The Importance of Living

I was going to write some serious
and exploratory thing about Relationships beyond Ownership
but to hell with it.

Since I don't know about that,
but I do know about this,
I'll write about this.

This = the importance of living.

I happen to be weird and very lucky.


I think death is great.

You are born.
You live.
You die.

Three miracles in a row,
and always in that order.

So glorious,
and death is the wild card, eh,
the sweet lover who says:
get it now,
because now is all you can count on.

And what is it to get
now.

Life.
Get it that we are alive
in this glorious moment.

And this one, too.

And the universe is big.

And there may be others out
there
and there may be angels and fairies
and qoozies and woozies
but in this neighborhood
there are people and plants and trees and a creek and some
air
and some sky
and a bunch of cars
and some bridges
and it's just so f...ing
glorious

So, there you go,
Texas after a rain we've been waiting
for the last three months:
it'll bring the lover and the liver
out in us all,
and
then again:
no matter how shitty the day
our mood
the circumstances,
we are in the middle
of the great

born
live
die

cycle.

that's important.

you can have your miracle
and sense love and live it too

good

asleep awake asleep awake, rain

rain is sweet
the gardens

which for me
is a circle
of dirt
waiting to transform
into
a garden

all getting
water


good

this breath

this breath

is always

well, almost always

followed by another



the rain
one drop
another and another

and usually
it's not forever


we'll see

right now:
as far as i know

the rain
may be eternal

and that's a story

the rain is now

the "move"
is under way

i haven't "done enough"
a story
that causes pain

i can attach
to it
or inquire:

is it true, that i haven't done enough?
can i absolutely know that i haven't done enough?
what are the consequences of attaching to that belief?
pain, worry and distress.
who would i be without believing that story:
curious.
what more to do tonight
what will tomorrow bring
who am i
what is this breathing
and moving all for

life
or worry

love
or stress

now
or
concept

blah
or
blah

and what is the turn around:

i haven't done enough
of watching my mind
get me into the same
old soup

rain
drip
drop

mind
slip
slop


happiness:
always there

like the sun
behind the clouds
on the rainyrainiest day:

hmmm


good

what's with this chi thing?, rumi poem, my poem, la, la

Marlie and Sophie, after Marlie's demo video Saturday

is there chi
yes?
ain't there chi
no?

tai chi
my chi
you chi
chi for two
two for chi
chi gung

gung ho

ho ho

ha ha

if we are alive
and present
and laugh

and
love

does it
matter?
if the chi
is whatever it's purported to
be
or
something
else?

---

Rumi poem:

Remember the lips
where wind-breath
originated,
and let your song
be clear.

don't hold back
Be your song

if you don't think
that's enough
so be it

it is

go up on your roof
tops
and get silly:
sing out your song
as if you
belong

to the Universe

(my version)

---

my poem:

raining
and the
pain

is waiting
to ease into
our
forgetting

so
remember
the sun
is shining
behind
each
and every cloud

no silver linings
today

only total
love

and then:
a smile
a sigh
and the day
sinks
into sweet dark night

more water, rumi, learning

i can only do this,
but to a lesser extent,
and so what,
even to know
we have a back
and can bend even a little bit that way,
is to begin to realize
how amazing it is
how amazing it is
how amazing we are
how amazing this
time is

to be in this human
body
for this
short/ long
brilliant
and wonderful
(and awful,
when we let the story
get us down)
life
on
earth
thing


the day is wet
the fingers are cold
the stomach is full

my attention
is now
and then
not now
and back
again:

life on earth

the waters
come
the waters go
the waters come back
again

so be it

how much can we love
this life

---

Imagine a man selling his donkey
to be with Jesus

And now
Imagine him selling Jesus
to get a ride on a donkey.
This does happen .

Rumi

cold, wet, happy

"half backbend," (head under gap) from Chris' SUFIA yoga (Feldenkrais/yoga/tai chi) mix

to be cold
is odd
and often
"unfriendly" feeling

and i/ we
can crank up the heat

in three ways:

on the wall

in the awarenesss
(just noticing where our bodies
are cold
where they are warm,
what the mid zones are where the change
takes place)

in get moving,
and the heat
can come from within:

five pushups
(head loose and free,
pelvis tilted and lifted,
breathing free
as we go)

five squats
one leggged
or two

a little hopping,
skipping
dancing
tai chi-ing around

fun

come to class
Monday
11:15 at Sonoma Ballet Conservatory
and learn at least ten
really fun
ways to get
hotter,
smarter
sexier
stronger

funner

love
chris

oh, yeah:
learning to love
all of
you
more

Yes

Rain as metaphor, and healer and math problem

Sonoma Creek from "Vella" Bridge at 2 PM

RAIN IS METAPHOR AND FOOD AND MATH PROBLEM
As I write this, the rains have been strong all night and are keeping up the downpour today. It feels as if the world is a very wet place, and to me, that feels as if the “holy” often missing in the “holidays” has in a way returned.

