Trellis

I am building a small trellis for my patio. Actually, I am building it for red bean vine and morning glory vine, which are impatiently growing by the inch in pots. So, though I was inspired by the practical advantages of the plants' beauty and a privacy barrier between my property and the one next door, I am really working for the plants. They will be able to fulfill their natural urges to climb, produce seeds and propagate their species. Birds and bees will also be well served. (I am hoping for a hummingbird.) What a wonderful illustration of ecology in the human-dominated urban world.

Hair

Hair is dead skin, like fingernails or claws. It grows about half-inch per month. The realization that hair grows at a discernible rate always puts me in touch with my mortality and my body's automatic changes related to age. I cut my own hair. The harvesting of my hair every so often is part of my practice. Cutting my own hair necessitates looking at myself in mirrors. Something I rarely do. I am forced to note the changes in my body in this process. I meditate on the loss of time and tissue as I sweep up the clippings from the bathroom floor. For me, this is a good exercise in being in touch with the reality of my one life's span.

Water

Water is a powerful force. Here in the Northeastern US, we have had an unusual 12 inches of rain in the past week. Water has invaded basements and saturated the land. As industrialized and urban humans, many of us are very alienated from Nature. Water becomes the enemy. The same water that sustains our lives. How strange we are as a species.