Meditations with a snow shovel

Shovel, deer tracks, shadows, and 1 inch of snow

It snowed last night. Nowhere near the dramatic predictions of winter storm Juno, but it snowed regardless. Which meant shoveling.

The title of this blog post is inspired from Mad Men, whose inspiration came from Frank O'Hara (for Mad Men geeks, a deeper dive here and here). Art references and imitates itself, which leads to new derivatives inspired for the next generation. So is art, and so is life.

There is time to contemplate these connections while shoveling snow. Two hours of back-and-forth across pavement with a shovel. Sure, I had music streaming through my smartphone, but that only sets the mood for what is a rhythmic traversing of the driveway. I sweep away animal tracks, whose brief connection to the land vanishes in a pile. Tracks from Deer, squirrels, some strange birds - they use this driveway same as me, albeit with different intentions.

By the time that I finish, I have a clear head. My muscles are thoroughly exercised, and my sensor tells me the effort took over 10,000 steps. Those steps are lost, just like the animal tracks, through the snow that is no longer on the driveway. Such is meditation when it is done.

Comments

Everyday Love Poem to my Wife

Over a year of marriage carries Happiness, love, and sometimes cranberries But eventually the pace slows down, Work intrudes, some days a frown And suddenly the world has changed. What we must do is simply rearrange The days so that other things fit neatly In their own places, and move on sweetly To the beauties of the everyday together. Because there is love everywhere, wherever You shall be - and perhaps also Rosie - This is a good thing naturally, So good to state it thus and remember That only frigid mornings in November Can keep us apart, but only so long As the work day lasts because so strong Is our pact that I worry not a wink - Your loveliness is worth so much, I think.

Muggles...

...is what I tweeted last night after having the privilege of attending a private screening of the movie hours before the midnight premiere. As much as the digital revolution has fragmented the shared experiences that we have, it has also greatly expanded the impact of those events that touch various peoples. Witness Harry Potter. In the pre-digital world, this would have been an uniquely British story about wizards and boarding schools, but it has captivated global audiences and transcended the borders of its now-uber-wealthy writer. We were part of the crowd that spanned the globe to see this movie, which I can say, lives up to the hype. On a Thursday evening, we could watch the lines of children queuing up to get a chance to say goodbye to a childhood growing up with Harry Potter and watching the actor grow from a plump-faced little boy into a serious actor and apparent alcoholic. It did not matter for 2.5 hours in the theater, of a movie that was pretty gripping from beginnin...

In Memory of Rose

Pets have an uncanny ability of ingraining themselves into the fabric of a household, so much so that their disappearance can cause great grief and disorientation to their owners. Such is the case with Rose, who passed from our household on Sunday. An older dog when we took her in to our home last year, Rose was supposedly the runt of her litter, a fact confirmed by her diminutive 5-pound Pomeranian frame - too small for her breed but too big to be classified a "teacup." This suited her just fine, however, as she came to embody a singular personality as a dog among people, often little acknowledging some dogs and appearing frightened by others just as a hesitant human being might act around jumpy canines. Rose embodied all of what defines unconditional love. She was raucous when we would leave the house and even more raucous when we returned, partly due to separation anxiety but mostly due to her sadness and excitement of being around us; she let us know her affection b...

Journal : OpenRoadWorks

Search This Blog