Saturday, June 04, 2011
Barcelona :: chapter 5
Montserrat.
Montserrat was a must-see, on the itinerary before we left the States. From our Barcelona flat, we took the metro to the train station and from there took a train (about an hour) to a rack railway...to the mountain, monastery and basilica.
We waited on a long and slow-moving line to see one of the "Black Madonna"s of Europe, La Moreneta. Barbra's patience was tested by the college kids behind us, I was enchanted by the middle aged couple and one of their moms in front of us. To see the elderly woman gaze upon the Virgin when it was her turn...the love and fervor in her eyes...I felt grateful to bear such lovely witness. I captured a shot of her feet as she turned away...
There was a wonderful sanctuary space behind and below the Virgin. It was the first time I consciously realized how wonderfully restorative the scent of fresh lilies are. We walked around the room and sat there for a few minutes, alone. Then a small, but chatty group came in and we left.
If you ever go to Montserrat, make sure you wear good walking/hiking shoes. I fell walking downhill on a rocky section of path. (I fell at Kamakura on a similar surface.) I was fine, a minor scrape on my left knee. Also, as you might guess, bring protection for the UV rays which will come down on you.
Montserrat was a must-see, on the itinerary before we left the States. From our Barcelona flat, we took the metro to the train station and from there took a train (about an hour) to a rack railway...to the mountain, monastery and basilica.
We waited on a long and slow-moving line to see one of the "Black Madonna"s of Europe, La Moreneta. Barbra's patience was tested by the college kids behind us, I was enchanted by the middle aged couple and one of their moms in front of us. To see the elderly woman gaze upon the Virgin when it was her turn...the love and fervor in her eyes...I felt grateful to bear such lovely witness. I captured a shot of her feet as she turned away...
There was a wonderful sanctuary space behind and below the Virgin. It was the first time I consciously realized how wonderfully restorative the scent of fresh lilies are. We walked around the room and sat there for a few minutes, alone. Then a small, but chatty group came in and we left.
Finished at the basilica, we had some lunch and delved into the mountain. We took a funicular up one mother of a steep ass incline and took in a whole other landscape and reality. (Barbra was having mystical experiences right and left. I was PMSing...didn't realize it at the time...and felt more tired than anything...such is life. I did recognize the immenseness and majesty of the place even as I couldn't connect to it...the pictures are my evidence :-)
If you ever go to Montserrat, make sure you wear good walking/hiking shoes. I fell walking downhill on a rocky section of path. (I fell at Kamakura on a similar surface.) I was fine, a minor scrape on my left knee. Also, as you might guess, bring protection for the UV rays which will come down on you.
What an amazing place. It left me breathless in more ways than one. A place so otherworldly that despite its being developed to suit the every tourist, it stills retains an ancient, nonchalant core of being itself.
My mind was blown by the stone formations that comprised the top areas of the mountain. It was nothing like I had ever seen...and this is such a critical reason to travel. Sometimes, the big stuff explodes your consciousness in a clean and clear way that feels amazing and lays new ground, just different from the day-to-day magic of small things.
On our way down the mountain, I strained to capture the wonder I felt from behind the windows of the rack railway car. It was the best that I could do, but really, I think you might want to go and see for yourself.
Lighten up
...the words that came into my Inbox this week from Pema Chödrön.
Lighten up.
Simple. Impeccably timed. So hard to do.
I know enough to trust that this will pass.
And to recognize the futility of struggling...grappling.
To not abandon myself because it's so uncomfortable.
Here is the body of this week's "Quote of the Week" from Pema. If you like it, you can sign up to get yours here.
Lighten up.
Simple. Impeccably timed. So hard to do.
I know enough to trust that this will pass.
And to recognize the futility of struggling...grappling.
To not abandon myself because it's so uncomfortable.
Here is the body of this week's "Quote of the Week" from Pema. If you like it, you can sign up to get yours here.
LIGHTEN UP
Have you ever been caught in the heavy-duty scenario of feeling defeated and hurt, and then somehow, for no particular reason, you just drop it? It just goes, and you wonder why you made “much ado about nothing.” What was that all about?
I’d like to encourage us all to lighten up, to practice with a lot of gentleness. This compassion, this clarity, this openness are like something we have forgotten. Sitting here being gentle with ourselves, we’re rediscovering something. It’s like a mother reuniting with her child; having been lost to each other for a long, long time, they reunite. The way to reunite with bodhichitta (awakened heart) is to lighten up in your practice and in your life.
