“Finally will it not be enough,
after much living, after
much dying

of those you have loved,
to sit on the porch near sundown
with your eyes simply open,
watching the wind shape the clouds

into the shape of clouds?

Even then you will remember

the history of love, shaped
in the shapes of flesh, everchanging
as the clouds that pass,  the blessed
yearning of body for body,
unending light.
You will remember, watching
the clouds, the future of love.”

~Wendell Berry~

“Summertime and the living is easy”, goes the popular phrase and indeed it is for a multitude of reasons- days are longer, life takes on a bit of a slower pace as everyone tries to accommodate their bodies to the heat and humidity, invitations to cook-outs and days at the beach fill out schedule, even a stay-cation is a welcome respite.  Getting in a walk in the early morning or late evening hours and being outside feels so good-unchained from the cool but artificial air of air-conditioning.    Even those ( like me) who have little tolerance for being outside on a hot day cannot deny the pleasure of sitting in a comfortable rocking chair at the end of the day or under the shade of an umbrella or tree  either by ourselves or with a friend or two to reminisce.  It is one of the most simplest gifts of life. 

I waited all week for this Thursday to come because I thought I could finally get to where I wanted to be today- my camera and me- but the drizzle had other plans for my plans.  Instead I found that little bit of heaven I yearned for today right in my own garden.  That’s the problem and the solution with plans, isn’t it?  What I thought I wanted to do did not work out but the alternative was just as good and it happened because I kept my mind and heart open.  No, I did not get to where I wanted to be but I stayed in a place that fed my soul.

“This is what should be done by anyone who is skilled in goodness.  And who knows the path of peace:  Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech.  Humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied.  Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.  Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful, not proud and demanding in nature.  Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove.”

~The Buddha’s Words on Kindness~

“I have been thinking of the difference between water and the waves on it.  Rising, water’s still water, falling back, it is water, will you give me a hint how to tell them apart?
Because someone has made up the word “wave” do I have to distinguish it from water?
There is a Secret One inside us;  the planets in all the galaxies pass through his hands like beads.
That is the string of beads one should look at with luminous eyes.”

~KABIR~