Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Interim

I am not feeling in the least bit guilty about not going to the zendo this week, and I am working on not feeling guilty about taking some comp time - I heard from Connie, my counterpart at Green Gulch, yesterday that she is taking three weeks off, which is all comp time - since we have just had three days' holiday and part of me tells myself that that should be enough lazing about, and another part tells me that I am not going to get downtime like this until the next interim.
Not least of the benefits of interim is that I have been managing to catch up on my sleep: I have tried staying up later this week, so that being up past midnight on New Year's Eve will not be such an ordeal - the last time I was awake at that hour was probably when I was in England, which doesn't count as it was a different time zone. While I am still waking up at four thirty or five, this is not entirely due to my body clock; it is the time the heating comes on, and having fixed the radiator in my room so that I have some heat, I get to hear the process, which is neither silent nor smooth, but the great thing is that I have been telling myself that I don't have to get up, and it has been working enough for me to drift back off to sleep.
We have had several 'storms' coming through, as forecast, though as I think I have said before, where I come from, we would just think of that kind of weather as a bit of wind and some steady rain, and certainly the results have not been as dramatic as the pictures and stories I have been getting from Europe, or even from the East Coast. They do, though, give me an excuse to post some more rooftop photos from the last few days, variations on the previous theme, in lieu of having any dharma activities to write about.

Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day - red sky in the morning...
Boxing Day
Yesterday
This morning

10 comments:

Tony Head said...

Thank you once again for the lovely photos of the City. And thank you for the blogs these past months. I hope the entry into the New Year is peaceful for you and brings you happiness.

Shundo said...

Thanks Tony - How is the weather where you are?

Tony Head said...

It is warm ( from high 70's to mid 80's). Breezy by the seashore. This time of year is my favorite...all the windows open all day and night, no need for the A/C...very pleasant. Although I must confess to missing the fog and chill of the bay area on occasion.

Shundo said...

70's to 80's sounds pretty nice to me on a dank afternoon with a chilly north-easterly blowing across the city...Happy New Year to you.

Tony Head said...

And Happy New Year to you Shundo. I would like to add that when sitting in a place where few or no others practice, one looks for a sense of sangha from less than "traditional" sources... like the internet. Reading your blog is one way I get to keep in touch with San Francisco and Zen Center. Please accept my bow of gratitude for your writings.

Shundo said...

Thanks Tony, I hope you can avail yourself of the Livestream stuff as it gets more active

Chris Burnham said...

I particularly like the "Red Sky" one.

A man named Tim Buckley, who just received priest ordination at the sangha I am part of in Northridge, will be coming up to City Center for the practice period. If you end up talking to him, perhaps mention that I'd be interested to hear how his experience is going. I will try to do the same through other avenues. He's very interesting... has done a lot of work studying the Native peoples of this continent.

Chris Burnham said...

I think I meant to encourage you to check in on him, converse, as he is interesting, but I think I veered away at the last minute for fear of implying other people were not as interesting (and that's just not true).

Shundo said...

I will try not to find him any more interesting than anyone else.

Chris Burnham said...

lolz