March 21, 2007
AM thermometer went past zero, maybe for the last time this year. Snow mushy during the day, freezes at night. Little crystalline nuggets in the morning. John home from D.C. today. New moon with Venus above.

This is how this blog started five years ago today. For a number of reasons it seems like an appropriate moment to bring this chapter of my life to a close. This will be the final posting. It has been an amazing exercise in awareness. Thanks to Carol for her regular and unstinting support. I have learned a lot over the years. Zen Master Dogen was right. Such mountains and waters of themselves become wise persons and sages.

The capacity of mind is broad and huge, like the vast sky. Do not sit with a mind fixed on emptiness... Emptiness includes the sun, moon, stars and planets, the great earth, mountains and rivers, all trees and grasses, bad men and good men, bad things and good things, heaven and hell; they are all in the midst of emptiness. The emptiness of human nature is also like this.
Hui-Neng
Zen page a day calendar

mountains

An ancient wise one once said: "Mountains are mountains, waters are waters." These words do not mean mountains are mountains: they mean mountains are mountains.
Therefore, investigate mountains thoroughly. When you investigate mountains thoroughly, this is the work of mountains.
Such mountains and waters of themselves become wise persons and sages.
Zen Master Dogen
Zen page a day calendar

south facing slope

71 degrees yesterday. Trees greening up. Boy riding a bicycle in Pittsford. Opening windows at home. Sound of a motorcycle. Came across some crocuses on a south facing slope when raking leaves in the front yard.

birth

Foggy morning. The world is dark, cold & wet. Feels like it's giving birth to itself. Frost heaves in the road in Chippenhook. The lane at home has turned from ice to soup. Spring issue of Rutland Magazine in the stores. Little league registration taking place in Morrisville. Piles of manure in fields in Pittsford waiting to be spread.

sun glasses

Temps in the 50's & 60's. Snow melt on the sidewalks, and in the roads in West Rutland. Joggers out running, and families out walking in the evening warmth; dogs on leashes, women pushing baby carriages. Taking off my jacket, and putting on sun glasses when walking at noon

sycamore

Temperatures in the 60's yesterday. There are a number of themes that have arisen as I have made my way through this journal over the years. One has to do with the process of revelation in the natural world. Phenomena in nature can seemingly hide in plain sight for years. It seems that once something is noticed, however, it appears to be everywhere.
Redently I posted a photo of a magnificent tree in Shelburne, Vermont. I had recognized its beauty years ago, but didn't know its name. My brother Bill suggested that it appeared to be a sycamore. He even showed where the sycamore is mentioned in the lyrics of "Moonlight in Vermont." It was only a few days later that I noticed a couple of sycamores on my drive to work. They are not far from the Clarendon river, not much more than a mile from my house. I have driven by these trees almost every day for thirty years, and never really noticed them. There are actually quite a number of sycamore trees in that area. How is it possible that I never really noticed them before?
There is something about this process of seeing something, describing it, naming it, that allows you to take ownership of it in a way. It becomes part of one's cognitive neighborhood. I have very much noticed this phenomenon in the world of astronomy. When you know the name of a star, or a constellation, you own it. It is forevermore a part of your world view.
Writing this daily journal has opened up the world of nature to me in ways that I never expected when I started out on this journey almost five years ago. It has been a very enlightening and gratifying process.

growing station

Temps in the 50's. Didn't have a fire in the wood stove for the first time in a long time. Working on my brackets for March Madness. St. Patricks Day decorations at work, and Easter candy in the stores. People walking around in tee shirts. Allyn's Burpee seeds have arrived, and she's set up her growing station in front of a south facing window at home. Crocuses appearing on Woodstock Ave.