Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

The rain rolled out of town along with the APEC delegates as well. A second sparsely attended roam on Saturday afternoon was delayed a quarter hour or so while we waited for a downpour to abate; when it did, we had a mostly dry time of it until a few blocks from the end, when we got quite soaked. Again, the moments of sitting on rocks in a high place watching the shifting skies made it worthwhile. 

Since then, clear skies and seasonal chill outside of the middle of the day. I have managed to take most of the week off, which I am tempted to say is a much-needed break. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say a welcome round of lazier days around the traditional American holiday.

These past three months, I have been in a deepening new relationship, for the first time since before the pandemic (my feeling has been that, like pregnancy, it is best not to talk about new relationships for the first few months). Tuesday was the person-in-question’s birthday, which she likes to celebrate with indulgence, so we had an afternoon at the Kabuki Spa and baths, where I got an excellent, and definitely much-need shiatsu massage, and we lounged in and around the baths without worrying about the passing of time (though we did have to go back and feed her dog). On Thursday she set off on a long-planned trip, so I went with her to the airport, and then came back for a very relaxed Thanksgiving gathering with a similar group of Zen Center friends as the last two years.

Looking back at the posts I wrote then, I see the holidays were intertwined with bike rides. I did not actually get on a bike between Sunday and Friday this week, which is quite unusual for me, but I will be making up for it over the weekend.