On August 17, two young men who are expert window installers came early in the morning to install a new window in my bedroom as part of an energy-saving project for all the units in the condominium complex where I live. In order for them to install the window, I had to move my bedroom furniture so that there would be 4 feet of space away from the window, giving them room for them to do their work. I also had to take the first of two days off from self-employment because of the noise involved in the installation and the need to remove furniture at the other end of my home, including the home office where I make my living, so that they could install the remaining 6 windows on August 18. It was 90 degrees on my porch that day. The empty space felt so very peaceful. After the window installers arrived, I left for several hours. Returning to find the new windows installed, I began the process of moving my furniture back into place.
After my home office was set up again, I looked at the empty space remaining and made a decision to let go of the futon couch I bought when I moved here in 1984. That's the futon sitting next to my front door, waiting for the Habitat for Humanity people to pick it up on September 7. What a relief to have more room next to my art and music table in the space where the futon used to be! Then I bought myself a meditative-looking elephant and took a picture of her sitting with the smiling Tyrannosaurus Rex that I bought a year ago when I began the experience of being self-employed. They are sitting on one of the caned chairs that my mother's parents bought when they were first married in the early 1900s. Behind them are the new windows.
The Hebrew letters spell Hallelujah. I especially like the letters that look like two giraffes. On the morning after I put the futon outside my front door, I opened the door and found a package there. Inside was a surprise gift from one of my oldest friends from my growing up years on the San Francisco peninsula -- a peaceful-looking Buddha that she had determined that I might like as much as she had for many years and was ready to let go of. She is the friend who took me to a Buddhist celebration when we were in high school. I found a place for the Buddha on top of the shelves next to my bed and photographed the inscription for her and her husband to translate for me. She hadn't noticed the inscription and was curious to know that it said.
Yesterday was cooler than the previous days. There is that fall feeling in the air. My favorite time of year has arrived.
This morning I finished "Mandala #22: Koan/Prayer For Our Children." It has been almost two months since I began working on it.
May our children be like birds with roots nesting in trees with wings.
August 28, 1963 -- The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom:
