A Night Out

This evening I went to a beautiful orchestra concert. I meant to go alone, but it turns out that isn't easy when you know several people who are much more into music than you. I did take some time before the concert started to write a short scene. (That story in a monastery is still forthcoming)


There's an interesting mix of people at an event on a campus. Young and old, dressed up and down, they're all here. The lobby is filled with chatter and anticipation. Laughter, intellectual discussions, joy, and even questions about grading abound. The lights are bright, allowing me to see everything.

People continue to mill about in pairs or groups. They greet acquaintances and close friends - it's hard to tell the difference in an open public place like this. Introductions are made, awkward small talk follows. Someone walks in, glancing around. She smiles and waves - she's found the person she's looking for. The quality of the murmuring changes. There's an uptick in volume and then things die down, the doors have opened at last. The crowd thins out, but not everyone leaves just yet. A few groups remain, some talking to performers who have joined them and others just lost in their own conversations. these have moved beyond small talk to something worth staying for.

Eventually it's time for even the stragglers to move toward the concert hall. The lights are dimmer, and the noise of the chatter has increased. If I close my eyes it washes over me in waves, an ocean made by people. The orchestra begins to move on to the stage and gather their instruments. At first very few people pay attention, but then the tuing begins and the noise of the audience dies down - only to be replaced with notes over a hundred years old, filling my ears once again.


-Kat

Morning Prayer

Last night I had a dream about writing a story set in a monastery, and it was really interesting, so I decided to write it. Just not today. Today, like all Wednesdays, was a busy day, so I got very little writing done. I do promise a story with a monastic setting in the future though!

What about today, you ask? Well my mind and body have been at church for a good bit of the day, so I decided to make a page of a prayer that's important to me. I enjoy written prayers, and this is one I found recently that I think is very good. It's by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

-Kat

For a Cold Day

I have a cold at the moment, so tonight I needed something hot and spicy to eat. I made chili for the first time in my life!

It turned out quite well and, at least for awhile, it cleared up my sinuses. All in all a good recipe, and in case you want to make it yourself, here it is!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1 (28 ounce) can canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 (16 ounce) can canned kidney beans - drained, rinsed, and mashed
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Place turkey in the pot, and cook until evenly brown. Stir in onion, and cook until tender.
2. Pour water into the pot. Mix in tomatoes, kidney beans, and garlic. Season chili powder, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.

-Kat

What I Saw

Today I walked across large sections of campus three times, at three very different parts of my day. That and my very busy day inspired this series of haikus.


Many coffee cups,
Last minute paper printing,
A friend studying.

High-schoolers touring,
A store - empty and moving,
Impromptu football.

Welding arcs sparking,
Twilight falling on the pond,
A boy and his dog.


-Kat

Long Day

Today was a longer day than I was expecting, so all I have to give you today is a haiku about my morning walk to church.


The day starts out cold
Church is a mile away
The walk warms me up.


More tomorrow.
-Kat

First Present of the Season

Christmas is still a long way off, but I started preparations for it this evening. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and a couple of years ago I bought a kit for knitted Christmas decorations. I haven't finished it yet, but I decided to make a start on finishing it for this year. This evening I made a present that can be used as an ornament.

That's a ten pence coin (the same size as a quarter) in the picture to give perspective to the size of my little present.

-Kat

Early Days

Today I wrote another piece for my yoga paper. This one is about my beginnings in the practice of yoga.


When I began practicing yoga it was not quite the experience I find it now. The class was always large and I rolled out my mat in the very back of the studio. The light was dim and the music was soft in every class. As I started I learned that yoga was nothing like I had imagined - it was not easy and gentle, it was stessful and made me sore. But somehow I found myself coming back to every single class. At least once every class the teacher reminded us that yoga is a non-competitive practice.

"Easy for her to say," I thoguht in the middle of Extended Triangle pose. My hand was nearly at my knee as I tried to stretch it lower down my shin, with my other arm reaching up in the opposite direction and my feet spread to each side of my mat. The twist was a difficult one for me as I ried to place my back in the same vertical plane as my legs. My body was a series of triangles, but I thought I looked more like a star broken at the waist and falling over. One of the worst parts of this pose was how easy it made it for me to look around at the others.

It is often easy to see others in yoga as perfect. Not all of them, of course, but just one or two are enough to threaten attempts at non-compettion. Lithe bodies gracefully and easily moved into this same pose, and they could move so much deeper than I could. It was easy for the throught "They are so much better" to become lodged in my mind. Giving myself a mental shake I would let the thought pass and focus on my hand pushing into the air.

This scene would repeat throughout my early practices over and over again, almost with every pose. Yoga is an outwardly silent practice, but that just left the mind to take every thought it created and run with it. Mindfulness and meditation are goals, but not goals that are easily strived for. Yoga is a practice of constant learning and constant trying.

The teacher instructed us to move into the next pose, offering several modifications for beginners and advanced yogis - yoga is a sport entirely based on modification. As I reminded myself to not compare with others and focused on my breath, I chose one of the modifications, moving into the best pose for my own body.


-Kat