Diamond Lights

It's a fabulous fall day! I can still say that can't I? Despite the vast accumulation of snowfall throughout the Northlands winter solstice is still a week away.

Early afternoon temps climbed to 21 degrees and bright glorious sunshine filled the atmosphere. I practiced TCC late in the morning after sunlight burned nighttime's tender layer of twinkling frost off tree limbs. As I moved, though, a diamond field glowed around me. Bright glints of light sparked out of the cool blanket of white that lay draped across the landscape.

At the beginning of my practice I stepped forward into sunshine that shone through the patio door. It wasn't long before I stepped backward into the deep shade of the room as my body grew uncomfortably hot. Yet, throughout the movements of the form I stayed soft, soft, soft.

I watched a half dozen blue jays flock around the feeder while chickadees (and one woodpecker) flitted among them. It looked like a free-for-all: flying, landing, playing, feeding, teasing, and chasing. Such joy! Was it my joy or theirs? That question reminded me of a Taoist Mondo from The Little Zen Companion (p. 372):

     One day Chuang-tzu and a friend were walking along a riverbank.
     "How delightfully the fishes are enjoying themselves in the water!" Chuang-tzu exclaimed.
     "You are not a fish," his friend said. "How do you know whether or not the fishes are enjoying themselves?"
     "You are not me," Chuang-tzu said. "How do you know that I do not know that the fishes are enjoying themselves?"

Was it my joy or theirs? Who cares?