“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” -Henry Miller (photo taken at Glendalough, Ireland) -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
I had a dream the other night: In the building where we live one of the condos is going to be rented out for a couple of months, so I decide to go take a look at it. When I first walk in, there is a small cramped kitchen with a stairway going up from the middle of the room. I climb the stairs and discover a lovely room up above with floor-to-ceiling windows and a view of some lovely old stone church ruins (similar to the ones I saw in Ireland–photo above is on the Dingle Peninsula) and beyond
A cool event on Saturday my sweetie and I are planning on attending. If you’re in Seattle come join us! August 25: Moon Viewing at the Japanese Garden (Arboretum) 7 to 10 p.m. (Garden will open at 6:15 p.m.) Admission for all ages: $15 / Tea tickets: $10 Enjoy a magical night in celebration of the autumn moon with the garden lit with luminaria, lanterns, and boats afloat on the ponds. View the moon through the powerful telescopes provided by the Seattle Astronomical Society. Participate in a tea ceremony with a bowl of match tea and sweets in the Shoseian
Yesterday my sweet husband started back to work. It was faculty meeting day and today he gets to meet all of his students. I am always a bit sad at the end of summer–we get to spend so much time together and he truly is my best friend so we have a lot of fun, a lot of time to play and be. This summer felt especially rich with treasures to explore together. He really enjoys his work, the school where he teaches, his students, his co-workers, but it is hard to transition back to waking at six a.m. while I roll over
“My own belief is that one regards oneself, if one is a serious writer, as an instrument for experiencing. Life—all of it—flows through this instrument and is distilled through it into works of art. How one lives as a private person is intimately bound into the work. And at some point, I believe one has to stop holding back for fear of alienating some imaginary reader or real relative or friend, and come out with personal truth. If we are to understand the human condition, and if we are to accept ourselves in all the complexity, self-doubt, extravagance of feeling,
A year ago today, I spent the day holding our beloved dog Duke as we waited for the vet to come over and put him to sleep. Just a day and a half prior he began to show signs of illness and we discovered he had an aggressive liver cancer that only shows signs when the tumors start to bleed and the animal is near death. It was a terrible day and also a profoundly holy one as I had the privilege of holding his beautiful body as he passed over from this life into the beyond. Duke’s death left
I found this beautiful prayer at The Longer Look: Earth teach me stillness as the grasses are stilled with light. Earth teach me suffering as old stones suffer with memory. Earth teach me humility as blossoms are humble with beginning. Earth teach me caring as the mother who secures her young. Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands alone. Earth teach me limitation as the ant which crawls on the ground. Earth teach me freedom as the eagle which soars in the sky. Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall. Earth teach me
Earlier this summer I watched the film “Children of Men” with Clive Owens and Michael Caine. It is largely a bleak window into a future world where no children have been born for 18 years and everything is largely in chaos. A young black woman becomes pregnant and there is a race to protect and save her. For me, the whole movie was worth this one scene near the end where she walks down the stairs of a ramshackle building carrying her newborn infant. There is a war raging around them as people try and take cover inside the building
I have been tired today and not feeling all that well. It has been a slow day. So I make a simple offering tonight — go over to Anchors and Masts where Tess has created a beautiful video of images from Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries. It really is worth the click over (I am even too tired to figure out how to embed it here) and the four minutes of viewing time. Turn up your volume and listen to the lovely song as well. Peace to you this day. -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
Perhaps the most stressful part of our entire trip to Ireland in June was the driving and navigating. It wasn’t so much driving on the opposite side of the road, as the fact that almost all of their roads are extremely narrow. Every time a truck or bus came the other way I cringed, sure that there was not enough room to get by. And every time we drove through a town we would lose track of the road signs telling us which way to continue on to our destination. My husband did all of the driving, mostly because we had to
