A Moment of Zen

Sometimes a Zen master will whack a pupil with a stick to bring their awareness into the present moment. We, and when I say "we" of course I mean "me", are often living in our own heads, thinking of the future or the past. We actively imagine something else or somewhere else, ignoring what is right in front us.

I try as much as possible to get out into the world beyond my own brain, to feel the sun, wind, or rain on my skin, to hear the birds and smell the trees and still I get distracted. But the world is full of Zen masters.

I was intent on my camera, walking with my eyes and lens zoomed in on a distant goose, when a SLAP! brought me into the moment just a few feet away. A beaver I'd damn near stepped on jumped into the water, smacking his tail as he dove. He then surfaced and circled back. "What part of 'be here now' don't you understand?" he seemed to be saying. Of course I was already regretting the great shot I'd missed as I took a couple of mediocre shots of my damp teacher. I still have so damn much to learn. It's a good thing the world is filled with so many teachers.

THE AUBURN CONFERENCE by Tom Piazza

Earlier this month I read LIVING IN THE PRESENT WITH JOHN PRINE, a terrific book. Prine, of course, was an interesting fellow, interesting mostly I think because he was a keen observer with a genuine affection for people. He was a guy you'd enjoy hanging out with. In reading Piazza's book, I realized that Piazza and Prine were similar souls and the book gave me a sense that not only should I spend more time with Prine, something I can do thanks to all the recordings John left us, I also wanted to spend more time with Piazza's thoughts.

While Piazza was writing the book about Prine, he was also working on a novel, one that John Prine wanted to read. John probably read it in heaven while sipping a vodka and ginger ale. I got to read it here on earth.

The book is THE AUBURN CONFERENCE and it is a fun speculation, a consideration of what didn't happen but might have if in 1883 a writer's conference took place at a small college in New York state. The big questions are "What is America?" and "What is the role of American literature?" And Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglas, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others all have something to say on the subject. The conference goes delightfully awry as egos and ideas clash and the discussion expands to include discussions of race, women's suffrage, and the roles and responsibilities of the artist.

Piazza does a wonderful job capturing the voices and the spirits of these varied writers, adding a few fictional folks to the mix including a romance novelist and retired General of the Confederacy. And an unnamed but very recognizable reclusive poet in the audience gives the novel its most quiet, hopeful voice, a sense that America and American literature will somehow endure.

Piazza's novel, which I'm sure made no best-seller lists and perhaps never even made back its printing costs, is a reminder that the dollar is a poor measure of value. MOBY DICK was a financial failure in Melville's lifetime. Emily Dickinson certainly wasn't writing for money. And Tom Piazza wrote the book that his friend wanted to read. I count myself very fortunate that I got to read it here on earth.

The ScumStack Debate

 

Lessons in Slowing Down

 

Superior Heat Wave

 

Spring Critter Update

It has been a lovely spring day here in Superior and our afternoon temps have climbed into the mid-seventies. I got out on my bike early this morning and got some nice pictures of birds against the bright blue sky.

I saw a family of geese over at Barker's Island and our back yard bunnies have been doing what bunnies do, so now it is baby bunny season. We count the bunnies as a major success in our back yard ecosystem, we had a problem with a colony of rats that were nesting under the back yard bike shed. We try to get along with all creatures, but the rats crossed the line when they chewed into the shed and then chewed the grips off Christine's bike. We live-trapped relocated some rats and I wound up killing a couple with my Daisy air rifle (and I did not shoot my eye out!). But it was the bunnies that really won the war of the rats, they took over the burrow under the shed and we haven't seen any rats in the past year. Christine feeds the rabbits and squirrels and they have figured out that we aren't a threat to them. I'm pretty sure that the healthy population of rabbits and squirrels is keeping too much seed from building up under the bird feeders and the rats have moved on to some place with less competition. Some folks say that squirrels are just rats with fuzzier tails, but our squirrels are smart enough to leave the bikes alone.

The bunnies and the squirrels mostly get along, but sometimes they fight over carrots. An adult bunny packs a hell of a kick so the squirrels have learned to avoid direct confrontation, but will steal an unguarded carrot if they have a chance and then run up a tree or hide the carrot some place that they think is safe from the bunnies.

Born to Retire

There is a great quote from Dave Prine in Tom Piazza's book LIVING IN THE PRESENT WITH JOHN PRINE. Dave is John Prine's older brother, the one who taught him how to play guitar and in December of 2022, Piazza interviewed Dave and Dave described what his daily life was like.

"Now all I do is play the banjo and the fiddle, and once in a while noodle on the guitar and enjoy life. I've been retired since '06, and I think I was born to retire. My day is mine, totally. I do what I want to do when I want to do it, and if nothing else, I take a nap. I'm eighty-five now, and I'm not as mobile as I once was."

Dave Prine is a very wise man. When I read those lines to Christine, she agreed with me that they sure echo our experience. I don't play music, but I'm pretty much living my life now in accord with Dave's principles. I think I was born to retire.

The news I care about isn't news on TV, it's mostly what is happening in my back yard. I read my local paper (electronic version) and I talk to local folks to find out their take on things. The big news at KD's this week is that we have a reptile shop opening here in town.

The big news from my back yard has been the fact that several Blue Jays are hanging out, juvenile squirrels are racing around, and new baby bunnies are taking their first cautious steps into the world. That's the news I find fascinating.