I’ve had a couple of reasons this week to think about how much the world owes to Chinese art and scholarship.  First, when Margaret and I had to deal with a minor flood in the central part of our house from a broken pipe, we had to hurriedly pack away treasures we brought back from the time when we were residents of the Republic of Singapore.  This week, with the floors all mended, we went about the task of unpacking and putting things back in their place.  We haven’t had to hurry to get things back in order; so I’ve been rediscovering some things I’ve loved for a long time.  One is a Chinese scholar carved from ivory in a time long ago when nobody thought elephants could ever be endangered killed for their tusks.

The second sobering reason to be reminded of the contributions by Chinese to American culture has been the death of our friend Jon Lin’s father.  The family came to the United States as refugees from Laos, by way of Thailand.  These folks have been and are model citizens of their new country.  This week we honor the memory of Bounmy Lin.

Crows

They wake me

before I want to be awake

fussing in the ficus trees

behind my house

wondering what black is

and where and why 

I go into it

seems to me to be 

a reasonable way to begin to understand

what 

the crows are saying to each other

or to me.

Happiness is

an evening

with Kai and Nikko

and Alan and victoria...

Nikko and Kai and a friend

Kai

Nikko

Victoria

Alan

Reloading bookshelves... reorganizing... alphabetizing...discarding...

The melaleuca reflects my mood exactly... tomorrow more of the same.

                    Way to Go...

You’ve heard already that physicists have found the elusive Particle that may be a key to understanding how and why the Universe exists. (...a note to all of my colleagues and friends who are English teachers and for others who are fanatical about capitalizing only those things that William Strunk says should be capitalized... I went back and changed universe to Universe because I judge that such awesomeness deserves elevation.) That they’ve actually found Higgs-Boson is a strong maybe... too soon to know for sure; but I’m psyched and can’t wait to hear what the so-called creationists decide to do with the information.  The folks at the creationist museum in San Diego County have come up with an explanation for million-year-old bones, so this new problem should be a piece of cake for them.  There are no signs, however, that they’re giving up the fight to keep alive a core belief among the faithful that everything that exists got its start around sixty-five-hundred years ago.  

Of course, I know the words I read in the New York Times this morning, but I don’t really understand any of it.  Knowing whether the universe is held together by matter or anti-matter won’t change the way I see a fern frond unfolding or a water lily blossom blooming or a street musician strumming and singing.

The Fourth of July

Fireworks

celebrating the 236th Birthday of the U.S.A.

and

Freedom...

Freedom from...

Freedom to...

Freedom for...

Being with friends

and family

and

How elegant bamboo is!
...the most common plant on earth
yet how majestic...
how basic...
Grass.

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” 

                                                                                                St. Paul--  Philippians 4:8

A Dance for the First Day of July