Here we are

Here it is 2022 and we are in the middle of winter in southeastern Oregon. We experience exciting weather like freezing fog.  We're still in a COVID pandemic going on two years.  Life is different and appears to be the new normal.  COVID has shaken up life as we used to know it.  Some is for the better, some not.  We muddle on. I have backed away from the four or five organizations I used to volunteer in.  I don't miss the deadlines and the work or the insanity.  I am still not working on a novel. I've written some poetry with a poetry group I zoom with in Houston, TX.  I don't consider myself a poet but it is interesting to experiment with short form and structure. I've been reading about fungi and microbes and always about awakening.  Here's my newest favorite Rumi poem:

The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
Because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
-- Rumi
 

​Wishing you all a lovely, meaningful, and peaceful 2022.