The past few days have been jam-packed with doing. At the same time, I’m able to stop work at a reasonable hour and have time for relaxing and energizing things. I’m reading more, playing music, having time to sit. This is a good way to be.

Driving home from Zen Mountain, even with stiff legs and a complaining back, is always a good thing. There’s something appropriate about having the space between the monastery and my apartment, and while there’s actual mental distance between the two, the transition in time is useful. If nothing else, it gives me a chance to slowly adjust from being turned inward - and a place that encourages introspection - to the myriad distractions and pulls. The weather matched this theme perfectly yesterday; I left Mount Tremper with a brilliant sun and sky, and as I descended to Boston, I met gloom, then snow, then in Somerville a snowy-slushy-raining mix. I need new wiper blades.

I’d talk a bit about my experience of sesshin, if people were interested, because I sometimes feel like I’m talking around it, and there is so much more to it than just meditating for 8 or 9 hours a day. If anyone would like that, let me know, and I’ll try to write up something.

Note: Jeffrey is sitting sesshin right now. This post was prepared in advance.

Note: Jeffrey is sitting sesshin right now. This post was prepared in advance.

Note: Jeffrey is sitting sesshin right now. This post was prepared in advance.

Note: Jeffrey is sitting sesshin right now. This post was prepared in advance.

I’m on my way to sesshin at Mt. Tremper in a few hours and will return on Sunday. I’ve prepared a few more images from the same series as this image over the past few days, which I hope you’ll enjoy.

Argh! I’m still getting over this cold; my health waxes and wanes, most evenings I’ve been extraordinarily congested. I hope I can kick it by Wednesday. The good news is that my sore back is feeling entirely better (perhaps better than it was before, strangely).

Emptying is continuing. After I return from sesshin, I’ve got a growing pile of things I’m going to try to sell and/or give away. I’m finding a great deal of joy in sending things I’m not using off to a good home.

One thing I’m glad I brought home is the couch. I’ve been reading a lot more recently, and I attribute a lot of it to the availability of a comfy place to read. I’m slowly but surely working through the at-this-point-huge backlog of books.

I’m exceptionally hermit-like this winter, and I apologize to those who wish to see more of me. If anyone is in dire need of my company, let me know and I’ll venture forth from my cave.

I was up around 2 a.m. this morning, unable to sleep. I turned the heat up a bit and sat, then made a cup of tea and sat some more.

Being inside an older house like the one I’m in is sometimes like being inside a living creature, and when you yourself are very still it’s much more apparent. As the boiler heated and the steam filled the radiators, the entire house began to creak and groan and hiss. There were moments where I lost myself and felt like I was the house (my currently creaky back giving me a natural empathy), and other moments when I felt as I were being swallowed whole.

I never did make it back to sleep, and not for lack of trying, so a nap will be in order later today. Despite the fatigue, I’m glad I was up to experience the house.