Monday, in midsummer! The day manifests as magnificent, an idyllic copy of a memory from childhood. I recall a summer’s day, maybe I was five or six and not yet allowed to leave the yard. On that day the dew moistened grass felt so delicious to my bare feet. I remember delight on the…
Sunday, and summertime is unusually busy. Who doesn’t desire to fill warm days with as much outdoor activity as possible… As it happened my morning session at Starbucks was occupied with conversation with friends. It was time well spent, even without the writing. No one is alone in the madcap adventure of life, unless…
v. 77 The Way of Heavenis like a bow bent to shoot:its top end is brought down,its lower end raised up.It brings the high down,lifts the low,takes from those who have,gives to those who have not. Such is the Way of Heaven,taking from people who have,giving to people who have not. …
v. 76 Living people are soft and tender. Corpses are hard and stiff. The ten thousand things, the living grass, the trees, are soft, pliant. Dead, they’re dry and brittle. So hardness and stiffness go with death; tenderness, softness, go with life. And the hard sword fails, the stiff tree’s…
There is a “why” to everything. To focus upon a fold-point of experience is signaled by “because” in the normal course of conversation. Also, you could say this mirrors the form of logic, an “if”… “then” syllogism of cause and effect. Is this what is meant by reason? I’ll concede that such is a…
v. 69 The expert in warfare says: Rather than dare make the attack I’d take the attack; rather than dare advance an inch I’d retreat a foot. It’s called marching without marching, rolling up your sleeves without flexing your muscles, being armed without weapons, giving the attacker no opponent. Nothing’s worse than attacking what…
v. 64 It’s easy to keep hold of what hasn’t stirred, easy to plan what hasn’t occurred. It’s easy to shatter delicate things, easy to scatter little things. Do things before they happen. Get them straight before they get mixed up. The tree you can’t reach your arms around grew from a tiny seedling….
It is Monday morning. The storms of the holiday weekend are a memory (unless you suffered rising water, or splintered trees). Still the first day of a work week is a beginning, and beginnings are worth attending to. One of the prose poems of the Tao Te Ching suggest as much. Here it is….
Sunday, the day after the flood. On July 4th we attempted a short road trip to Ottowa, Illinois. Ottowa is a small river town. It features The Lone Buffalo by Tangled Roots Brewing Company, an excellent gastro pub. The restaurant is spacious, and the menu is superior. No doubt we are not the only…
Saturday. A day begins without oppressive humidity which invites outdoor activity. A promise of a pleasant and congenial session for the Batavia Farmer’s Market. Summertime’s weekly opportunity to gather with others on N. River Street parallel to the river is the counterpart to the Agora, a public square where commerce, where the forming of…
