Today,  a perfect Practice.  Two Things present.  Two Things become something Entirely Different.

It was work away  at the Once a Month Peggy place,  and even though she is a perfectly Excellent person,  i really do NOT like cleaning for her.  And no need to detail why,  i just DON'T.  But i am.

so.

off and on in the hours i was there,  thoughts rose as they do in waves and today were replaced by

Cleaning.

   As soon as the "conversation in my head between THOUGHTS,  not even me involved , really,  just the Thoughts talking,  i would simply label that,  or name that,  Thoughts, and replace with the focus word, Cleaning.  And so time sped by and i was Done and i could  Flee,  which i did and stopped by the Old Cowboy's for a minute where thoughts again began their conversation in my head and i noted this and replaced by Visit.  

In both cases,  i would turn my attention to the Breath.  to Breathing.  As Salzberg says,  Breathing is our Friend.

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Home and a short nap.

Waking from the nap by WIND.  HUGE and CRAZY WIND….as was predicted by Accuweather.  Here it was/IS still….seemingly from all directions at once…Crazy   and again,  Perfect Practice.

Just the word WIND.        NOT ….JEEZ,  it's May and this Should have happened in March and be over with by now,  what about all those lingering baby apricots?,  they can't withstand this, and maybe it's today that that weak part of the fence will crash,  i should have taken care of that, but HOW?  who will i get to help me shore it up with that LOOOONG 2×4 that i haven't even bought yet,  WHY? and maybe Margie's granddaughter can help, she's only 9 but she can hold up the opposite end and  Blah Blah Blah

so i just say WIND.

i watch the doe goats who RUN back and forth from the Albatross  through the Migratory Corridor in to the Way Back then back…FAST,  they run back and their tails are like flags

WIND.  it's just WIND.  

and i remember reading about how  Pliny the Elder, AD 23 – Aug 25 AD79 , a Roman Naturalist,  Natural Philosopher  advised to bring the mares in during times of wind like this because they by nature turn their butts into it and can become impregnated by that WIND,  and so bear offspring that are extremely FAST,  but not long lived and i wonder about Goats….it's a better thought than the Add Ons.

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and i look and look at shreds of Cloth,  it's Elegance,  just as it is.   To choose something for those line eyes

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my Assistant observes

it is a really Very Good Day

 ADDENDUM

it's 9:34 pm  Wind is still.  Gone Back to where ever it sleeps,  back over the Rim.  It's Quiet now.  Still.  Everything is Still.  as if it always has been.  

interesting…………..

 

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22 responses to “more about Add Ons…the JOY of letting them go”

  1. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    hey there thought thinker, focus returner, breath breather cloth creationist, that last bit from Pliny the elder had me in stitches-(pun intended). Your assistant is extremely attractive. Here’s a little gift–Your best weather site–http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/US/NM/Polvadera.html

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  2. .cynthia Avatar
    .cynthia

    am sitting here in a strange flat gray morning smiling ridiculously at the thought of the wind and the mares…tucking it away to bring out the next time the wind comes up ..thinking that if i would just get up and do my PT exercises one whole round of them would be gone before the day begins in earnest..bargaining with myself to do the ones i can do to warmup..not because of laziness ..but because i am so enjoying being barefooted and to do them properly means the right foot gear..
    breathing in your add ons..the idea of your add ons.. to avoid breathing in and out my own…laughing at myself because i am so frustrated with all that i cannot quite do right now..it would do you no good at all if i could magically transport myself to new mexico..i am not quite there to lifting even mid length 2×4’s and it rubs me the wrong way..i am tired of needing to ask for help….of trying to be gracefully dependent..such small irritations..i am embarrassed to write them down..and have deleted them several times and they just keep coming back out..so i will let them stay here..breathe them out and away and be grateful for how small they are..how i can work to change much of them and just enjoy the soothing magic of your scraps on wood surfaces ..on how good it is to look at tay and be happy for the weather forecast michelle has sent to you..hoping your small apricots survived and that you have time to just give in to cloth gentle day grace

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  3. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Such a handsome assistant…so attentive…one can see him watching your every move. And the colorful scraps..they look wonderful. Love the orange..the rose..the purple..never mind I guess I love them all. Finding peace in the everyday is a struggle for many of us..so thank you Grace as always for your honesty..for bringing humor and beauty into my day. Thank you all..never before have I been so blessed to be part of such an amazing circle of supportive..heartfelt..pure..LOVE!!

