sand one at a time.

On another note, I'm continuing to work on controlling my breathing and my posture while meditating and it does seem to have a positive impact on my ability to get into samadhi.  It also makes me more aware of my posture in general, which I find has been getting a little lax lately.

The Zen focus on breathing with the tanden (basically your guts) is something echoed from my martial arts training. I try to breath that way when I'm in class or practicing on my own, and I find it helps me not only keep from getting winded but also to catch my breath more quickly after a great deal of exertion. Martial arts and zen really do fit together!

Mumonkan, Koan 4 (update)

I've become satisfied with my answer to this one, so I checked Mumon's notes. His interpretation is akin to my reaction, but he's a bit more specific. He suggests that differentiating between Bodhidharma with a beard and without a beard is already focusing yourself in the wrong direction. Makes sense. Like people who complain about paintings of a black Jesus. Kind of missing the point.

Make that 252 miles

Turned out to be a nice day today...sorta. So I did a 26 mile ride. One of the benefits of this pseudo-Pete Retreat that I'm on is being able to throw away a few hours on a whim!

Temperature was fine when I started, but as the day went on it got unexpectedly hot mid to upper 80s) and then the wind started. I have never EVER E-V-E-R allowed myself to wuss out during a ride and walk my bike up a hill. But, this time, I just couldn't do it! The wind was blowing totally against me and it was a steep hill. Plus I haven't ridden in weeks, so I'm completely out of it. I feel such shame!

Okay, now for the good. It's getting close to being autumn.  The fields were just crammed with wildflowers, many that were grown to be taller than me! Yellow, purple, pale blue, white, plus the sumac was all reddish. Really pretty fantastic to see. Got some pics here (way bigger if you click on them). At one point I was riding along and I actually saw the 'amber waves of grain'. I guess the song meant to reference wheat fields, but the wild grasses I saw definitely would have me looking for 'purple mountain majesties' too if I weren't in Illinois. Best part was, I was practically alone on all these paths because it's Tuesday and everyone else is at work.

'Wildlife' sightings were pretty heavy too! Snakes must have been hatching recently because I spotted 11 or 12 snakes sunning themselves on the path.  That means I must have missed easily twice that number.  They were all a foot long or less, just common little snakes. The first one was just sitting right on the path and I almost ran him over. I stopped to try and scare him off, but he just tried to bite me so I figured he'll live and learn or die and regret. I just started counting them, rather than stopping to look, after number five (how easily jaded I am!).

A hawk was swooping around the marshlands (probably feeding on the smorgasbord of snakes).  I also spotted a big fat ugly toad. Touched his back, and he had the hard 'warts' and everything. If I was in third grade, I would totally have tried to catch him and take him home to my horrified parents as a pet. And then there was a frog than flopped right across the path. One big arc after another, like dark green and yellow ball of liquid metal.

Great ride, but my legs were completely blasted by pedaling against the wind. I took such a cold shower afterwards! Definitely going to be a movie-at-home night tonight! But as you can see from this panorama shot below, being outside in this kind of solitude is definitely worth a few aches and pains.

226 Miles?

That's how many miles we biked this year (to date), and it's not very impressive. Probably about half of where we should be. Of course, the cycling season isn't really over yet.  But the weather this summer just has not been conducive to much outdoor activity. Very disappointing.

I guess I need to get some of the cycling clothes that allow you to get out there in the colder weather too.  Probably the only way I can get the number of miles up this year. Sad.

Back To Mineral Point

So, now that I have my pictures from Mineral Point downloaded off the Droid, I can finally do my blog entries. We went up there to visit our friends Daniel and Alan. Here's me and Jim at the Mineral Point hotel where we stayed (much bigger if you click on it). It's a 4-room B&B and, as you can see, Mineral Point is very Midwestern small town in appearance.  Even so, there's a lot of history as well as artists and small stores. I really got to like the picturesque 'main street' complete with its ice cream shop and breakfast joint (the Red Rooster).

Daniel has been coming up for decades, and so he seemed to know just about everyone we bumped into. This was helpful as we got to go down into some of the artists studios. Seeing these stone-walled, unfinished basements full of paintings, ceramics, wood carvings, or whatever in various stages of completion, along with reference materials and supplies made me really miss my artistic pursuits. The workspaces were just sizzling with creative energy!  One of the ceramics artists showed us how he works the clay for the mugs he is partially known for producing. It was just like Hapkido class, where you stand around and watch someone do something and just learn by seeing. It was great that they took the time to speak with us.  Definitely made the trip interesting.

