Another from Earth Prayers

This one has resonated with me, again and again.
--
When we get out of the glass bottles of our ego,
and when we escape like squirrels turning in the cages of our personality
and get into the forests again,
we shall shiver with cold and fright
but things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves.

Cool, unlying life will rush in,
and passion will make our bodies taut with power,
we shall stamp our feet with new power
and old things will fall down,
we shall laugh, and institutions will curl up like burnt paper.

-D.H. Lawrence

Mindfulness Exercises

While bicycling in town, I have made up a rule for myself: if I see something interesting, I should stop and take a photograph. Here's a series I have accumulated over the past week or so.

This place has spring! Flowers are beginning to emerge. It's strange to see old friends that I haven't seen in YEARS, like crocuses and daffodils, sprouting up so comfortably from the ground.


This waterway and nature center are along my commute. Even in the winter, the area is beautiful and peaceful.


In the afternoons, there are usually people congregated around here, looking at things in the water.


On Sunday, I rode all the way down to the end of the Billy Wolff trail, before I had that whole bike accident adventure on the 84th street "trail." The end of the Billy Wolff is a 10-mile ride from home, and very pleasant.


Later on, on the John Dietrich trail, I was amused to see the toy cars on the roof on top of this junkyard shed (hard to see in the photo, though - on the left).


The John Dietrich trail passes through some industrial parts of town, including this overpass above some of the trainyards. It was mind-boggling to see how long the coal and gas trains were.


There are bicycling-themed sculptures along many of the trails, such as this DinoBike along the Mopac trail:


Here's someone who wanted an all-in-one vehicle, along the Rock Island trail. This thing amazes me every time I ride past, on the way to and from rides at Joyride Bicycles.


After last night's 1-3 am insomnia (emotion centers have been working VERY HARD), just as I drifted back to sleep, I saw four or five bright white flashes that startled me awake again. None of my blinking electronic devices generate that kind of light. It turned out to be a thunderstorm breaking overhead, I figured out from the rumbling thunder, wind, and raindrops spattering the windows.

That made today's commute more interesting and beautiful - Antelope Creek was full of rushing floodwaters, slowed by this dam project. The dam project also illustrates my point about disposable beverage containers. All of those white dots along the dam are styrofoam cups and Starbucks coffee cups. In the distance, you might be able to see some of the bright colors of a huge mural on the side of a building - also beautiful to ride past.


One of the things that I discovered on Sunday's bike ride is a nicer back way to ride in to campus, that also goes past a paper and plastic bag harvesting ground.


I try really hard to not accumulate packaging, but have found myself in need of plastic bags for the trash (we're required to bag our trash), and paper bags for compost scraps (I gave my compost bucket to J&K when I moved out). I've been out on walks with my father when he's found and picked up paper fast-food bags, explaining that he uses them to line his compost bucket (they're also a source of carbon for the worms). But I haven't known where to look for such things around here. Sure enough, here's the perfect spot. Two McDonald's bags, in great shape.

This underpass takes me on a route that bypasses three busy traffic lights and parts of campus with heavy pedestrian traffic. It's totally worth the extra distance on days when I'm not in a hurry (most days).

Video games

I WANT THIS GAME.