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  4. patriciaspangler47@gmail.com Avatar

    good reminders, Grace. thanks.

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  5. jude Avatar

    you know what they say… don’t worry, be happy.

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  6. kathy dorfer Avatar
    kathy dorfer

    i love that dog ! and all those colors … very inspiring .
    been so busy with life and work . i need to get back to stitching .
    xxoo

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  7. Liz Avatar

    To name things is to have some degree of control over them … I must try this (although I must admit to liking the wry editorials, too)
    Naps are so wonderfully restorative … I’m not sure why I don’t indulge in them more often. Thanks for the reminder.
    And Tay looks positively regal … you captured her in the best sense.

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  8. Mo Crow Avatar

    Add Ons, the contingencies of life, love how you describe meeting & grasping the point of each one…

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  9. Dana Avatar

    Although they are not rectangular, Tay’s eyes in the photograph remind me of the ones on your cloth….they look like they may see in a different way. I loved the description of how you brought yourself out of the morass of thoughts that assailed you.

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  10. grace Forrest Avatar

    i used to go to Wonderground then changed to Accuweather…maybe
    i’ll go back and watch them for a while, wonderground, i just looked and kindof like their format, but the temp is Wrong…
    it’s all kindof a crap shoot, weather, anyway…but i like watching the Radar

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  11. grace Forrest Avatar

    YES…STAY barefoot as long as possible, Yes!…as important as
    Anything Else, the barefootness….
    and leaving thoughts, no matter how they seem, leaving them
    because they ARE and to ignore them is to diminish the experience
    which is HUGE, really, and belongs to you in this very specific
    time of your Life….
    if you COULD transport yourSelf here, you could just sit in the blue aluminum chair and WATCH and just BeHere…i figured out a way this morning to screw in a little block to hold the other end in place, so just to have you watching would be a great happiness….
    BLESSINGS upon your bare feet

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  12. grace Forrest Avatar

    Tina…i am thinking of it more and more as years go along not
    so much as struggle, but Work. the Good Work, the Work Worth
    Doing, the Honorable and Honest Work. I HOPE the humor comes
    through…it’s kind of unknowable?
    and Thank YOU back and blessings and Love…

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  13. grace Forrest Avatar
  14. grace Forrest Avatar

    that dog. yup. and go then!!, stitch!!!!!!
    love

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  15. grace Forrest Avatar

    well…there is no control, but there is the freedom from the
    add ons that are really, beside the point. When i reduce it down to
    the “thing” in my sphere of attention and just let it be that, everything becomes so much MORE, really.

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  16. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes…it’s meeting the One Thing, fully…just the One Thing…

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  17. grace Forrest Avatar

    i laughed…”morass of thoughts”….which is my mind, my monkey
    mind, so busy. bizzy. Is your mind Quiet? Mine is bizzy.
    and uselessly so. I am loving the Real Work of changing that…
    and Tay…eyes….she is VERY into eye contact. Constantly with me, i have never had a dog so much so. and yes, does she see in a different way???? WHAT does she see? How does she interpret this world she lives in?
    She is beginning to learn hand signs. A finger snap and then a gesture. She is quick with this. I could be mute i think, and communicate with her

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  18. Liz Avatar

    Oh I love bare feet … but learned the hard way about burs when we moved to Texas. No more bare feet outside these days (sadly)

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  19. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    I like looking ahead ten days and thinking about what plans are best for which days 🙂

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  20. Deb G Avatar

    Here, where I live, that kind of planning is impossible except for in November (more or less), July and August. And that’s only because we typically have one kind of weather. The rest of the year the weather forecasts are pretty darn dicey. I suppose that is why weather fascinates me so much.

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  21. grace Avatar

    it’s ok here some years

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