night tai chi

(from an email)

at first we stood there for maybe 20 minutes?
a guy talked to us from the radio about being aware of our body and etc etc
he used really big words and i understood maybe half of it
i got bored and listened to the people drumming down in the lower area
of the temple
and then my teacher, yen wei yang (yen means color! i'll refer to him
as mr rainbow) led us thru basic exerises
he talked big too!
this practice will really improve my chinese...
does tai chi have basis in verbal stuff?
sounds like it
huge language!
very beautiful but oh-so-confusing
we ended with 3 movement series all on the left side of the body
which i asked mr rainbow about after class
and he was really pleased that i noticed "i don't feel balanced" i said
"well, do the other side at home" he replied, "the movements are
supposed to use muscles on both sides, even when just on one side"
"but i forgot the poses already! and i feel unbalanced!"
"just let it go... don't zhi zuo/ hold on... go to sleep and we'll
practice again in the morning"
best parts of my days= food, rest, tai chi, new people, old family :)

cloudy day

it's a dark day today
clouds cover all the city
and sounds bounce back down
engulfing us in a cave of song and reverberations
beloved one
with your wings clipped and your rainbow hidden
how will you fly out of this fog?
(nay, my wings are not clipped; they are merely transforming
and i am growing
changing into the dark and changing into the cave itself
you see?
i am just growing)

apad

i am starting my a-photo-a-day (apad) project again... just so you all know :)
(and from dec 2006, yes i am still doing the daily morning self-portrait project, project me)
i will not be posting apad daily (no time), but am photographing daily again
in an effort to (re)cultivate photog eyes
photog eyes: watching the beautiful minutia of daily non-humdrum magic: cultivating gratitude

七星山- 04

... and here's a slice of taipei from above
my nainai lives near that river in the photo's top third portion
my ah ma lives near those huge buildings in the lower third portion of photo (me too. school is there too)
Taipei county is like a bowl, ringed by green hills and mountains, and dipped down in the middle for the big City, her very self!

(thanks ming, for photo)

七星山- 03

(photog= ming... i take longer to upload my photos. :) thanks ming)

七星山- 02

(photog= Ming)

Jan 1 七星山 hike

climbing to the top of this mountain the first day of the New Year is said to bring good luck for the rest of the Year!
七星山 (aka. Chihsing Mountain, or Seven Star Mountain) is the tallest mountain in Taipei... and cold!
(thanks Ming for photo! and Toastmasters for the shared hike!)

2011

2011
new calendar
just made it a few days ago
tonight
i cut 2010 out of my journal
and sewed 2011 in, to take its place
and so the years fly by
and numbers progress rather quickly
i will turn 27 in a few weeks
and then i will turn 25 a week after that
give me another few years and i will say
"oh! those days!"
with a gleam of flashing teeth and eyes
2010
last year this time,
i was shivering in a connecticut winter
wondering where to next
how long shall i stay here
what am i doing here
now, entering 2011
this year this time,
i am warm in a wool jacket in a taiwan winter
still wondering where to next
but less fervently
still wondering how long i shall stay here
but with less angst
there are slow progressions
and there is much change and also not much changing
and all is always in movement and flow
2011
now on the other side of the world
asking similar questions
to similar yet different trees and stones
the same sky
a different perspective
there is a flower sitting in a cup on this table
a crayon drawing says "open to wonder" and a color pencil sketch says "the distilled essence of life is love and presence"
red silk bag filled with desert and forest usa herbs hangs from the lamp
metal jar of different artemesia and sage smudge sticks, with earrings hanging down
sea shell prayer beads dangling from my clock
energy medicine book, buffalo woman comes singing, chinese herb books, eat pray love
hot tea steaming, little blue cup
scissors, 2010 calendar, old leather journal
colored pencils, colored string, bag of oranges
a pile of maps, my keeper, handkerchiefs
writer, artist, drummer, carpenter, etc signs
pictures of dancing bears, a dream fairy, butterflies, quotes, poems, and beautiful landscapes
a collection of jars, pothos plants, SHE elixir in the corner
suitcase in another corner
door in another corner
backpacking pack in the final corner
warm bed with leaves, sleeping bag, books, lavender and hops eye pillow
open bowls
open hands
heart full
this is the present now
what next?
(what does that even mean?)
learning a lot
more tea
candles and earrings
a mandala from a new hampshire farm boy
guitar stick (renamed soshuma) makes beautiful song
black grinding stone of taiwan or china makes black ink for painting and writing
toe socks on the floor
pile of wool wedged between two book cases
this is the present
gift