"You look cute with your cane."

                                       A SMILE ISN’T FAR FROM A FROWN
             
    Sunday, my meditation group sat together under the willows and redwoods. Nine beautiful women, birds and butterflies and probably some hidden critters -- rats, mice, moles, squirrels and perhaps a garter snake, ants, mosquitoes, and an assembly of icky bugs whose names I do not know.
    It was peaceful, and as always when meditating with kindred spirits, my horizon expands. We sang and I played the harmonium. It isn’t easy sitting on the ground, and the getting up and down part is especially lacking in grace, but I rallied by keeping my left leg extended and limiting myself to one song. There was an array of instruments for those brave enough to play. We sipped tea and devoured ginger cookies and dates. Hearts were one. I read a fable I wrote years ago, The Magic of the Gayatree. Its moral: love prevails and true beauty lies within. Not a new idea, but one often overlooked.
    In twelve days I will be rolled into the operating room. La la la la la. Sing out -- or not.
    Recently, life has come into meticulous focus. This morning, when I ventured out to feed the Koi fish, I noticed hundreds of tiny beads of water decorating the leaves and branches of the bamboo. The huge orange Koi seemed to be lit from within, a neon fish; she took center stage. The other fish, lilies, lily pads and leaves were muted. It was magical.
    Don’t we always wish to live each moment as though it were our last? I’m not being morbid or dramatic but find myself spectacularly aware of the transient fragility of life. I am feeling grateful for my heightened mindfulness and abundance of loving feelings.
     At the end of our gathering, I read aloud from Rumi and Rilke.Then I invited everyone to write down one thing they wished to relinquish, a trait or area of resistance that blocked their happiness.  I plundered my psyche for what I might write down, and could come up with not one single item. Unusual for me.
    Somewhere in my core I feel everything is unfolding true to Mother Nature’s plot. Just for today, I am at ease with my dis•ease.
    My friendships are soul sustaining. Our reciprocity of  breath provides a safety net of healing.
    Woven into every aspect of my happiness is my family. They are the shimmering subtle fabric of my life and world.  Their loving is a constant. I can depend on it.
Mumbles offers comic relief with ball in mouth. Flakey remains the princess and reminds me to accept with grace, the love offered, and to rest luxuriantly  -- without guilt.
     *A smile isn’t far from a frown, just one goes up and one goes down.  Everything comes up opposites, doesn’t it? Two halves. One whole.
    Thunderheads are forming. Our hot summer is about to become cooler and the sultry air electrified. I love the scent of first-rain on a hot afternoon on the farm. I also love the city smells of first-rain mixed with buses and cars.
    Let us invite all of life in. Hold each other. Play a skipping game, or skip playing a game if you find yourself in my predicament. Instead, we can untie the seductive shoelaces of a patient friend -- very moist making.
    Now, you must enter the cane naming contest -- please. The reward will be a copy of The Buddha Smiles or Puddle Moon or six greeting cards of your choice, plus I will illustrate the cane by virtue of its name.
    I’ll give you an edge, contest-wise -- a hip tip. To date, entries include: Citizen, Candy, Sugar, Thunder, Nova, Rosemary and Abel.
    With lovingkindess,
                    The Hipster
As I exited my PT’s office yesterday, she said: “You look cute with a cane.”
Go figure.
* © 1964 and 2011 reprinted with permission from Huggs and Kisses and The Po Pages