clouds
Amazing clouds on the afternoon walk with Benny
Often when I walk Benny, I see interesting clouds. This is one of those times.
I’m reading this book. And finally it is grabbing my attention. Just as she struggled to learn how to meditate, I struggled the same to stay with a book.
** I just found out how difficult it is to copy some text from a SCRIBD book even if you are a paid subscriber **
Just wanted to save some typing while reflecting on this subject. But it is not to be..
“I knew that to eliminate the ‘I want’ frame of reference I would have to become more relaxed — to be a participant in the middle-way, a way that recommends no over-indulgence nor extreme ascetism.”
This resonates with me in my thinking about reading. I found that my mind often wanders when I read. Maybe it’s the fact that I read on my ipad or like now I am reading on my big 27″ apple monitor. The ease of reaching for the keyboard and do some searching in the browser does not help me when I am ready. Maybe that’s why Scribd has a full screen mode so you can focus better. Nevertheless, my mind wanders like hers when she was meditating. Yes, I can gently bring my mind back to the text in front of me, but it is equally frustrating for me as it was for her. And to be honest, this applies to most things we need to focus at hand. I often put audible on and listen to a book while I cook or clean (rare occasion), it helps me finish the physical tasks while engaging my mind. Even then, my mind can wander away from the narrator and go into its own stories. Maybe a few minutes later, I will catch myself and pay attention to the book again.
So the mind wanders often and all the time without our awareness. If we do pay attention to its wandering, we probably will get frustrated often. This is the struggle between ‘over-indulgence’ and ‘extreme ascetism’. The word compromise comes to mind, which means the same as ‘middle-way’ in her book. Also, mindfulness is to be able to observe the mind wandering and detach from it instead of identify with it. The peace and calmness comes from that observing entity which understands that the mind likes to bounce around but it does not need to.
So be kind to yourself. Do not get flustered by the quickness and aimlessness of the mind. It may be the nature of the mind. It may be the animal instinct that has existed in us for generations. Just know that I am not the mind, or the thoughts, or the dreams, I am separate from them. Observe them and let them go.
Yesterday, we went to Whole Foods to get some fruits and vegetables for me to do a few days of raw food/vegetables diet. I have been eating poorly lately, too much meat and not enough vegetables. Watched some raw food lifestyle youtube videos and got motivated to go back to it for a few days. Really want to lose a few pounds that have been accumulated around the tummy. At the check out, saw Elim called and sent a text to wish me happy birthday. Surprised to remember that it was my ‘real’ birthday and I totally forgot about it. She didn’t. This made me both pleasantly surprised and happy. Didn’t even get upset for me forgetting about it or even Leo.
We went to Bahama Breeze for lunch and celebrated the birthday there. The mood was dampened a bit by their really, really slow service. We waited 10 minutes and nobody showed up. I went to the receptionist and asked who our waiter is and that started the ball rolling. But then it took forever for the drinks to come. The waitress asked the manager to come over, she said she had no explanation for the delay and apologized. I asked for some water and that was the extent of their concern. So 30 minutes after we sat down, we finally got our drinks. The margarita flight was ok, looks pretty but the taste was ok. The Ahi Tuna appetizer was really good, and it came with lots of greens. The seafood paella was ok, nothing special either. And the whole service was spotty and slow. Even after the waitress dropped off the take home box, we had to wait a long while and ask for the check. Maybe it’s just a one time deal, but the experience sucked.
When we got home, I took Benny out for a pee, and saw a box of flowers sitting by the door. I knew immediately that it was from Elim. She sent me flowers from “Pro Flowers” to the office when I was working for 2 consecutive days when she knew I was having a hard time at work. She is a sweet daughter. This time it’s from both her and Ryan. Their note was sweet and made me happy. And they called later again too.
It turned out to be a nice surprised birthday. I am still bathing in warmth today. And the number 60 seems to be significant. Feels like I should have done something special about it. Maybe I will. From 9/24 to 11/5 is my birthday ‘period’. I have plenty of time to reflect and do something about it. Wow, 60.
Still trying to find a workflow to insert pictures into the post from lightroom. Drag and drop works on the Add New Post page, but it isn’t set as the featured image. There isn’t an option in the image upload window to set it. Have to manually set it from the post.
Benny’s hair was getting matted and dirty, so I scheduled an appointment for him today at 7am. Talked to Leo and he said he would be up anyway so he can take him and get it over with. Leo got up later than he usually does after 6am. And when he went to wake Benny up, he wasn’t moving or responding. He called and touched Benny, still nothing. Leo got concerned and woke me up to check on Benny. I was scared and worried at the same time. I went down by Benny and patted him and called him. He felt warm and after a few seconds I can hear his very quiet breathing. And within seconds, I felt he started to wag his tail and woke up. Boy, were we relieved to see him wake up. But this scare interrupted both of our equilibrium for the morning. We didn’t settle down till after lunch.
Benny looks good with his haircut and was happy when he got home. Now he is looking at me to go and give him his chicken dinner and a walk. All is normal.
We had a nice lunch at La Shish in Stow. It has a fast food feel and look inside. When we first went in, there was no service people around. We sat ourselves and waited for 5 minutes or so. Almost decided to leave when the owner rushed in and came and took our order. The food tastes good and the hummus was not as sour as Aladdin in Hudson, which means I can enjoy it. Leo found out when he went to pay that the owner was the chef in Laziza downtown Kent. We are glad that we give La Shish a try and will go back again.
Afterwards, we stopped at Corner Coffee. I had a pumpkin Latte, Leo coffee. There were more people today in the cafe, mostly people studying or working on the laptops. The barista was very friendly and we talked about La Shish and Laziza. All in all, we had a good and leisurely lunch.
One of those nice afternoon walk with Benny. Yes, he is 13 and he is not as peppy as a puppy any more. But on a nice day when the temperature is in the 70s, he is happy to go for a walk in the neighborhood, and I am always happier after the walk. I am one of those weird people that do not like to meet other dog and dog owners on the walk. I did meet a few neighbors and we had pleasant greetings, but I would really prefer a walk by ourselves and enjoy the weather, look at the clouds, the sunsets, and just walk quietly and peacefully.
Craving for a good burger today. After a swim at the gym, Leo met me at Flip Side in Hudson to quench the craving. Of course, i forgot to take a picture when the burger came and I couldn’t wait to dig into it. But I managed to at least take this one of the Bloody Mary. Leo was eating the olives, bacon and pickles that came with it. I just enjoyed the alcoholic drink, as I do. The burger was very good, with a side of sweet potato fries. We both think that Flip Side has a better burger than Bar 145 downtown Kent now. Don’t know what happened to Bar 145, they used to have very good burgers and bone marrow on the appetizer menu. They took the bone marrow out and the burger is bland even with all the fancy things you can choose from the menu for your customized burger. The main thing just isn’t up to par, at least in the past few times we went. We stopped going there. Flip Side though is still good along side with Louie’s in Akron. Leo still likes Louie’s the best even though it’s the greasiest with a bar sitting and small parking lot. The bottom line is we can ignore those things when the food is good.
We were at Panera getting some lunch. Just a day of leisure in our retirement life. As usual when I point the camera at Leo, he tensed up and I got an awkward picture of him. As he looked away, I snatched this one. You don’t quite catch Leo in this state, as if he is deep in thought. He cares about the person in front of him, so he doesn’t go into deep thoughts with someone around. But I got a glimpse of him in that state accidentally.