At home

at home on earth
land and sea
on a mountain peak
tent wide open
senses clear
a deep breath
no separation here

Wayward child

Most people agree that the moon is the celestial child of Mother Earth ..but, isn't anyone worried that someday it’s going to leave her side and try to make it on it's own in the universe ? ..like a wandering planetoid on the rough streets of the milky way ?

Higher education

When I was in college ..I regarded learning as it’s own reward. I felt like an explorer with a big curiosity to fill. I loved books ..ideas ..theories ..arguments and discoveries. I know that this sounds like a lot of sentimentalist bullshit – most students I talk to today consider higher education a distasteful digression on the way to landing a job making big bucks. Well, you know ..fortunes come and go ..but a resilient mind doesn’t crumble ..it adapts. College is not just a trade school ..it’s a place where you learn how to actively explore ..be receptive and continually refresh your mind. I find these things more valuable than any job skill I ever learned. Society and technology change too fast ..there’s not many jobs skills worth hanging on to.

Day before Thanksgiving

I wake up feeling absolutely no sense of urgency ..I go downstairs ..eat breakfast and chat online with my sister Nancy. There’s an ‘onshore flow’ which means cool and breezy conditions by the water ..so, I go to the computer lab ..and see if I can get caught up ..but end up sitting and talking to John instead. Afterwards, I go to the gym ..not to exercise ..but to sit outside ..eat lunch and watch the tennis players ..which was fortunate because otherwise, I wouldn't have run into Michelle ..with whom I used to work. She tells me what’s been happening ..without a single word of complaint ..which is remarkable because I don’t often hear people talk about work without complaining. She tells me that Sandra Williams is now head of operations ..and Eric Jackson oversees software development. I’m glad to hear it. Eric was my neighbor when I moved to town in 1990 –living down by the harbour. Back then he was a college student wondering what to do with his life..

Water rat

The ocean gives me vitality ..makes me feel high for the rest of the day ..like I'm on opium. The shock of cold water awakens my body ..sends a rush of blood to my head .. and awakens my mind. It surrounds me ~ moves me ~ takes away the pain of walking upright ~ and the pressure of holding myself together. Out here, there is no gap between what I expect and what happens ~ just water molecules in motion ~ or what Buddhists call ~ flowing cohesion.

Infinite summer

Ahhhh, it feels like ‘Tucson by the sea’ ..this is the real summer season in Santa Barbara ..I’ve been in the water almost every day. There’s a local condition known as an ‘offshore flow’ where hot air blows down from the mountains ..pushing cold ‘marine air’ out to sea. It makes the beach feel like the desert. I did some exploring. It turns out that the offshore flow is part of a larger weather system that moves in a circle ..if there’s an off-shore flow here – it means there’s an on-shore flow somewhere else. Sure enough, I watched a giant fogbank move out to sea this morning ..travel up the coast ..then loop back on shore further north ..around Hollister Ranch ..where I sat on a cliff and watched it roll over me this afternoon.

Indian summer

Mi Ahijada

While I was married, my wife Laura and I would travel to Mexico and visit her family. On one of these trips, we baptized her niece Karla, the daughter of her sister Evelyn –becoming the child’s Godparents. In Mexico, that makes you the adoptive parents in case anything happens. Karla was six years old then. Laura and I split up four years ago ..and we haven’t seen each other since. Well, that changed last Friday while I was walking home from the market. A gray truck pulls up with a little girl waving at me from the passenger window. I walk over to see if they needed any help when I realize that Laura is driving and the little girl is Karla – mi Ahijada! Her mother Evelyn was killed in an auto accident ..and no one knows much about the father. Karla wanted to see her Padrino (Godfather). We hugged and kissed. I was in shock. Their story brought me to tears. Karla now lives with Laura in Ventura, California. Her 12th birthday is three days away and I’m wondering what to get her.

Walking path

I used to go to the Zen center before they moved away. Sometimes they would lead us in 'walking meditation' where we would walk mindfully through the hall ..stopping at the statues of various bodhisattvas, like Kanzeon and Manjusri ..and bowing out of respect for their teachings. Now I practice walking meditation on a path that starts behind my house. Part of it passes through a botanical garden where I’ve learned the names of some of the trees growing along the side. So now, I stop and pay hommage to things like the Chinese bamboo ..the Hollyleaf Cherry ..the Mountain Ebony ..the Himalayan Indigo ..a giant succulent ..and all of it's children and grandchildren growing wild on either side. I mean, what would my walking path be without them.

Tech support

I decided to collaborate with John on my BIG computer project. The thing is, he doesn’t know he’s collaborating ..in fact, I don’t think he would agree to it if I asked him outright. So, I tricked him by asking for his advice ..and drawing him in slowly. Now he’s captivated. For John, that comes natural ..he’s tech support. I‘ll drop by the lab next week and see if he's finished .

Small feats

I'm learning by example from our country’s leaders. They just got back from a two-day summit in Latin America ..without reaching an agreement. They're calling it an accomplishment. From now on, when I look back on my day and see that all I did was chat ..I'm going to consider that an accomplishment too. Don't get me wrong ..I'm not implying anything about our leaders ..I think communication is a good thing.

Big picture

A neuroscientist named Allison Sekular reports that young people are quicker than older people at making detail discriminations ..but that older people are better at seeing the big picture ..and recognizing patterns. I can relate to that. I can usually tell when surfing conditions are improving by the direction of the wind ..the color of the ocean ..and the flight pattern of the birds. Younger people, on the other hand, sense surfing conditions from rapid pressure changes underneath their board ..right before they get demolished by the wave.

Gina

Gina is from Malaysia ..she is studying Zoology ..specializing in birds of the coast. I asked her what she thought about the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs. She said: “It’s a fact that birds evolved from dinosaurs – not just a theory”. Pelicans are the closest to dinosaurs “predators of the sea” she called them. Hey, no quarrels from me ..I’ve seen them hunt. “They look pretty efficient” I commented. “Oh yeah” she said, “They communicate telepathically ..that’s why they can take off and fly in such tight formations.” OK ..I was afraid to ask whether that was a fact or a theory. She told me a lot of other things about birds. Let’s see, raptors became hawks ..the black birds I see on the shore all the time are called “cormorants”. She said they’re so smart that they can count ..I forgot to ask what. Pelicans fly in formation by drafting like cyclists ..the ones in front produce an updraft that allows the ones in back to float ..the leaders will eventually peel off and take their turn in back to rest.

Indian summer v.4

I wake up ..drink some coffee ..chat online with my sister Nancy ..then rush out the door. I put the top down ..zip through town ..turn up the Stones ..drown out the voices ..and check out the shore ~ I watch waves crash on the beach ..feel wet sand on the soles of my feet ..and take a running leap ..reawakening in the ocean. I ride a few in ..swim past the impact ..slow down and breath ..and just float for a while. I see pelicans dive-bomb for fish ..there’s even a family of seals out here today. They must have just moved in ..they weren’t out here yesterday.