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beauty
October 2009 
What was the last experience that took your breath away?
Farland
I love how often the disasters that if we had control over we would not “allow”, are the things that lead us to great delights and adventures or just a deeper understanding we might have missed. I like to leave room in my days for those upsetting surprises. There is a new rule at work that Gnomi is not allowed so she spends the day in the car I take her for a ski mid day if I have time. Today was too busy. After I closed up the Nordic Center in the cold (it was ten below this morning) and dark night, I put on my skis so Gnomi could get a good run in before we drove home. I was cold and tired and especially hungry but the skiing was invigorating and Gnomi was loving it too so we went on and on and then I heard through the darkness and quiet the sound of music. I skied toward the sound and there from a lit house was coming an old scratchy recording of Italian Opera across the snowy landscape. I skied back and forth within hearing distance. It was the best part of the day.. of the week!
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Wouldn’t every single minute take our breath away if we really paid attention to it? Even the “mundane” things - every once in a while I get it but lots of days I see certain things as just something to get through but if I wake up for a minute it all takes my breath away. Then I fall back into thinking, “oh, I have to do laundry and take out the trash, boring little things to do.” Maybe I need another near death experience - it’s been quite a while and always makes the world completely shiny and new and breathtaking, even the littlest things.
I tend to believe more and more that just such moments cannot be found, rather, they have to find us when our minds are finally emptied of the day’s dullards and drudgery. Only then will the opera carry across the fields and through the timber to find our waiting ears. Such moments seem to find me when I am especially tired and not really willing to hike or ski way up to my so-called favorite spots. So, sitting down on a barely emerging rock, this is when the Smuggler Mountain pack of coyotes will call to their relatives over on Red Mountain, who in turn call to the distant relatives up in 4 Corners, all setting the night alive and abright with their version of music.
Loving the long lasting frosting on our lodge pole pine this year. Delightful photo.
George now the thing is to find the frosting on the drudgery it has delicious frosting! I spent hours today admiring all the thick cloaks and hats worn by the lodge poles. Every so often the wind would drop down and sweep them naked.
Jeannie that is interesting that the taking ones breath away is literally an act of dying or nearly dying. Hmmmm
I loved hearing the coyotes singing to each other when I lived around them - even while I was very careful of them and made sure my animals were in at night!
So many words are about breath - being inspired, inspiration, yes I can understand that, that gasp of getting it…and to expire, to breathe out and then not breathe in again. Yes, that’s how it works. Being reminded of the breathing out and then not breathing back in is inspiring…
Yes the coyotes. I heard them last night or maybe it was very early this morning. Gnomi is crazy after them in love she can tell one d=from a dog at a glance and disappears like they do. Are there none where you live? I thought there was no place they didn’t be.
Isn’t there some book about meditation called After the Ecstasy the Laundry?
I’m not sure I could ever see laundry as ecstasy but being awake in moments of laundry can be much more fun when I’m awake to them.
Yes, there are coyotes here but in the cities not really a presence. In San Diego they were everywhere because their space had been so taken over. And once at midnightish walking to my car in the middle of Hillcrest coming from UCSD med center I saw a silver fox running down the middle of the road straight toward me - I went out and stood in the middle of the road so that if cars came they would stop. I thought it was a dog until it ran right past me. Later there were pups outside one of the research buildings and I think this same fox was part of that.