Of one pearl, each shining portal

One of the things I miss about going to the zendo every morning is doing my stretching across the street from the zen center, using the railing of a stairway in front of a neighboring house. At one moment, stretching out my back, I would always look up to the sky. Usually it was before dawn and I would look up to see a starry sky or a waning moon (or just fog). This glimpse of the outer reaches of the universe, before I went inside and stared for forty minutes at a shadowy blank wall, was one of the best moments of the day.

I was reminded of that this morning when I got up before dawn to work on my latest book. Part of the early morning chores are to let the cats out the back door into the garden; when I did so, I stepped into a cold shaft of moonlight cast by the moon, just a few days past full and beginning to descend into the western sky. The whole garden was drenched in silvery moonlight. It was a beautiful peaceful moment.

Then I went upstairs to the kitchen and ate pumpkin pie and worked on my book. I'm so grateful to have work now, and also to have a life that allows me to do things like go to bed early just so I can get up and do this writing.