A New Twist on Exercise -- Ursula Le Guin -- Paintin' and Plantin' - June 6

I've been a little more careful about stretching and unwinding after my workouts lately, but this morning, looking out on a sunny back yard, I was a little more deliberate and thoughtful.  Then I remembered some of the Zen-like exercises, involving deep breathing and concentration.  Remarkably, as I experimented with them, they worked.  I found myself quite carried away by a thrill of feeling as I reached my arms from my sides, high in a slow wide arc, finally joining my fingers as my two arms crossing above my head.  My eyes were closed and I concentrated only on the very slow movement of my arms.  It seemed as though my fingers would never find themselves, but when they did, it was like alien digits touching the opposite hand. 

Fascinating feeling.

I've seen some of these moves done on tv and YouTube, and I know there's a profound philosophy underpinning them.  I shall have to look into this in greater depth in the weeks ahead.  I did get so far into the meditation as to consider active and passive forces bearing down, or bearing away from a central core of existence.  Pretty heady stuff for the early morning!

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A morning decision I had to make is what book to read next.  I have several waiting, but chose Ursula Le Guin's Orsinian Tales.  Many years ago I read her Earthsea trilogy (never got into the later iterations of the cycle), and I recall enjoying them very much.  I was not disappointed with my choice.  These tales are unlike her science fiction and fantasy, but are richly woven tapestries from different times and places.  "The Barrow" was quite haunting and evoked my interest in genealogy that takes one back into the Middle Ages.

Reading, exercise and breakfast over, I was on the prowl to get things done.  Checked on the plants now safely corralled in their containers on our 2nd floor deck.  We shall see how the experiment works in the weeks ahead.  Unfortunately, the tree seeds I tried to start never emerged.  I shall have to collect new seed pods as they develop, and try again.

Seedlings Ahoy in Containers on 2nd Floor Deck

 I also picked up where I intended to on Wednesday and finished painting the front porch ceiling.  Weather was just right; hope this sticks for a while.

To round out the late afternoon I mowed the back yard and attended to some weeding and pruning. 

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After dinner I spent time on email and correspondence.  Hit the pillow at 1:15 a.m. and enjoyed the sleep.