The town is not a manicured 'small town' the way some of these weekend towns are. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It can be very nice and pleasing to the eye, but I also like the vibe from a town that isn't too self-conscious.  This was especially true as we went hiking around. We'd pass some of the old Cornish limestone buildings which are empty and no one has done much with, and it would be in the middle of a field like the one above. The shot at the left (click for larger view) was typical of the country right around the town. By the way, the rolling hills of southern Wisconsin really is great country.  Could definitely image what it would look like in the fall!

The town has a bike trail running through it that I think either is or is connected to the Military Trail up there that Jim and I had biked a bunch of years ago.  There's also a place where they have an art fair and you can try out different crafts: blacksmithing, ceramics, etc. Definitely sounds like PeteRetreat potential!

Farewell To Summer...

...not that summer was all that wonderful this year! We really didn't get a chance to bike too much because of the scorching heat and then, as soon as the heat abated, there was rain, more rain, and then clouds of mosquitoes. We weren't able to have the windows open nearly as much as we would have liked. Actually had to use the AC a lot....ick!

There was a short period with some nice weather again, and I was sitting outside reading when I saw this huge butterfly over by Jim's zinnias.  Was able to take a bunch of pics, but I think this one is the most impressive. It's a larger picture, so click to see more detail of this amazing little critter.

While we're sure to have some warm weather again before it's all over (and then there is Indian Summer). It's pretty clear to me that fall is here and that summer is over. Oh well, I love fall...and partially because it means fall clothes!

Lazy Blogger

No, I have not given up on the blog. Just been a crazy couple of weeks. Mineral Point, Florida, etc. etc.  However, I have a five day weekend coming up, and I'll be spending most of it just bumming around the house. Will begin blogging again this weekend. Promise!

William Cullen Bryant find

One thing I cannot wait to post about Mineral Point is my 'find' at the used bookstore. One of the shops in the old Cornish foundry is a used book store, which we perused one afternoon. Lots of local interest books, maps, etc. No literature section, though there was a comparatively extensive section on haiku(?).

In the poetry section, I found a hard cover edition of William Cullen Bryant's poetry. 1899 and in very good condition. It contains all his poems, and is filled with illustrations including a frontpiece of the author (complete with protective tissue paper). There are a few signatures up front with dates, which I find rather nice (though I wonder if a serious collector would approve of this).

Anyway, I love his famous poem Thanatopsis and have really enjoyed several others that I read with similar themes. His poetry, to me, is the literary equivalent of the Hudson River School of painters (with whom I believe he associated). There's a sense of celebration of the new country and its potential as well as the untamed wilderness, which I have always found appealing.  So I've been interested in reading more of his work. Plus, as part of the early American period of literature, he fits right into my proposed area of focus should I ever become a serious bibliophiliac. 

I paid $7 for the book. I haven't seen anything online that is an exact duplicate of my purchase, but I did see one that was very close going for $15. So I at least got a good buy, though I won't be featured on Antiques Roadshow any time soon. I have to say I'm a surprised Bryant isn't more well-regarded as a poet. I mean, his work is very 'of the period' with the rhymes and some of his Romanticist phrasing, but he is so utterly American in his subject matter and tone that you'd think he would be a bit more embraced within 'the Canon'. Plus he was a mentor to Walt Whitman, and you can see how he influence the poet behind Leaves of Grass.

Can't wait to read some of the works in here, especially those that were not included in the other Bryant edition I have! One other thing about his poetry that I like (and this probably is a result of Bryant's transcendentalist leanings), is a definite quality of zen philosophy in between the lines. I'm sure he wasn't into Zen, but he obviously had some moments of kensho relating to nature. So his work resonates for me that way, as well.

Droid X

Jim and I definitely geeked out on our phones during our trip to Mineral Point. We used the GPS to navigate, the camera to take all our pics, and the Google Sky Map app to identify the stars in the sky. At night before bed, we downloaded free apps that didn't seem to want too much information.

On our recent bike ride, Jim wanted to take some pictures of the silver maples we pass at one point, as well as the 'cathedral'. The cathedral (not sure if I've mentioned it or not), is a part of the path where the trees interlock above in a consistent way to form a high tunnel that looks like the inside of a cathedral. I think of it as a transcendentalist or pagan cathedral. Anyway, his phone allowed him to act on the impulse. "These phones are so worth it," he said after he put it away. We're quite pleased with how useful they are.

