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Showing posts with label Zen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zen. Show all posts

Friday, January 8, 2016

Momoyogusa = Flowers of a Hundred Generations

I found something beautiful among the NYPL Digital Collections. This is a book of prints by artist Sekka Kamisaka, published in 1909. There is something about the charm and simplicity of these images that captivates me. They provide a rewarding meditation on a gray January day. 

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Zennnnnnnnnnnnn....

In case you still think you are the center of the universe.....

Here is Earth from 900 million miles away, from the vantage point of the rings of Saturn.
Image via the Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004.
This image was acquired by Cassini on July 19, 2013. From Earthsky.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Rocky Ford Creek Report: Beside Still Waters

It's a long afternoon for standing beside still waters, soaking it all in.


It's still not Spring, but spring-like weather persists.


I fish every manner of fly, from mayfly dries to scuds. The trout are resting. I hook up once, somewhere in the middle of time, but lose the fish after one or two strips. I continue to fish.


I achieve a certain zen-like detachment. I fish to fish. And that's enough.


It's twilight, and Robins are raising their evening chorus. One frog, two frogs, three frogs add their counterpoint.

It's dusk now, the right time for negatively phototropic organisms to become active. Maybe that's it. But as the light wanes into darkness three trout come in quick succession to a scud under an indicator.


The last one is large and heavy and tirelessly resistant to capture. I get him in the net for a fleeting photo moment. Then he rolls out, hits the water with a splash that drenches me, and swims into the night.


My zen-like detachment is gone. I'm happy as a kid.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Zennnnnnnnn: Happy Birthday, Jack Kerouac

It's the birthday of Jack Kerouac.

He wrote On the Road in twenty days in April 1951. He typed it all out on a 120 foot roll of tracing paper.


In a letter to Neal Cassady he said:
"Went fast because the road is fast...
just rolled it through typewriter
and in fact no paragraphs...
rolled it out on floor
and it looks
like a road."

Monday, February 24, 2014