What is Wabi-Sabi?
One view – Wabi-Sabi is an aesthetic: “Wabi-sabi is the quintessential Japanese aesthetic. It is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional… It is also two separate words, with related but different meanings. “Wabi” is the kind of […]
The Absolute Difference
Woke up to a turkey family hanging out by the garden – two adults and nine chicks. The very slightest squeak from my screen door and they made a very slow but deliberate beeline for the trees. Physiologically there is doubtless a connection between these wild creatures that welcomed American colonists in the 17th century, […]
Other Dogs, and Dog as Other
Sox is slowly learning not to jump up. She much prefers to have her tummy scratched. Afterwards she sometimes forgets about jumping up, sometimes tries to fit that in too. She is part Blue Heeler, part Great Pyrenees, part Tennessee farm dog (=?), with (it has been suggested) some Belgian Malinois mixed in somewhere. Belgian […]
Planning a Retreat
Zen Temple? Paradise Garden? Meditation Retreat? Healing Center? Wildlife Refuge? Art Farm? Sculpture Park? All of the above? What could YB be? Friends from Green Gulch Farm (San Francisco) came by to advise! This is the kind of building they have there. We marked out possible sites for a zendo (meditation hall), plus dining room […]
Seduction by Scent: Po Lin @ Yellow Bird
I visited Po Lin monastery (home of the world’s biggest Buddha) on Lantau island, HongKong last Fall. More than the megabuddha, I was entranced by the lilies that lined the entrance to the temple.The scent was overwhelming, and a welcome reminder that spirituality and sensuousness need not be at odds. I determined that I would […]
A Painter from Paris Visits
Joe Snow visited yesterday, from Paris (TN), and before breakfast captured some of the creatures he saw, with his delightful humour. Here is a page from his sketchbook.
Wrong Way Eric
On his way to hear Kanye West late Saturday at Bonnaroo, Writers Cabin guy Eric took the wrong turn at Yellow Bird and ended up deep in the jungle. Soemow he had steered his Toyota Yaris almost to ‘Japan’ before sliding off into a ditch. Randall and Joseph came by Sunday and dragged him out […]
