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The long overdue update
Jul. 13th, 2008 02:07 pmI’ve been rather busy since I’ve been back from Maui, putting out little fires at work, and attending to relationships, packing and moving what remains of my stuff, and taking care of Phaedrus. I’m spending a lot of time formalizing, training and preparing my co-presenter for a basic class I’m teaching on Cigars and Spirits in a month, as well as preparing my presentation for another class on working with a sword. I’ve also managed to get some tattoo work done on my backpiece (Musashi’s Developing Swordsman tattoo now has been colored in with cherry blossoms, and my Balance kanji has been touched up). I’ve reworked my mandala assignment twice. I’m also training the body for Colorado in two weeks where I look forward to intense ritual with the Uchideshi as well as white water rafting and hiking, and then the Burn the month after that. Additionally, Phaedrus has somehow broken his left front paw, and he’s on painkillers and anti-inflammatory meds. I’m also still concerned about his urethra.
The Fortress of Solitude has been welcoming me back, and I welcome a final consolidation and purging of all of my stuff. The Fortress needs some maintenance and work, and my tools are now all in one place to do the work needed. It’s likely that I’ll be selling the Fortress and considering a more nomadic existence that allows me to travel with Phaedrus and all of my remaining stuff, something I’ve been preparing to do for some time. This allows me to go where the work is that I want to do, and to continue to travel as I like, and live near the dojos or training opportunities that I want to learn from.
Before I can talk about Maui, however, I must mention SOAK, the local regional Burn. I was blessed to have President Amazon, BIMC, fly up for the weekend, from AZ for dedicated fondling and for getting to know her better. I spent the weekend hanging around with her and Ian, doing an impromptu medical shift with Northwest RockMed, swimming in a lake in my black-and orange (Harley colors!) “swimsuit”, and eating most of an entire package of Nutter Butters from the BF. We left before the actual burn, quickly re-packed and got Phaedrus to Nancy, the amazing and competent cat-sitter, and made our early flights out, but not before a huge breakfast at the airport. Ladies and gentlemen, for the record: Amazon rocks, hard.
Maui is a healing place, and I was blessed to be able to teach, and learn, and actually practice skills I haven’t been in a place to use for many months, healing in so many ways from so many past relationships. Yes, I performed kata with an iaitō under a waterfall, and bled. Yes, I learned and taught respect and ritual for the sword, and explained the ways of the sword and the ways of Bushido. Yes, I saw Haleakala, the great inactive volcano at the top of the mountain – and yes, I will go back and hike the whole thing. Yes, I saw fish and sea turtles in Molokini and Turtletown while snorkeling for the first time on a charter boat, in a wet suit, an unexpected bonus in many ways. Yes, I cleaned out a bomb shelter.
I taught leathercare and service protocols, and drank and served amazing kona coffee. I was served unexpected and amazing breakfasts daily. I met new friends (Miss Dark and the Man in Black) who took me to volcanoes and pinnacles and showed me the many climates of the island. I was a 2-day prostitute of my skills for a $72 dinner and an hour, and opened up to new experiences and new perspectives of old experiences, and was reminded often of Beginner’s Mind. I worked with weapons that almost mastered me, and was gifted a Dragon’s Tongue in a beautiful silk bag – wait for it – covered in cherry blossoms, the symbol of impermanence and Bushido. The hospitality and the place was just what I needed, and a certain Samurai, and her Daimyo, were certainly to be credited, and both profusely thanked. Domo arigato goziamashita!
The Fortress of Solitude has been welcoming me back, and I welcome a final consolidation and purging of all of my stuff. The Fortress needs some maintenance and work, and my tools are now all in one place to do the work needed. It’s likely that I’ll be selling the Fortress and considering a more nomadic existence that allows me to travel with Phaedrus and all of my remaining stuff, something I’ve been preparing to do for some time. This allows me to go where the work is that I want to do, and to continue to travel as I like, and live near the dojos or training opportunities that I want to learn from.
Before I can talk about Maui, however, I must mention SOAK, the local regional Burn. I was blessed to have President Amazon, BIMC, fly up for the weekend, from AZ for dedicated fondling and for getting to know her better. I spent the weekend hanging around with her and Ian, doing an impromptu medical shift with Northwest RockMed, swimming in a lake in my black-and orange (Harley colors!) “swimsuit”, and eating most of an entire package of Nutter Butters from the BF. We left before the actual burn, quickly re-packed and got Phaedrus to Nancy, the amazing and competent cat-sitter, and made our early flights out, but not before a huge breakfast at the airport. Ladies and gentlemen, for the record: Amazon rocks, hard.
Maui is a healing place, and I was blessed to be able to teach, and learn, and actually practice skills I haven’t been in a place to use for many months, healing in so many ways from so many past relationships. Yes, I performed kata with an iaitō under a waterfall, and bled. Yes, I learned and taught respect and ritual for the sword, and explained the ways of the sword and the ways of Bushido. Yes, I saw Haleakala, the great inactive volcano at the top of the mountain – and yes, I will go back and hike the whole thing. Yes, I saw fish and sea turtles in Molokini and Turtletown while snorkeling for the first time on a charter boat, in a wet suit, an unexpected bonus in many ways. Yes, I cleaned out a bomb shelter.
I taught leathercare and service protocols, and drank and served amazing kona coffee. I was served unexpected and amazing breakfasts daily. I met new friends (Miss Dark and the Man in Black) who took me to volcanoes and pinnacles and showed me the many climates of the island. I was a 2-day prostitute of my skills for a $72 dinner and an hour, and opened up to new experiences and new perspectives of old experiences, and was reminded often of Beginner’s Mind. I worked with weapons that almost mastered me, and was gifted a Dragon’s Tongue in a beautiful silk bag – wait for it – covered in cherry blossoms, the symbol of impermanence and Bushido. The hospitality and the place was just what I needed, and a certain Samurai, and her Daimyo, were certainly to be credited, and both profusely thanked. Domo arigato goziamashita!
