Rounding Up.

            On my bike ride this afternoon it was chipper day, they were out in droves. (Or perhaps only several within my 5 mile Route.)  The chainsaws have all done their work, now it’s time to grind up the leftovers.  There was also a table saw out on a guy’s driveway.  He was sort of planing his windfall limbs.  Cool way to use them.

           Just a few doors up, on top of a neighbor’s house, stood a roofer, with a blow dryer in one hand and a piece of chimney flashing in the other.  Obviously he needed to heat that to make it stick properly.  This is a duplex which Daniel and I have been monitoring for months.  They originally had old (and apparently leaking) shake shingles.  Up until just the other day they had a massive blue tarp.  They now have a new composite roof.   Evidently all nicely heat sealed.

            And when I came home, there was a yummy wheat berry salad in our kitchen!    I love this recipe, but we now kind of make it similar to the couscous one.  They are enough alike that switching a few ingredients around just makes it better. 

             (No, I can’t find it anywhere in this messy place that is my internet home.  I’ve looked.  If you REALLY need it this one is by a guy named Steve Petusevsky and it was in the Parade magazine months ago, or even longer.)

            It doesn’t look quite THAT green in real life.  This time we substituted orange juice for the ginger ale in the dressing, because that’s what we had.  And put golden raisins instead of cranberries.  (You can also plainly see that we tossed in some broccoli and cauliflower bits with a few small carrots, none of which are called for.)  When we find great ideas like this it makes it super simple to stay with the programme.

             As I said in the comments a few days back, I waver.  The issue is not about whether this is a good plan, it is.  It’s about whether I can stick to it, I mostly can.  With help.  Dan is VERY supportive.  Like with this salad, for example.  He had enough time while I was out on the bike, before he had to dress for work, so he put it all together.  The WAY we eat is wonderful, it’s more about my mood, not the food.

             Today was fine though.  Tomorrow will be fine as well, even though we’ll be out for dinner.  The entire concept of this is flexible.  Simply eat what is best for you when you are hungry.  Not what’s easiest or when you’d usually sit down to a meal.  And do it mindfully. 

             One more item, then on to our cards.  I hope most of you are checking in with Matt Kailey’s Tranifesto site on a regular basis.  He always has informative and interesting things to say.  And his readers are very cool too (not at all surprisingly so much like JulieLanders).  This week he announced that his new book is now available.  Here’s the post about it.  I love the title and can’t wait to read it.  His first one is absolutely terrific.

“Change  ~  X  ~  Major Arcana

Time repeats itself . . . that’s why Buddhists call it the wheel of life and death – the wheel of time.  It moves like a wheel: birth is followed by death, death is followed by birth; success is followed by failure, failure is followed by success . . .

The symbol in this card is an enormous wheel representing time, fate, karma.  Galaxies spin around this constantly moving circle, and the twelve signs of the zodiac appear on its circumference.  Just inside the circumference are the eight trigrams of the I Ching, and even closer to the center are the four directions, each illuminated by the energy of lightning.  The spinning triangle is at this moment pointed upward, toward the divine, and the Chinese symbol of yin and yang, male and female, creative and receptive, lies at the center.

It has often been said that the only unchanging thing in the world is change itself.  Life is continuously changing, evolving, dying and being reborn.  All opposites play a part in this vast circular pattern.  If you cling to the edge of the wheel you can get dizzy.  Move toward the center of the cyclone and relax, knowing that this too will pass.

Postponement  ~  4  ~ Clouds: The Mind

Tomorrow never comes, they say, but no matter how often it is said, it seems that most of us tend to forget the truth of it.  In fact, the one and only result of postponing things is a dull and depressing feeling of incompletion and ‘stuck-ness’ today.  The relief and expansiveness you will feel once you put aside all the dithering thoughts that are preventing you from acting now will make you wonder why you ever waited so long.

Politics (r)  ~  7  ~  Clouds: The Mind”

             In this case I’m going to give you the definition for that last one.  As I read it over I wasn’t entirely happy with how the wording was done.  It’s, obviously, about being two-faced, and how this is something that we always need to be aware of.  Since we’ve been given this one in the Contrary position I feel that it’s what we already know.

              The overall focus of this trio is clear and concise.  We are in the midst of great change, and yet we drag our feet.  Still.  The retrograde aspect of where we sit has something to do with it too, as does the Dark Moon, and the other factors I was feeling yesterday.

              When we SEE who we are, and how we are accomplishing our lessons, we are right away making advances.  When we delay or argue or battle against what we know is our next best step we are just making our learning that much more difficult.  We’ll, without a doubt, have to do it all over again later.  (Gah!  To me, this is truly a miserable prospect.)

             So we need to jump into the middle of that Wheel, and as was recommended, ride it out.  Joyfully making our decisions quickly and happily.  Being our own true selves and not spending confused time inside our own heads.  When we get out and embrace the next part of our cycle we spiral up.  Higher, and with a much better view.

Today’s Deck:

Osho Zen Tarot