Rain can be seen, felt even, as a metaphor: watering the thirsty earth, it is a deep food for our planet and our own inner beings. Without this rain, the grass and trees would wither and die, and so would we. Rain either waters and feeds all the food we eat, or helps create the food of our food.

And our very cells, almost entirely water, hunger for water. To be healthy we need either drink good water regularly, or eat food high in water content, fruits, vegetables where nature has filled the carrot or the apple or the kale or the spinach with water, or soups and kefirs and yogurts, where the liquidness of the food is part of its ease and comfort and deep nourishment.

Our bodies are mostly water, the earth is mostly water, and at some deep level we all understand the healing gift that these heavy rains are bringing.

And then, on the another “practical” level (as if maintaining the life of our cells and our health by taking in lots of water or water rich foods isn’t “practical” enough), these rains bring snow to the Sierras, which as high mountains near a wet west coast, are the snowiest places in the world. Not the coldest. Not the highest. But the best situated to take advantage of the world’s weather moving east and the water richness of ocean based storms.

The mountains soak in the snow and our roofs push off the rain. And how much rain is falling on our roofs? Here’s the math part, and a fun game: a cubic foot of water comes to 7 and a half gallons (7.5 gallons). A cubic foot of water means one square foot at the bottom, by one foot high. So if it rains three feet of water during the winter, and we have a thousand square feet of roof, that is 3000 cubic feet of water. More math: that three thousand feet times seven and a half, comes to 24,500 gallons of water. And as the roof gets bigger, more water is coming, so that a building with a four thousand foot roof print would meet and run off almost a hundred thousand gallons of water each year (in three feet, or 36 inches, of rain).

Too much math? Go back to thinking of the earth and your cells and the oceans and organic life’s sweet and intimate relationship with water. If you can stand a little more, think about an acre. An acre, if covered with one foot of water, comes to about a third of a million cubic feet of water (also called an acre foot of water). So three feet of rain in a year on one acre comes to a million gallons of water. And so, a nine acre Plaza, or any nine acre parcel of land, receives 9 million cubic feet of water in a year of 36 inches of rain.

That’s a lot. How are we storing the Plaza’s water, and the water in our hills, and off our roofs, and that falling in our yards and gardens and streets and parking lots? That might be a good question, eh?

dark day, rain play

wet day, grey, say "Hey"

remember when you were a kid
and didn't care if you were
"hungry"
because you were running around
doing something you enjoyed?

(the old,
having fun
idea
without any organizers,
plans,
or prerequisites)

you vaguely knew that lunch time
had come and gone
and so what
you were "into" whatever it was

today like
that
plants
from this place of Studley st
or from the Garden Park
out to the new place
we are moving too

not many plants
but loving
the idea
that all this buzzed about rain
will wash them
into their new
home
happily
wetly

anyway

came home "late"
and "starved"
and then did 20 minutes
play/ move/ learn / yoga/ feldenkrais
that felt good

then food wasn't bad
at the end
of all that

and life
was at the center
and food
fed me

Happy Thursday

we won't do this in Sufia Yoga,
and you can get closer and closer
much more easily and faster if you join the Sufia Yoga fun

cold after the rain
sweet and clear
winter is finally here

and the waters
sweet waters
good for us

and the christmas thing
how slow
can we go

how often
to remember our breathing

how exciting
to sense
our worry or hurry
and come out of that
into noticing
feet and ground and gravity

and ribs and belly and breathing

and necks and heads free and light

all good

all now

all wonderful

---

more on Sufia Yoga,
later,
hopefully a free new year's day class

we'll see

Sunday in the Days of Our Lives

rain yesterday
sun today

"lots to do"
or
lots "to do"
today

almost tired
"thinking" about
it

and to come back
to sensing
and now

one breath
at a time
and
there is
just
this "to do"

be
alive
and
know
i am
we are
alive

Wet Saturday and it's always...

more Marlie pics at marvelousmarlie.blogspot.com

wet saturday and it's always...

now

one now:
cold feet
and long time at the desk
typing

another now:
bottom on chair

or:
window
up there
if i raise eyes:
more light

or:
feet on floor,
cold or not cold
gravity
bone
reality


and hey,
now i can
follow my breathing
and the feet
are part
of the whole
bodymindbrainme

what is me??

what is you??

same?
different?
one?
Many?
any
way...

