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Category: JEROME’S MUSINGS & HAIKU
Ikkyū
CANCEL ALL DEBTS
Robbers never strike at the homes of the poor;
Private wealth does not benefit the entire
nation.
Calamity has its source in the accumulated
riches of a few,
People who lose their souls for ten thousand
coins.
~~~
The Basics Never Change, as evidenced by this from Wild Ways, Zen Poems by Ikkyū (Translated by John Stevens, White Pine Press), who died in 1481 at the age of 87. D. Dorworth
Ikkyū was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals.
flying saucers
flying saucers near Sneffels,
announce arrival ~
next tormenta
falling snow
falling snow-road closed
no stopping or standing ~
next 3 months
rŌbert
meditation walk
morning meditation walk in the hood ~
each mindful step to avoid
trapdoor snow
rŌbert
fish & sticks
warm February afternoon-
fishing,
stick hunting
snow falling
~~~
storm snow falling
at Rancho Desperado
7.5″ on northwest flow
Why dogs live shorter lives
Bill Overton
Here’s the surprising answer of a 6-year-old child.
Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker‘s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.
The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that dogs’ lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ”I know why.”
Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try and live.
He said, ”People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The six-year-old continued,
”Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay for as long as we do.”
Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:
• When your loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
• Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.
• Take naps.
• Stretch before rising.
• Run, romp, and play daily.
• Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
• On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
• On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
• When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
• Be faithful.
• Never pretend to be something you’re not.
• If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.
That’s the secret of happiness that we can learn from a good dog.
Billy Roos, November 1, 2015 ~ El Dia de los Muertos ~ el otro lado ~ te extrañamos compay
A Night in San Francisco
rōbert
By
Overlaid on the song titles on the back of this live double CD are the words ballads, blues, soul and funk & jazz. Conspicuously absent are rock & roll. That’s probably a deliberate omission of a style that, in Van Morrison’s eyes, has become corrupted by commercialism and compromised by an ignorance of its own roots. Morrison seeks to redress that imbalance on A Night in San Francisco with a jaw-dropping performance. It furthers a process of re-engagement on Morrison’s part — begun with Too Long in Exile — that finds him grounding his spiritual questing in earthier stuff. A Night in San Francisco is the culmination of a career’s worth of soul-searching that finds Morrison’s eyes turned toward heaven and his feet planted firmly on the ground.
The program opens with “Did Ye Get Healed?” in which horns and voices playfully rise and fall behind Morrison’s vocal. It closes, some two and a half hours later, with fluegelhorn player and emcee Haji Ahkba asking the crowd, “Did you get healed?” in the wake of a medley of “Shakin’ All Over” and “Gloria.” In between, Morrison intersperses august pastoral meditations (“Beautiful Vision,” “It Fills You Up,” “In the Garden”) with lithe blues and soul make-overs. Songs frequently flow into one another in medley form, with Morrison originals such as “Vanlose Stairway” and “Trans-Euro Train” linked with the likes of Ray Charles’ “Fool for You.” Such conjoinings — Sam Cooke, James Brown, Doc Pomus, Sly Stone and Rodgers and Hart are among the other references — reinforce the notion of a musical and spiritual continuum at the heart of this undertaking.
Another key facet of this performance is the sense of community fostered from the stage by Morrison, whose temperament heretofore (apart from his music) hasn’t exactly been endearing. An array of guest artists — most notably John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and Jimmy Witherspoon — is warmly welcomed by Morrison in duets that result not in hysterical one-upmanship but in revealing give-and-take. He is generous also with his superb cast of musicians, giving them room to breathe and letting them coalesce around him, anchored by guitarist Ronnie Johnson and organist Georgie Fame. Morrison addresses the audience with surprising gusto, identifying band members after solos, heartily disbursing thank-you’s and gamely attempting between-song patter.
The capstone to this magnificent performance is a lengthy new arrangement of “Moondance” that audaciously remakes that classic. For Van Morrison, on the evidence of this resurgent testimonial, it would appear that it’s far too late to stop now.
