I saw a few fascinating birds. Words cannot do them justice. Neither can photos nor videos, for that matter; the form is not the same as the substance. But, oh, what wonder!

And, on a more than one occasion, a butterfly has floated past me, like a visitor from a far-away planet. I recall a humorous quip: “Life is like being stuck in a traffic jam, and moments of beauty are like the butterfly that floats past your windscreen as you stew inside your car: rare but much-needed.”

new-to-me stuff

1. the Bhairav scale, in an Indian raga. What is a raga?

I saw a few fascinating birds. Words cannot do them justice. Neither can photos nor videos, for that matter; the form is not the same as the substance. But, oh, what wonder!

And, on a more than one occasion, a butterfly has floated past me, like a visitor from a far-away planet. I recall a humorous quip: “Life is like being stuck in a traffic jam, and moments of beauty are like the butterfly that floats past your windscreen as you stew inside your car: rare but much-needed.”

new-to-me stuff

1. the Bhairav scale, in an Indian raga. What is a raga?

It's been a season of grief and loss.

But kind souls are holding space for me to soothe this pain, in community. Feelings of gratefulness and gladness wash over me.

Some nice things that have helped me to navigate surges of sadness and other emotions:

I have provided some hospitality to visitors from southern Germany, as best as my weak mind and feeble body could.

With the help of a few wonderful and illustrious women, I managed to serve them with salad, and lentil soup, and pizza, all of which were vegan or at least vegetarian.

It has been whirlwind of conferences, since the last new moon.

I attempt to distill my experiences into a Venn diagram below.

snapshots

I took away a quote (attributed to John C. Maxwell):

Everything rises and falls on leadership.

And what does healthy, effective leadership look like?

I've tried using neem soap on my itching skin. It has been two nights so far, and it does seem to soothe the itch.

Why haven't I heard about it earlier in my life? I asked Jill, my friend from England, and she said that the Chinese people do not usually hear about neem because the tree simply does not grow in China.

However the medicinal effects of neem appear to be well-known – or, dare I say, even ubiquitous – in India. (according to Wikipedia: “Margo soap uses margosa [also known as neem] as its main ingredient.“)

snapshots

Warning: image-heavy content follows.

One moon cycle has passed, once again.

I've been disciplined about applying betamethasone cream to my eczema skin.

Weather has been pleasantly cool – albeit a little grey – and

My Buddhist friend, Maia Duerr, publishes a public newsletter upon every moon cycle, and I want to follow suit.

And I believe that this moon-aligned behaviour is alive in practitioners of the Jewish tradition.

Different faiths, same moon. Different beliefs, same planet.

without further ado, here are snapshots from my part of the world:

Warning: image-heavy content follows

I don't know when I started noting the musical compositions that have been featured in what little I've read of the manga-series 'Nodame Cantabile',

I reproduce the text of three songs in the record 'Mi jardín solitario; Madrigal y cinco canciones sefardíes; Concierto de cienfuegos'. The texts are by Celedonio Romero (1913 – 1996), as translated into English by Susannah Howe.

First, the song 'Soledad!'

Let the horse run free, don't pull on his reins, for the day may come when you want him to run but can't

Don't let your heart be tainted by evil, and if love has gone... let it go, Soledad!