Unfortunately, I have yet to take time to figure out how to download pics to my laptop. None of the cords I put in my desk seem to fit. So my Mineral Point posts will be a bit delayed.

Mineral Point, WI

Thanks to an invitation from our friends Daniel and Alan (and their faithful hound Rosie), we were able to get a guided tour of this off-the-beaten track village and artists' colony for a weekend.  We stayed at a B&B that was a three minute walk from Daniel and Alan's house, and we got to see all the sights.

Mineral Point used to be a mining town, and many of the old Cornish buildings made of limestone that were built during its heyday in the 1800s are still standing. Many even occupied and serve as artist studios, stores, restaurants, hotels, etc.  I'll be creating posts about our doings, including photos over the next couple days.

Chicago Tourist

Yesterday I stayed overnight in Chicago for business, which turned out to be a really pleasant experience in an unexpected way. During the 90's, I lived downtown and vowed I'd never return to the monochrome malls and homogeneous housing of suburbia. Of course, that all went out the window when I met Jim and we bought a house together. And it took quite a while for me to adjust to life in the burbs.

At first, I'd go back to the city as if I were returning home. There was a sense of relief to be back. However, over a couple years, I grew to like my new house and the garden and all that. And then, when I went into the city, I felt like a visitor not someone making a homecoming. My overnight stay last night represented a new feeling. I felt like a tourist, and that's infinitely better than being a visitor because a tourist experiences something as if it's brand new.

I stayed at a hotel on Wacker with a nice view of the river. I was by myself and had dinner at McCormick and Schmick's, where I sat outside to people watch. I was wearing some nice clothes, it was a beautiful evening, and people were still headed from work to home and just filtering into the restaurants. All of the sudden, I realized that I felt the same way I felt visiting London or Athens or New York. I was looking at the buildings and watching the people going by and felt excited to be there experiencing it.

If I'd had some postcards, I would have started writing to friends and family!  Then the waiter might have asked where I was visiting from.  What could I say?  Maybe I'd say New York.  Or I could fake a weird accent and say I was visiting from Lichtenstein or Malta or Singapore and make up some crazy story about why I was there and what my impressions of Chicago were. (These flights of fancy are not at all uncommon for me).

I took a walk after dinner, just enjoying the energy one always finds on the streets in a big city. And that's really when it really struck me that I was a tourist in Chicago now. Even though I knew this city very well, I had been away from it for long enough so that it was like new again. Now I'm thinking that it would be fun to take a vacation to Chicago. Find a nice place to stay, check out museums, do Mag Mile shopping, see some shows, etc.

Very odd to think of Chicago in this manner, but there it is. I'll have to start making some plans for a return visit. And get my story straight when some waiter sees me writing postcards I'll never be loopy enough to mail and asks: "So where are you from?"

Rank Test Snag

Looks like I'll be missing this rank test altogether! Jim and I will be in Mineral Point. Well, I guess my hope that I'd test for the blue stripe and the blue belt at my next rank test will definitely come true now.  I think I'd have to be pretty slow not to learn what I need by the next rank test.

On a positive note, I have controlled my time at work to where I have been going to Hapkido on a regular basis again. And work is not the reason I am missing this rank test.  That's something to be happy about!

Upcoming travels

A couple we know (Daniel and Alan) have invited us up to Mineral Point, Wisconsin where they have a vacation house. The town has a website billing itself as 'reminiscent of a rural English village', and it does looks very picturesque!  We've never been there before, but it sounds like there are a lot of 'our people' there as well as lots of artists and artisans who have shops there. I'd like to spend some time chatting with some of them to see how they got started with an enterprise like that. It seems like a really big undertaking, however I've thought about it as a second career after the house is paid off.  Of course, I'd have to get back in the saddle with drawing or painting or learn to do ceramics (and be good at it!) first.

We're also going down to Panama City Beach to visit my parents for a few days. They rent a condo down there almost every year, so we'll be able to beach and snorkel...and go deep sea fishing! Been a long time since I did that, and Jim has agreed to give it a try. Last time, I caught six or seven fish and was a sweaty, fishy mess when it was over. My mom took a pic but then leaned over the side the boat and promptly dropped the camera into the water. This time I hope we'll have the same luck with the fishing and much better luck with the pics.