this body thing
some say
body not real
hmmm

i like sensing
this body thing
real or not

brings me
home to
now
which is
real
or not real

real as experience
yes

and real as
a word
concept
nonsense
or not

as a an idea

ideas can lead
us to freedom
or slavery

chose
freedom

love

and

connection to nature

big nature: rain
clouds,
hidden sun,
earth,
growing
trees

small earth:
our real or unreal bodies:
hearts
blood
minds
brains
hands
feet
hot
or cold
it's life

i am
when
i know
i am

love
chris

God, she giggles, sometimes

when it rains
the skies are dark
the clouds are thick
the water wet

and behind
it
all
the sun
shines

and when
we suffer
sorrow
or angry
or angry to hide
our sorrow

behind
it all
forgotten:
joy,
love
release

and sometimes
God
watches
waiting
patiently
for us
to wake up and fall
back in love
with Everything

and sometimes
She just has to giggle
almost uncontrollably
( sweet sometimes)
at how
worked up we get

about
nothing

The Known World

the world
is known in little bity chunks
and we think
we are gods,

but to know this:
the smile of a child
the glistening leaves after a rain
the light shining off a nearby rooftop
the hum of a bee
the chatter of a batch of birds
the sweet smell
of the air
in the early morning
or after a rain

or in the early morning
after a rain

to take a walk
and feel our feet touching the ground
and our spines holding us up into
the heavens

or a doze
in the middle of the day
after working hard
in a garden
for two days
getting ready for a
Big Event

my heavens
what a world
and how
much do we have to know
anyway
really
to be
happy??

Happy Rain, Happy Equinox, Happy Saturday

well
that about says
it
all
doesn't it

and what
would
it
all
be?

any
way
you squeeze
it
life is

and we
are either
with the is
or
we
ain't

so
paint the sky
grey
and blue
with your sweet
eye brains
mind the
tulips
of springs
to come

and come
on outside
and love
it
all

what
ever
it
all

is that
you
or
me
or
we

or
weeee???

Rain, Sun, new Thursday

Oregon summer,
looking a little like California fall

Well
yesterday
it looked like rain
and i bet
it wouldn't

and it did
a
little

so i lost
the wish full thinking
bet

not the first time

anyway,
that put me in gear
literally
this morning
and i rode
out to the garden
and retrieved
some drying fruit
that we'd rescued
from the windfall
that usually just
gets heaved
in the compost

rescued
the drying apples, and pear apples
and peaches
and brought them
home

and almost got them
sorted out
in time
to watch
the beautiful
warm
clear
sun
come on
back out

oh, well

life is good

things shift

soon to go to talk
part education
part slow food

if you want to experience
slow
and learning
and haven't tried
the the Feldenkrais Method®
yet

check out the link
to desk trainer
over on the side

or,
just start moving
really slowly
and imagine
a movement
you have never
done
before

that accentuates,
of complicates,
or expands
the movement you started with

how
do you
do
that?

find
out,
i guess.

or come to one of my
Mat Discovery classes,
Saturday, 10:45 AM
Monday, 12:15 PM
Monday 6:30 PM

see more via current classes link at side
or, heck,
push this Fall Classes

Hello Rain

Hello Rain
it's good to hear you
and see
you
again

thanks for visiting us
one more time

Wet Winter, Dry Summer: All about the rain

WATER IN THE WINTER, DROUGHT IN THE SUMMER
In the winter the skies open, the water pours down and people try their darndest to get rid of the stuff. In the summer, the sun shines, and shines, and shines, and the drought and dry come to visit, and suddenly: not enough water. Foolish? Stupid? Let’s just say, short-sighted.

How much water comes a calling in the average winter? (And the present one is way over the top, isn’t it?). 3 feet of rain in average over our watershed, and that’s convenient, since three feet of water on an acre is about a million gallons of water. Our watershed being 110,000 acres, that means the average winter rains are 110,000 million gallons. To wit: 110 billion gallons of water a year. (Or, 330,000 acre feet). Lots.

On the Plaza alone, using a reduced 30 inch average of rain for the city here, we receive 7 million gallons of rain. Lots.

And on a large sized city lot of 10,000 square feet, the rains bring over 200,000 gallons ( on lots you use the one cubic foot of water is 7.5 gallons figure). Lots even on lots.

So what’s the obvious solution? Save it in the winter? Right-o! Cisterns. Dry wells, a reverse well into which water is pumped all winter: these allow water to percolate back out into the soil and into the creeks in the summer, when it’s needed. In the hills, streams can be slowed with low tech solutions: fallen trees and boulders do just fine.

Also in the hills, swales would be swell. Swales, a concept the permaculture folks borrowed from a WPA experiment (wildly successful) in the 30’s, are long ditches dug ( by hand or dozer) along the contour on a hillside. Since they are on grade, all the water running down the hill has a chance to slow down, hang around and percolate into he ground.

Over the years, the zones just downhill from the swales become saturated with water, and even in desert climates, over time deeply shading trees can be grown there. Around here, the first three or four rows of vines below a swale ( which are put in about every 50 to 100 yards) could be free from irrigation. These swales obviously help with erosion, too.

So the sky has the rain and the land takes some, the trees need some, the vineyards and farms and pastures need some, but lots nowadays washes away in the winter into the creeks when they need it least. Meanwhile the humans in the Valley use less than 5 % of the amount of water that falls from the sky ( the City water district and Valley of the Moon District together use 6,000 acre feet a year, which is 2%), but we get very little of it from the sky, from our own watershed. No, we are busy robbing the watershed of the Russian River, a short-term solution that ignores our natural bounty.

Is this foolish? Stupid? No, just short-sighted.

Chris Elms
Sonoma, 996-1437