Shuso!

The shuso is usually the first person I see every morning. I wake up early and do a little stretching, and then when I start to hear the wake-up bell downstairs, I know it is time to put on my robes. While I do this, Liping is running up and down the stairs and along the corridors, and when I have finished and leave my room, she has finished that ceremony, and is usually walking up the main staircase as I come down. She is very punctual with her timing, so most days it is exactly five o'clock by the clock on the main stairs when we cross paths and bow. Since this has been going on for a few weeks now, we both smile as we bow - it has become a small ritual between us.
Living in a community like this, there can be many such moments in the day; often there are no words involved, but there is still a sense of support and connection that can help bring a special value to the moment; I get to start each day with the warmth of our smiles lifting me up.
At the end of the month, after sesshin is over, Liping will no longer do the wake-up bell: the fukudo for that day will run it instead, and that ritual will be over, but there will undoubtedly be other things that will take its place. One of the joys of practice for me is getting to notice and appreciate moments such as these when they arise...without getting too attached to them.