Friday, September 26, 2008

Lunch at Lao Laang Xang

Very tasteful, very quiet, but visually interesting. Very nice waitress with a pretty smile. A man came in and sat at a table looking out the window where there were a lot of plants. He pulled out his sketch journal and grabbed a pen and began sketching. He looked nice and seemed like a good person, so when I was done eating I asked to look at his sketch and he asked me if I was artist too when I commented on all of the interesting lines in the plant he had chosen. Very unusual for me! But it felt good. Then I left, thanking him, and that was it.

Monday, September 22, 2008

The Lunch Cart Experience

Okay, so I felt patient enough for my 2 veggie spring rolls again. While I waited, I saw a butterfly (big and monarch-like) fly around and then start climbing upwards. Up, up, up, above the buildings (6 or 8 stories high!) around and swooping and fluttering, out of view, into view. My goodness! I never knew butterflies would fly up that high. What was it looking for? Perhaps the nearby rooftop garden has some attractive flowers. Maybe butterflies enjoy warm sunshine too. Maybe it just liked the view. How wonderful.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Thistle Flower

Took a sunshine and photos walk...

The crickets were very loud! The butterflies and bees were very busy! The sun was bright and the air was warm. I think this video from my little camera is a little blurry but you can still follow the white winged creature.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Connecting with Turkey, the country

Someone in Turkey bought one of my zazzle designs. How cool is that?

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Shopping at the Willy St Coop after work - all by myself

It was so peaceful. So many people smiled at me. I could make choices about what I wanted without interference from outside forces. Fast food that's not full of total crap. Ah. It was a spiritual experience for me...

Find out more:

Monday, September 15, 2008

Lunch with my good friend KB!

It's never too late to celebrate your birthday in my book, so I really enjoyed celebrating my birthday 2 months late today. Here is my beautiful friend's picture. Although it was taken a few (maybe 20) years ago, she looks almost exactly the same due to her healthy lifestyle and kind manner.

Blessed be.




Sunday, September 14, 2008

Was designing a new card...

I was going through lots of photos on the computer and this one made me go - "OOO" so I turned it into a card and added one of my favorite poems.




Saturday, September 13, 2008

Talking with Eden who is turning 6 on the 13th while waiting for lunch

I was waiting for my 2 veggie spring rolls from the cart just off The Square in Madison over my lunch hour yesterday and in front of me in line were a man and his little daughter. The man had many tatoos and he seemed very kind. The daughter had long brown hair and was jumping all over the place. Another man in line in front of me wished her happy birthday because she had one of those birthday star badges on. We all started guessing how old she would be and if she would have cake etc.

Now, let me explain. I like the food at this cart a lot and I think it's probably a healthier choice for lunch than other options, so sometimes I go there. I can only go there when I am feeling patient, though, because they make your order while you wait and the people who work there do not move quickly. No.

They move s-l-o-w-l-y.

I only have, technically, 45 minutes for lunch and it takes me 5-10 minutes to walk there and 5-10 minutes to walk back, so I usually start to feel some anxiety if I have to wait in line for more than a minute and a half for my lunch. But with this place, the people in line are usually so interesting that I use the opportunity to practice being in the present moment. I try to remember to breathe. I really look at the people and things around me. I feel the air on my skin. I watch the clouds move by. I make up stories about the people walking by. I talk to strangers. I even sometimes run through a lovingkindness meditation. Then, when my food is finally ready. I take it back to my desk to sit down and enjoy it as mindfully as I can.

So, even though I think I waited a REALLY LONG TIME for my food yesterday it was quite worth it because I also got to reconnect with the world around me and really APPRECIATE my food. Amen.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Is right now -

Check out this video about enjoying the moment -