Peace and love. And if you need it, a gentle nudge to lighten up...I know I need it.
Friday, June 03, 2011
Gestalt
Linear I am not...called the salon on a whim and my stylist had a slot open. Dropped everything and got a cut and purple highlights.
before.
after.
Feet don't fail me now
I'm being knocked about a bit. Geographically, psychically, physically. Kind of in that order if we want to be linear about it, but whirlpool to cesspool comes to mind. Damn the stagnation, I gots to get me some flow.
You may know this about me by now (not the above, but what's below): one of my "things" is taking pics of where I stand. Of where I am "now". This happened a few times while in Barcelona. And I am posting those photos today.
I am inspired to ground myself...because getting clear about where I am right now, locating myself physically and opening the channels between my mind and body...that invites flow like nothing else.
If we want to be linear and intentional about it. Which I do, despite its challenges. 'Cause I don't feel so good this morning.
You may know this about me by now (not the above, but what's below): one of my "things" is taking pics of where I stand. Of where I am "now". This happened a few times while in Barcelona. And I am posting those photos today.
I am inspired to ground myself...because getting clear about where I am right now, locating myself physically and opening the channels between my mind and body...that invites flow like nothing else.
If we want to be linear and intentional about it. Which I do, despite its challenges. 'Cause I don't feel so good this morning.
in the apartment our first morning.
inside what remains of an ancient Roman tower.
playing at Montjuïc.
our one late night, in the night sky at a hotel roof terrace.
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Mel de romani
I love honey.
On my second to last day in Barcelona, I had to bow out of a day trip to Girona with Eva and Barbra because my period had very unexpectedly decided to drop by. I knew instinctively, to my bones, that I needed rest. Barb took off before 9am and I relaxed in bed for a long while...playing games on the iPhone, listening to music, snacking on Spanish ham and olives and chocolate bark, day dreaming...
By afternoon I was feeling up for a break and met Mitsi for lunch. We had pizza (white with spinach) and pasta (puttanesca) at a favorite spot of hers and then strolled and shopped and paid a visit to Santa Rita (the patron saint of Impossible Things) who was being feted that day.
It was a lovely time and I was so happy for it.
One of the things I bought that day was local honey. A couple of weekends a month there is a market that sets up in Plaça de Pi and there, a friend of Mitsi's sells honey. His recommendation that sunny Sunday was the Mel de Romani, the first of this year's harvest. It's lighter in color than what I usually prefer, but his enthusiasm was persuasive so I purchased a small jar.
This morning, I opted for green tea to restore (been drinking a lot of juice and agua con gas that last few weeks). I reached for the rosemary honey from Catalunya and dropped a dollop into my mug.
Wow. Very full-bodied...and sweet in the...gentlest of ways. Lovely. Just like the afternoon I bought it.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
June
Another day, another month...June.
For as long as I can remember, I have been internally bound by the "school" calendar. September brings with it a feeling of intense promise (even as here in the northern hemisphere things are clearly beginning to show signs of winding down for Winter) and June, well, June brings with it a sense of bittersweet. I loved school and the close of another year, another set of relationships with teacher and classmates, was sad. But, of course the stretching ahead of open days and nights...very sweet, as well.
When Gem was born in June, almost eleven years ago, this month took on a different quality. He was "due" in May, but decided to join us out here in June. Cap and I are both January babies and now here we had a Summer-cusp-ling. I still taste the bittersweet in the back corners of my brain chemistry, but it is all but swept away by the rush of celebration which now reigns supreme when it comes to June.
For as long as I can remember, I have been internally bound by the "school" calendar. September brings with it a feeling of intense promise (even as here in the northern hemisphere things are clearly beginning to show signs of winding down for Winter) and June, well, June brings with it a sense of bittersweet. I loved school and the close of another year, another set of relationships with teacher and classmates, was sad. But, of course the stretching ahead of open days and nights...very sweet, as well.
When Gem was born in June, almost eleven years ago, this month took on a different quality. He was "due" in May, but decided to join us out here in June. Cap and I are both January babies and now here we had a Summer-cusp-ling. I still taste the bittersweet in the back corners of my brain chemistry, but it is all but swept away by the rush of celebration which now reigns supreme when it comes to June.
Two really great blog posts came across my virtual desk this morning, both worthy of sharing here.
