Still More Snow III

Three to five inches of white fluffy snow on the ground and it's still coming down. School is not cancelled, but has a delayed opening until 10:15 AM. Which means the buses aren't running. Which means I have to dig the car out, shovel the driveway, and somehow get Amy to school on the slippery streets. I assume the main streets have been plowed, right? And then go to work. Good kōan to work on for this Friday. Provoke the "great doubt". [NOTE: Image shows Japanese maple (Acer palmatum Thunb.) in front of the house (see Front Yard)].

Nikki Loves Snow

The family member that has most enjoyed the foot of snow in our yard, and is the best outfitted for it, is undoubtedly our dog, Nikki (see Nikki). She runs outside and burrows, and barks, and jumps, and snaps at the snow. And then takes her seat - and virtually disappears. White on white.

Reading

Domestic still life. Amy had just come in after shoveling the snow (see First Snow of 2012) off the sidewalk in front of the house, hence the snowpants. I guess this wore her out, because she decided to "stretch out" in the living room chair and do some reading. Fluffy grey figure in the right foreground is a dog chew toy that Nikki (see Nikki) is systematically destroying. Painting, Blue Dog at the Revel, is by George Rodrigue.  Baskets are made of split rattan. Don't know why she's holding her legs up in the air. [NOTE: Love the colors in this image].

Still More Snow II

The crispness and quiet and clarity of a snowy landscape. 

A monk said to Tozan, "Cold and heat descend upon us. How can we avoid them?" Tozan said, "Why don't you go where there is no cold or heat?" The monk said "Where is the place where there is no cold or heat?" Tozan said, "When cold, let it be so cold that it kills you; when hot, let it be so hot that it kills you."

Case 43, The Blue Cliff Record
Tozan's Cold and Heat 

Go here for the complete Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record). Stay warm. (thx for the koan, Jason)  

More Snow

Started snowing again last night after midnight, and now we have 3 - 5 inches on the ground.  Schools are still open, however, much to the dismay of my kids. School district probably used up all of their snow days. [NOTE: Have started posting my videos in HD through Vimeo. HD video is so big that it can’t fit in the width of a regular web page, so it is displayed at half size. To see the whole image, go into full screen mode by clicking the full screen button in the lower right of the player. The native size of Vimeo HD files is 1280×720].

Postcard from The Bronx

Last Friday there was a beautiful snowstorm at The New York Botanical Garden. Huge flakes.  I stopped what I was doing (preparing my class for today), went outside, stood in the snow with my video camera, and did a slow pan.  [NOTE: Full disclosure, I went home shortly after this to enjoy the weather...].

Tools and Snow

We got a lot of snow yesterday and I "had" to stay home all day. Snowbound. It was wonderful. [NOTE: Several inches of snow piled up on the tools, but the compost heap in the back was pumping out the heat and there was little accumulation. Love those microbes.]