snow day

Snow! Allyn has a snow day today. As she said this morning, it's my birthday, and she got the present. I've always considered the time between my birthday and hers as the dead of winter. Here goes. Insincere birthday wishes to Rush Limbaugh & Howard Stern.

turquoise

Sunny. Walking out the lane this morning, noticed a turquoise snow reflecting a turquoise morning sky. Noticed turquoise in the western sky later in the day. I have never associated turquoise with anything in Vermont before, no matter what the season, but there it is.

muffler

Cloudy. Vermont has put on its brown and white muffler. Snow muffles most of the sound. The countryside seems almost devoid of color-except for the bright red cardinal in the birch tree.

waxing crescent moon

Sunny & 20 degrees. Putting out the markers to guide the town plow along the lane. Large chunks of ice around the building at work. Waxing crescent moon winking mysteriously as it sets in the southwest.

exotic

Sunny & 22 degrees. Dumping the ash from the wood stove this morning. Stars twinkling in the sky overhead. Snow twinkling from the reflection of the outside light. This picture doesn't have anything to do with Vermont in January. It was taken in the jungles of eastern Ecuador, and is the most beautiful flower I ever saw. It was growing out of the trunk of a tree. Very exotic country.

nineteenth century

Cloudy. Animal tracks around the bird feeder at work. Squirrels looking for dried fruit in the crabapple tree. Allyn & I bringing wood into the house from the wood pile in the back. Sometimes I feel like I live in the 19th century, not the 21st.

new year

Back from South America. Flowers, birds, volcanos, waterfalls; clouds as mother of pearl. Spent a lot of time suspended in mid air on zip lines, bridges, and trams; life in the Andes I guess. Christmas tree in the back of a truck; heading to recycling? Opening up the 2011 Zen page a day calendar.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
Dogen