Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

When we moved into our new place, it was the week of the summer solstice; sun poured into the back yard and through the kitchen door. Six months on, it barely gets high enough over the neighbouring buildings to brighten the yard for an hour. When we walk the dog in the middle of the day, she will sit in front of a garage door in the sun to warm herself up. I don’t mind sitting with her for five minutes or so.

We have rain in the forecast again, but it has been dry, with some very hazy air, and poor air quality. I have also been feeling a little below par myself – I was around someone who had tested positive for COVID last week, and although they were wearing an N-95, I felt a little uncomfortable with the situation. 

A couple of days later, my stomach was unsettled and I felt I was fighting something off. No real symptoms beyond a low-grade headache and feeling tired. I had noticed that I hadn’t had the energy to ride to work particularly quickly. I tested negative for COVID a couple of times, but over the weekend felt tired as soon as I exerted myself. Apart from the roams – when I laboured a little up the hills with the dirty air – I rested as much as I could.

On Monday, I didn’t feel up to riding across town in the evening for my student group, so for the first time, I just joined on Zoom. I took Tuesday off as a sick day, something I very rarely do. Between that day and a fairly light day on Wednesday – when I nearly fell asleep watching some football in the afternoon – and many nights of sleeping longer than usual, to the extent of waking up after six o’clock several times, I feel more or less back to normal again. 

This weekend is supposed to be wet, so I doubt I will ride much. I will have a long day going down to Tassajara for the shuso ceremony on Monday, but then soon enough we will have a nice break for Christmas. Then we will be flying off to England on Inauguration Day, so perhaps will be spared the worst of that drama in the short term.