Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post 2092: In praise of a clear afternoon in winter.
Taken on the delta at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, January 2016.
Post 2091: Sitting with discomfort.
If meditation has taught me one thing (or started to anyhow), it’s that sitting with discomfort is possible. And more than that, it’s often desirable. When we sit with discomfort without immediately trying to rectify it, we learn more about the cause, and we stop ourselves from doing more damage in the process of trying to fix it. I think about this a lot, both when I am successful at not responding to a trigger, and when I am not. Especially when I am not.
After two (plus) years of meditating through illness, exhaustion, and occasional distress, I’ve noticed bit by bit, that it’s become easier to be uncomfortable psychically and physically in my everyday life. I don’t mind being caught out in the rain quite as much, I don’t have to scratch every itch, I don’t have to respond to every hurting thing. It makes it easier for me to imagine riding my bike to work in the winter, I don’t care so much about letting go of friendships that have gone sour. Which isn’t to say that none of these things affect me – I am no master of detachment after all! But I am a little less impacted, and when any feeling (good or bad) arises, I am able to mind the state I’m in with greater attention. Not to mention with wider perspective. Which in itself is a kind of relief – this ability to get outside of my own state a little bit and just witness it.
And speaking of meditation – is there anything more zen than a heron? I think not.
Photos taken at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Ladner, BC this past weekend.
Post 2090: First finished of the new year (sweater!)
It still needs a soak and a blocking, but I’m proud to announce the finishing of my first-even knitted sweater! I’ve crocheted a few (three successful, one not so much), but I really wanted to get a knit sweater under my belt since learning how to knit in June (I started the sweater in August). This has some issues – I’m not sure what exactly possessed me to start with a fingering weight pattern on size three needles as my first project – and you can see a map of my stitching improving as I go. But it’s *so* soft (Cascade Heritage) and it fits me in a nice, relaxed way. The sleeves are longer than the pattern called for (I believe it should have had 3/4 sleeves) so I really should have done another couple decrease rounds on the sleeves towards the wrist – but I do like that they are loose and easily rolled up.
All in all, this sweater makes me happy, and though it won’t win any knitting awards, it has an immediate spot in my wardrobe. Now that this is finished, I get to start on my next sweater project which I am lucky enough to be knitting in Brooklyn Tweed (for my husband’s birthday in May). Between that and working on the second Aspen legwarmer, I’ve got my needles pretty full for awhile.
Post 2089: I did the thing I said I was going to do (cycling)
Actually, I did two of the things I set out to do in the new year – started a weaving class (last week, I’ll make sure to take pictures of this week’s class and then write about it), and I bought a new bicycle!
Pictured above, it’s now also got fenders and a rack on it – I picked it up yesterday (Sunday) and rode it home! Then I took it out this morning and rode 15 km on the Central Valley Greenway (that most urban of urban trails through the industrial wilds of Burnaby).
This is the first *new* bike I’ve ever owned – and it fits me perfectly. Also rapid fire shifters (which I’d never seen before) make shifting gears way easier, which means that for the first time in my life I am learning how to use gears while cycling. I can already see how that makes it much easier to up hills (yes, I am late to this party).
Big happy shout outs to Carmen at Bicycle Buddah for helping me buy a bike that fits me (she test rode with me which really helped me understand what to feel and look for on the bike), and to SideSaddle Bikes who are a pretty new shop and specialize in bikes for women (I am their first bike purchase of 2016!)
I’ll start riding to work in the next week or so, once I get a tail light and a couple of clothing items to make it easier on me in the rains of winter. All that said, I’m going to do this thing that I said I would do and start cycling to work – after all I’ve already done the thing to facilitate it by buying a bike that is all my own and suited to me!
Red Cedar 