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Post by nana on Jun 27, 2017 19:58:45 GMT -5
PS. That's my Arkblack apple tree in the back yard in front of the mass of yellow evening primroses, for those of you that have one too.
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Post by mach12 on Jun 27, 2017 22:20:35 GMT -5
Looks great! Those blocks were a good choice.
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Post by pooka on Jun 28, 2017 6:10:54 GMT -5
That does look great. I'd be proud to have a wall like that out front along the sidewalk. Give it a year or two for things to fill in, & it'll look like it's always been there. You must be doing something right to coax that one peony bloom out after their trauma of being out of the ground so long. I'd take that as a good sign of better things to come. I admire your gardening acumen to get things back together so quickly.
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Post by nana on Jul 4, 2017 8:33:05 GMT -5
Gardening is my zen. Which is hard to believe when you see me all sweaty and filthy and sunburned and covered in insect bites. Meditation is all about being in the moment, though, and whether you achieve that mindfullness sitting and listening to the sound of your breath or pulling weeds and shoveling compost is immaterial. I bet for some of you handy folks out there, restoring a Chambers is your zen. I read about all the work it takes--sanding and painting, and tapping out rusted bolts, and so on, and I marvel that anyone would do that, apparently for fun because there's no gun being put to your head. But if you have the desire and the know-how, and if when you do it you are just focused on what you are doing and time just slips away, then it's meditation, and it's good for the soul. Like they say, to each his own!
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Post by pooka on Jul 4, 2017 11:09:42 GMT -5
I suppose Zen can be anything that focuses the mind to the point where all extraneous thoughts fall away & your mind is set free to roam, even at the same time as your hands & focus are on performing a task. It's a duality that exists in the same moment.
I get this often at work as I furiously tear though a pile of dirty dishes & pans. Each tray of utensils is an infinitely variable puzzle of given parts. Each has a symmetry or asymmetry. It's never just a pile. You develop patterns & methods that become second nature to be done by rote. Yet as I'm focused on not wasting any steps, movements or space, I'm composing dialog in my head, or pondering a question. Your body is on the rails of a fixed task, but your mind is free to roam simultaneously.
I suppose it's as the same concept a the Shaker line Said by Mother Ann: ''Put your hands to work, and your hearts to God.'' It's seeking the infinite through mechanical labor to focus the mind.
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Post by nana on Jul 6, 2017 7:11:52 GMT -5
Exactly! I used to work for a beekeeping supply company packing shipping boxes. That was like a puzzle too, trying to fit disparate objects into the smallest box possible so that nothing would break. People would say, oh your job must be so boring putting things in boxes all day. I would say, never. I really liked that job!
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