winter thaw

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This small house seems to be littered with people who were the victims of last night's downtown New Year's celebrations. They appear, one by one, from places where they bedded down and I wonder, given how small the house is, where they found room to crash. Oh well, they're all safe and sound ... daughter, sons, daughter's friend, daughter's boyfriend ... and who knows, maybe some more...I slept through it all. Last night's outdoor celebrations were blessed with relatively warm temperatures ... a big change from the New Year's festivities of recent years.

The weather is warm-ish for this time of year and I won't have to put on quite so many layers when I go downtown for the peace picket today. Unfortunately, the latest wars did not change their minds overnight and, as a result, neither did the peace pickets.

Yesterday was a day when various Zen teachers broke their 'judicious' silence and spoke up in the matter of Eido Tai Shimano and a decades-long series of manipulation and lies he inflicted on the very people who made his position and posturing possible. The letters were good to see. It remains to be seen if those who wrote those will press the point, which, in brief, amounted to "throw the bum out!" Their action inspired me to write a letter reiterating what by now have become threadbare arguments. I don't want to start a whole new cascade of comments here since there already is a thread for commentary (on which I posted my letter) ... I'm just reporting what yesterday seemed to be full of.

Oh well, when I said to my older son yesterday that he might finish up the job he started -- and clear the remaining snow out of the gutter outside our house -- he said reasonably, "It's supposed to get up to 55 tomorrow. Might as well attack it then." And I agreed: It's easier to clean things up when a thaw comes to visit.

I guess yesterday and today were a time of thaw ... something gratefully received in winter, but not something to rely on. There's a lot of winter left.
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