miller's crossing

Summer's sweetness gets denser as we draw closer to the equinox. Grapes become raisins. Vacation idle flows into reading assignments. Bright hot sun modulates to piercing golden rays. Chewier. More pungent. I love it.

Organic farm tour today. Pictures at Flickr.

One of the glorious things about the Pacific Northwest is the blossoms in the spring. The rhododendrons are going full-tilt boogie. I'll have some photos of them soon. And I've already planted my nose square in a delicate orange blooming rose. Did it smell sweet!

Bob keeps a beekeeping blog. But you have to ask him for an invite to see it. Very exclusive.

Bob's bees are buzzing. I got to help with them for the first time over the weekend. "I've got no problem with bees," I rather blithely proclaimed before suiting up in veil, gloves and jumpsuit. But as we opened the hive and pulled out frames to look for larva, a lot of bees started flying around me. I noticed I felt some fear—what if they get angry? what if one gets in my veil?

I've been doing some volunteer work for the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, an amazing international organization with centers spanning the globe. Anyway, I came across the website for Lawudo Gompa, a FPMT-affiliated retreat center high up in the Himalayas of Nepal. Check out the link. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be there.

The Japanese Flowering Cherry trees are peaking. My camera and I have yet to connect with their delicate beauty. It seems they are a favorite of poets, artists and Buddhists. I just read in Buddhadharma magazine Zen teacher Jan Chozen Bays invoking them in a discussion on death:

Cherry blossoms in Japan are appreciated for their transient quality. The poignancy of the briefness of their bloom and their falling is what is beautiful. The very fading of the beauty we want to hold on to is the beauty.

Maybe I'll let another year go by without photographing them. Why try to capture that which is impermanent? I suppose, though, that that is what we are always trying to do.

Worked in the gardening today. We planted some starts and some seeds: beans, peas, cucumbers, zucchinis, corn, beets, onions, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, dill, wildflowers and probably other stuff I'm forgetting. It felt nice to get dirt under my fingernails.

I missed posting yesterday due to travel, visiting friends, and finally having a lovely cocktail at Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle. Murray is a visionary. He made me a Coin Toss to go with the Spanish coffee crème brûlée. Delicious. It seems the NYT would agree.

I wish I could write I've been on Cold Mountain this whole time. But I can't.

Since I last wrote, I've traveled by foot, ferry boat, car, bicycle, bus, airplane and limo --covering over 6000 miles sans camera. Life has been busy, enjoyable and social. Good stuff. No pictures, until today. Here are more photos.

I spent the weekend on the Oregon coast with some very kind and lovely folks. Here are some photos from the weekend.