. 歡迎 . welcome .

When you enter the forest, remember to stop.

Feel the wind in your hair, smell the greenery, see the scenery, hear the birdsong, taste the magic of this world that you inhabit. Welcome to the forest. You have stepped into a wonderland of plants.

Taiwan has the most diverse fern population in the world. Feel the plants, how soft their leaves, how strong they are. They rise to greet you.

They echo our voices and breaths back to us. Rest your eyes on the green. Bend down, and look under the leaves.

Who lives here? How do I fit in?

sleepy sheep

body weak for almost a week
doctor lin says
spirit strong, but body weak
strong tea, hot bath,
and just more more sleep

dreams

TRUST. believe in Dreams. BELIEVE in Magic. expect the unexpected. it
will all work out. Life happens. so do Miracles.

rain

it has been raining now for about a week straight
steady constant gentle grey sky doomy gloomy drip drip
but all the tree roots are singing, are singing
and all the spring fruits will be so sweet!

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)