Australian Adventures

As promised to a good friend, here is another installment for your entertainment.

I am watching the clouds roll in from my temporary bedroom, also known as the Institute for Responsible Transportation, in Fairfield Australia. It's quite nice actually. Birds are squealing and chirping away outside the window as the occasional car zips by on Park Crescent Drive. Fairfield is a suburb of Melbourne about 20 minutes on the train to the east and north a bit. It's not far from a bustling little shopping area with a vast selection of pastry shops, clothing stores and various other types of markets. One in particular, Organic Gertrude, is small 2 aisle market with a fabulous deli in the back.

Of course, this was my first stop after disembarking the train with a growling stomach and bloodshot eyes from nearly 22 hours of travel from home in Murphysboro, IL. I think it was the smell of freshly baked bread and grilled tofu wafting from the open doors and windows that lured me in from the street. So with luggage in tote, I negotiated my way around women with strollers and employees stocking the shelves to source of the smell. As I approached the counter, comfortable feeling soothed my achy body making me feel present with this place. That's a feeling one rarely experiences when traveling in new lands. So I confidently struck up a conversation with the man at the counter whose gentle eyes and warm smile further reassured me that this was a good place. I asked him to tell me what he thought the best veggie sandwich was, which happened to be a grilled tofu steak with satay, avocado and fresh cilantro on homemade crusty bread baked to perfection. So I sat with my book, reading about birds of prey in the Appalachians waited, not too long, for my sandwich. When it came out of the kitchen, the avocado was thinly sliced and laid out on one piece of the bread, while the tofu rest neatly on fresh cucumber and tomato on the other slice of bread. So as to enjoy both pieces of bread and their fixings, I ate them separately. A good choice because the two complemented each other, bite after bite dancing on my palate like a culinary tango. That sandwich satiated my hunger and gave me the energy to press on and continue my travels.

So here I sit, eyelids slow diving over my eyes, the clouds have disappeared with the encroaching darkness of night, and the pub calling, but I am ignoring it tonight. It's time to rest.

Frog Pond

The moon always present

yet sometimes not seen, orchestrates

waves of darkness and light.

Ripples left from thoughts dropping

in the pond where frogs

sing and silence with symphonic perfection

Old thoughts, new insight

It's been quite some time since I last shared my thoughts with the world. I came across some old haiku that conjured memories of what seems many lifetimes ago. Here's an example:

Stone, wood, water

captures delicious macha

dry green powder

I was sitting in an old teahouse in Sendai, Japan that was spared from the bombings of World War II. A quaint place that served homemade tea treats, prepared while you wait, along with ceremonial green tea. Paper walls hiding the tea crates, cushions to sit on around the eight inch tall wooden table that was clearly a hand-crafted antique. I was in a time warp with cold toes and achy legs, then it happened...

Our server appeared with stone tea bowls and bamboo whisk and began preparing our tea. Not quite boiling water steamed my glasses as the green powder was transformed into a green froth that stuck to the edges of the bowl and my mouth. Warmth and clarity rushed in through my nose and mouth as the medicinal bitterness of the green tea followed them into my stomach. Nothing else made sense in that moment except for the tea.

I find myself yearning to experience that again, except logic tells me that no two experiences can ever be exactly the same. Yet it is apparent that everybody has a "spiritual moment" at some point in their lives that is either completely forgotten or pointlessly pursued to no avail. And while we chase these lost moments we forget to pay attention and appreciate the offerings right in front of us. Maybe it's time for tea.

Lunch Time

Eating is an excellent pass time. The only thing better than enjoying a freshly made sandwich and salad is sharing that time with dear friends. It's a time for soul soothing and laughing out loud and mental masturbation. That precious hour, when work is low priority and personal life issues take center stage, is an oasis for our minds and bodies to revive from the morning workload. The greatest ideas are usually hatched over a delicious meal because food releases our mind from the shackles of tedium.