All things change. That is a primary lesson of the Yijing and a primary (philosophical) lesson of bagua. As a result of this uncomfortable truth, attachment is to be let go of or never formed, which is an easier feat to accomplish academically than in reality, like so many other things. Today, fortune has brought to me a change and the opportunity to feel an attachment in a real way, and so I should be grateful. I think I'm sad, though.
We have a couple of trees in our yard that have needed to come down for a while... these not accessible to my sawing powers. In fact, the one I sawed down last summer by hand has decided to mutiny and is growing back as a vibrant and eager bush, so that needs dealing with too. That brought the tree people. Money convinced them to take the trees down. Doing that job the way they do things led to the destruction of something I am apparently quite attached to.
This story doesn't start properly with trees, though. It's starts with rain, lots of rain. It has rained here at least five out of seven days for a month, usually hard. Late last week, for instance, it varied between raining steadily and pouring heavily for around thirty hours straight, followed by some drizzle for half a day and more rain that next night. The river, viewed on my drive to work, which is lowered (via the dams) in the winter was full to its banks. It's rained so much that despite the years-long drought we've been suffering, almost everyone I know wishes it would just stop raining. Rain has consequences less dire than flooding, which due to our mountainish terrain hasn't been a serious problem for the most part. One of those consequences is mud.
I've talked about mud before and how mud ruins my circle. It becomes slippery and dangerous to walk on, besides being an utter mess, our soil being essentially 121% red clay. As everyone knows, clay of any sort, when it gets wet, gets soft and pliant. Pliant enough so that when a big, heavy truck drives across your well-tended, hard-earned circle, it FUCKS IT UP BIG TIME.
So that's that... the circle is in bumpy ruins with tire-tracks all through. What can be done? Dunno... I probably should turn more and think about it.
1 comment:
Hi, Just wanted to let you know that I checked out the blog and really enjoyed it. I'm a member of the Colorado study group and have been studying YSB with Jack Schaffer for the last two years. Its nice to know that there are other people out there with as much enthusiasm for the art as I feel (and who suffer through turning in lion as much as I do). I appreciate you taking the time to write about your experiences and best of luck with your training (which is taking place, BTW, in one of my favorite parts of the country. The mud may suck but at least you can turn outside most of the year.)
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