i thank You God for most this amazing

day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

E.E. Cummings

Gluten-Free Orange Scented Cornmeal Hotcakes
makes 4 big cakes, recipe can be doubled w/out adjustments
(can be made vegan, but you wont get to eat butter)

ingredients:
1 cup yellow plain cornmeal
a little under 1/2 cup of masa de harina*
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 stick) sub canola oil for vegan
1 1/3 cup whole milk sub unsweetened soy/almond/rice milk for vegan
2 tsp orange extract
zest of 1/2 orange, grated
butter/oil for cooking

method:
Combine dry ingredients (cornmeal, masa de harina, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder) and mix well
In a separate bowl whisk melted butter, milk, orange extract, and zest.
Add to dry mix and whisk until smooth, let it sit for a few minutes**
Heat pancake griddle to 375deg. or a large non-stick pan to med/high heat
Melt some butter on that bad boy, and put about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake
Use the cup measurer to tap around the batter to make a circle
Cook until you can see dark brown on the bottom edges of the cake (is important to get it nice and crispy) then flip.
Cook for another 45 sec to minute and serve hot with butter and maple syrup. ( I put strawberry preserves on mine and it was very good)

notes:
*masa de harina is a special type of corn flour used to make corn tortillas. It is available in Mexican grocery stores and most conventional grocers. The common brand is Masa Brosa: Harina de Maiz. It is in a orange bag.
**The batter will thicken up while it sits, this is good. Just tap it around when putting the griddle to make the circle shape. If for some reason it gets too thick or gloppy, add a little milk and whisk well.

A Father requested of his son:
"Bring me a fruit of that large tree."
"Here it is, Sir."
"Break it."
"It is broken, Sir,"
"What do you see there?"
"These seeds, which are very small."
"Break one of them."
"It is broken, Sir."
"What do you see there?"
"Not anything, Sir"
The father said: "That subtle essence which you do not perceive, is the very essence of this great tree. Believe it. That which is the subtle essence, to that all that exists owes its existence. It is the True. It is the Self, and you are it."

-From the Chandogya Upanishad

We're at now, now.

These pictures are here only so I can use the URL to put them in the body of an email to the people who own the land where I live, instead of including them as attachments. They are just showing some of the pear trees after pruning.

This tree is my favorite on the farm. It fell over years ago (now having what I can only describe as a 'pimp lean') but is still doing exceptionally well. It was the most productive pear tree we had last year, and it looks like its straight out of a Japanese tea garden when it is in bloom. Perhaps Ill post some pictures in the spring time of it in its flowery beatitude.


This tree had not been pruned in a long time, and the majority of its branches were completely vertical and far beyond the reach of even Yao Ming on his tiptoes. They also were very tangled which inhibits the air flow that buds need to be pollinated. So we basically capped the top and left only the horizontal branches and older buds. Over the next few years these will bulk up and this tree will be back in action.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
-Kahlil Gibran

Though the branches are hard to see in this photo because they blend in with the blueberry patch just behind, this tree had a similar problem. Far too much vertical growth and tangled branches.

"In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer"
-Albert Camus

And like most things on my blog I cannot help but tie all of this into the bigger picture of what is going on in this thing called Reality.
This Winter I have been thinking a lot about beginnings and endings, sounds and silences, births and deaths; how one implies the existence of the other.

Yet we live in a culture that wants vine ripe tomatoes all year long in the grocery store. We desire to be 'happy all the time' and have every day be lovely and inspiring.
And this is all in good intentions of course.

However it is unreasonable. It is an irrational and dis-empowering view of reality. I think the first step is to accept, wholeheartedly, that everything is perfect. Just fine and dandy.
Yep, all of it.
Even that thought saying, "this isnt perfect you are crazy?!"
that is the perfect thought to be thinking now.
Now I am not saying that it all tastes good- that things like Katrina, cholera, serial killers, etc. are just delightful. No, that is not my definition of perfect.
What I'm saying is imagine if everyone were happy all the time. Could that even exist? How could you call it happy if you had no sad to compare it to?
Imagine if a song had no spaces between the notes. Could you have a melody?
Harmony without discord?
Sages without fools?
Yummy without yucky?

You get it.

Variety is the spice of life! This constant pull of dualism makes the cosmic drama interesting. How lovely it is to watch this Earth reawaken in Spring!
So there is no sense in grieving in its slumber.
There is no sense in grieving in your peculiarities or shortcomings,
for verily they imply your flawlessness.

But this acknowledgment of the wholeness and perfection in duality raises another question:
What is that in which the dualities exist?
What is that canvas on which they are painted?
The substratum that they both grow out of?


I think Ramana Maharshi answered this question when he said:

'Enquiring within Who is the seer? I saw the seer disappear leaving That alone which stands forever. No thought arose to say I saw. How then could the thought arise to say I did not see?'.

ain't no school like the old school

semicolon shift-0

; )