I've been back home for almost two weeks after being in California for two weeks. When I left I wasn't sure whether Spring would move into summer and whether the vegetables would ever grow. When I got home the local flora took off, with the warm loving vegetables still hanging back. What it did mean was that there was a lot of weeding and pruning to do and a lot of the grasses in our little meadows going to seed at five feet in height. I think I'm caught up now, especially after getting the John Deere going with help from our neighbor Mike, and we finally have warm weather. The tomatoes and peppers are now growing and we're feasting on various greens from the garden. Buying produce is becoming a memory.
The chickadees that were working on a nest in the lawn post gave up that task, I do hope they found a better place. The hen house chickadee chicks have fledged as have the house wren chicks. I keep finding new wasps nests and butterflies galore are dancing through the garden. The woods continue to be alive with many different birds' songs and we find new wildflowers all around.
We've had no new episodes of hens eating eggs, so I'm relieved, but I have a deepened awareness of the wheel of life and death and my place within it.
The Sunday before last we went to a Jukai ceremony at Empty Field Zendo where Patricia, who sits with us Tuesday morning, received the precepts. It was a wonderfully powerful and intimate affair and moving as these ceremonies always are. Patricia is a student of Seido Martin, a lay transmitted disciple of Kyogen Carlsen. Kyogen was there and it was good to get to meet him and have the chance to talk to him. There is good strong practice happening up this way and we are gradually getting to meet what is becoming our extended Oregon sangha. So much is opening up as we establish our own practice here. All this with no planning.
