Life and death

As I stood waiting in front of the spice/hutch cell phone guy, I could hear a puppy whimpering. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, and so allowed the sound to fade from my mind. (The heart doesn't feel what the eyes don't see, right?) I wagged my head in agreeance with the man and saw that tucked behind a dirty sign, just outside the doorway was the tiniest little puppy you could imagine. It was trying to snuggle with a straw broom. I felt so helpless. Once, when SO I were first falling in love, we found a baby bird in front of my apartment. SO put it in a box and took it home. He tried to feed it and give it water, but we both knew that it would die. The next day, he found the bird, dead. This year, I saw a nauseating number of dead baby birds littering the sidewalks of new york.

Sometimes people get under your skin like a splinter. You remember rubbing up against wood or something, but didn't see a splinter so you forgot about it. A few days later you have this raised, sore bump and you can't figure out where it came from. Sometimes you pop it and find a splinter and its done. Other times you pop it and it keeps coming back until you find the splinter. In rare instances, the splinter dissolves under your skin so that you have a little brown smudge that marks the spot forever.

It is a beautiful day today. I woke up earlier than I planned and showered, played the harmonium, did some meditation, and felt really peaceful. Gibran told us the other day that every morning he wakes up, looks in the mirror and says out loud, "What an incredibly handsome man!" I'm going to try that. Ha ha!

Practice was really laid back, like swimming. It is work, but you glide through. Back bending was really powerful today. I felt really open in my chest and stood up with decent alignment. I grabbed my calves with ease and my feet were parallel. It felt amazing. Even Sharath said, "much better!"

I'm debating whether or not to go to the pool. I think I shouldn't because I look like that white-butt kid on the lotion bottle. But it is such a beautiful day and who doesn't love jumping in the pool?