The Zen of Light

Images for a calming moment

The last twenty-one days (seriously? Feels like 21 months) since returning from Malta have been rather intense. Multiple colleagues succumbed to illnesses of various sorts which shocked me each and everyone. The Israel attacks are still hard to process, especially as I think about the implications for the future. The political configuration of the Middle East seems unavoidably shifting but, as we found out in Afghanistan, once you begin a conflict, the ideal outcome confronts the realities of human behaviour. Put otherwise, the outcome is rarely exactly what you anticipate.

As we see ad nauseam, our elected officials are a spectacle these days. We spent more time learning about plea bargains than discussing solutions to critical challenges.

On a much more mundane level, the Washington Post described the Commanders’ offense as ‘putrid’ this morning; I had to ask my husband whether the article also labeled the Navy offense as putrid considering their Saturday embarrassment at the hands of Air Force. Baltimore washed out of the chase for the 2023 World Series quickly after being the hottest team in baseball for a good deal of the summer.

There have been good things, however. We arise, healthy, homes, fed, and happy(Commanders and Navy aside) and are together daily. We get to walk in a beautiful place with relative safety. Through the absolute miracle of modern medicine, my right eye tells me the world is not the ugly and distorted view that my left eye portrays because I have had successful initial cataract surgery. I had a flu and Covid booster that millions would give so much elsewhere to have.

Through it all, I am lucky enough to absorb a beautiful landscape gradually surrendering to the hibernation period. I hate it, I admit. I am so dreading the time change now merely 13 days away because the dark impinges upon our lives so early each day, at least until about mid-January. Yet, I know many people love winter so why is my preference the only way?

I will share my recent photographic favourites en lieu of anything as heavy as usual today. I entitled my humble photography ‘The Zen of Light’ because that is what capturing the instants of beauty provide me, a calming and centering about things bigger than me or my itsy bitsy annoyances or cosmic concerns.

These are all in Eastport (which the U.S. Post Office steadfastly claims is not the Maritime Republic of Eastport but the more junior portion of Annapolis because it was founded 15 years after the capital in 1649). I hope these images relax and rejuvenate you as they do me.

Thank you for looking through my Zen. What would bring you relaxation? Thank you for reading Actions Create Consequences. Please send me any thoughts on the last three weeks, zen or the phases of the moon! When I started, I said this would be a column on trails, tribulations and thanks. So much in that latter category but we forget too often to take it in.

Be well and be safe. FIN