#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Ice and grass in the wetlands

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,

a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.

If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,

this is the best season of your life.

~ Wumen Huikai (1183-1260) was a Chan master who compiled the koan collection The Gateless Gate. Translated by Robert Aitken Roshi, © the estate of Robert Aitken Roshi. All rights reserved. 

Frank and I sat, after lunch, briefly on the deck in a flood of warm sun. I had just lit a fire in the cool house. He called me out. I was stunned. The difference in temperature. We watched old crust of the snow melt on the field. Early, I walked. Awake around 5:00 a.m. Not much sleep last night. I’m in an overthinking time with things on my mind. I read a funny text from a friend and laughed out loud, but did not wake Frank. So, I got up, and finished the prep for my Farm Pond Writers, then went out. Beams of sun over the river. It was very quiet. The wetlands in melt, but some ice left, and wandered where I could without getting my feet too wet. I went in, and we had a small workshop with the Farm Pond writers, and the prompt I brought worked well. In the afternoon I was quite tired, but I prepped and opened the final week of my monologue class which is going so well and I will be sorry for it to end. I walked again, later, realized the overthinking is resolving. I felt, under the blue sky and the evergreens, the positive, hopeful way of accepting change. There is quite a lot of clean up to do from this winter. Make dinner? No, I let the fatigue take me. Frank heated leftovers; I made an omelette. A poem! I almost forgot! After omelette, revised a bit the newest one and sent it off. A year of pandemic living. A year! My daughter and I mused happily tonight: we may go out into the world again soon!