The first is a must read for anyone who cares about someone living with autism, or more generally, about language and communication...truly and deeply. The author really nails the point, one I thought about a lot, passionately, when I was teaching. (And which applies in simply being human...all autism aside.)
The second one parsed the very important difference between "patience" (as in you must have so much patience to homeschool...or work with kids with autism come to think of it!) and "perspective". I can't tell you how many times I've heard that over the last two decades teaching and learning alongside children outside the box. (It actually started when I was 12 and began babysitting, something I really enjoyed and spent a lot of time doing until I left home for college.)
I internalized this belief, that I am patient/have a lot of patience, and through the personal work I have been doing around being ADDish in the last year or so, I have been deconstructing and dealing with some confusion. Because you see, I am not that patient. I love instant gratification. I don't like waiting. My mind had been sold a bill of goods to a certain extent, that I was patient and that being patient was "good" (patience of a saint). I wanted to be good, so "patient" I was.
But, my body was not so patient. So I have been living with this dichotomy. Not a big deal, we all do it, most of us have more than one going at any given time.
Living to be happy and healthy and peaceful means figuring these things out as we go along, to lighten the load so we have the most energy we can...to do the best we can in whatever we choose to do.
This blog post was an epiphany moment for me. It "got" me and helped me understand my own experience more clearly...succinctly. I am grateful.
I don't know if I will blog about Barcelona today...though pleasurable, it does take time away from daily living kind of stuff. And this post ended up waxing much longer than I thought. Wishing you a great start to a new month and eventual new season. Love and light.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Barcelona :: chapter 4
...the arts.
Every place is infused with art. Barcelona happens to be a spot where art is evident. You don't have to look too far or hard to find something that makes you smile, gasp or melt for its aesthetic pleasure-giving properties. The pleasure leads to multidisciplinary wonder almost immediately...how did they do that/how creative/how long did that take/how does it connect to Barcelona, to Catalunya, to the artist, to me?
Have a look...
came upon this...public sink?...as I wandered about on my own looking for the Scottish woman's cheese shop. the shop was closed that day, but I met a wonderfully helpful hotel dude who left his desk to walk me around the corner to the street I was looking for.
from the collection of Frederic Mares. fascinating man who collected some unusual things including large Jesus-on-the-crosses.
detail from a painting of the "Black Madonna", the jewel of Montserrat.
a holding container that was part of a salted fish making area from Roman times.
also from the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat (City Museum of Barcelona). Barcino...Barcelona in Roman times.
Sagrada Familia...a Gaudi-in-progress 80 years after his passing.
on the roof of La Pedrera...one of my favorite places/times during the trip. it was incredible.
shot from the roof of La Pedrera, a neighboring roof...
detail from a Gaudi building, the front gate.
thankfully, photos were allowed on the patio at Fundació Miró. an artist whose work I've admired for decades, what a thrill to discover his Barcelona roots.
more Gaudi...detail from the roof at La Pedrera.
inside a candle shop that has been selling candles since the 1711.
at a park in Montjuïc, detail of a mosaic made with repurposed metal machine pieces.
inside Casa Calvet, where I took Barbra for lunch to thank her for this magnificent gift of travel.
Arc de Triomf, detail...our apartment was very close to this landmark and metro station.
arches, Parc Güell...more Gaudi.
detail from a Gaudi building...Parc Güell.
my absolute favorite spot in Barcelona...Plaça Sant Felip Neri...a place of powerful and peaceful Spirit...I felt it...and then discovered the history that this square holds...
detail, menorah at the Main Synagogue of Barcelona...an unbelievably small space (truly hidden when closed) that remains essential.
stained glass detail from my favorite church building in Barcelona, Santa Maria del Mar.
ceiling at Santa Maria del Mar...built by the people for the people...gorgeous Catalan gothic.
roses celebrating Santa Rita, the patron saint of Impossible Things...
orange tree in the courtyard of the Museu de Frederic Mares...
lucky, beautiful shot right outside the Museu de Frederic Mares...may be one of my favorites from the trip...the light and the architecture were delicious highlights for my senses and soul...
Every place is infused with art. Barcelona happens to be a spot where art is evident. You don't have to look too far or hard to find something that makes you smile, gasp or melt for its aesthetic pleasure-giving properties. The pleasure leads to multidisciplinary wonder almost immediately...how did they do that/how creative/how long did that take/how does it connect to Barcelona, to Catalunya, to the artist, to me?
Have a look...
I love the cello...and this shot will forever make me smile because she was playing a song that I don't particularly care for...
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