moment of risk

“NO RISK IS MORE TERRIFYING than that taken by the first root. A lucky root will eventually find water, but its first job is to anchor—to anchor an embryo and forever end its mobile phase, however passive that mobility was.Once the first root is extended, the plant will never again enjoy any hope (however feeble) of relocating to a place less cold, less dry, less dangerous…

Everything is risked in that one moment when the first cells (the ‘hypocotyl’) advance from the seed coat…The gamble is everything, and losing means death.”
—Hope Jahren

note: quotations are from the book, Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren, which I’m currently reading. Lyrical, educational,enjoyable, poetic expressions of science and passionate human experience.

to be

“Each beginning is the end of a waiting. We are each given exactly one chance to be. Each of us is both impossible and inevitable. Every replete tree was first a seed that waited.”-Hope Jahren

note: Quotation from the book, Lab Girl,by Hope Jahren.Lab Girl is non-fiction.

the fun of uncertainty

“There are two things you can count on in life: Sooner or later the trout will rise, and whatever it is they’re rising for will not be in your fly box.”-Paul Quinnett

note: quoted in Fishing Lessons, Insights, Fun, and Philosophy from a Passionate Angler by Paul Quinnett the book I’m currently browsing.

surrender

You are walking over pain of others
reaching tops of trees others have planted
now and then during you waking hours
your mindfulness may glimpse
tiny fragments of the invisible,
the simplest of musical notes
the travel can be long
you will feel tired but not exhausted
when you reach your destination
you will surrender your love,
treacherous and inarticulate,
love without measure,to the ancient one
and disappear.

style

long black curls with a hint of gold
all braided now for the season
vineyard in April

to remember

We know now
we are blessed and burdened by constraints
motorcycle winds the road
rising from a frenzy of purple rain and wind
petals scattered on the grass
finding meaning with renewed effort
breaks the illusion of inheritance
every human experience, simple and intense,
every guitar tune,every star discovered
adds to happiness
every experience is a gift
of individuality, a life’s grandeur.

2 flowers

important question

“Einstein was asked what he thought the most important question that a human being needed to answer. His reply was ‘Is the universe friendly or not?’ “ —Joan Borysenko

note: quoted by M.J.Ryan, Attitudes of gratitude.

photo: taken during my 10,000 steps-walk to the river.

Reversals

What if the expectation is reversed
arrivals will be late in all itineraries
yesterday is still tomorrow
advancing slowly like a caravan
delayed by sand storm
spring will linger a while longer
even when summer is eager to start
one becomes used to shift
of emotions but one doesn’t have to yield
to emptiness. Love is stubborn,
spreads its wings, fly
to the beginnings of the journey,
calming the restlessness
and start all over again,
“how you do anything
is how you do everything,”
tide returns, waves return,
sharing ocean’s abundance.

note: the quotation is from the daily meditations by Richard Rohr:

cac.org/category/daily-meditations/.

how to search

On house searches
“Don’t think about what you are searching. Think about what you find. Why is that there?Should it be there? What does it mean? It’s like reading-if you think about an ‘l’ while looking at a ‘k’ you won’t see the words.”- Jo NesbØ.

note: I just finished reading Nemesis , a crime novel, by Jo NesbØ.