Elegant confusion

Got to sleep in until 6:50 this morning! While showering, I set a dozen cookies baking to bring along with me to the day. When I walked in the door at C’s for sitting, the first face I saw was BillR. What a wonderful surprise to have him back in town! Six for sitting. Afterwards, we went separate ways for a short breakfast break and reconvened at Fremont Abbey for the Open Circle. Waiting for Curt to arrive with the key, I remarked to IK that I noticed him drinking something from a thermal cup prior to sitting and mentioned that my training in sitting practice recommended avoiding eating or drinking anything but water. What I’d been told was to do what was necessary to wake up (i.e. wash your face, shower, etc) but to avoid stimulants. It was even recommended that I postpone yoga until after sitting. (That was my particular challenge since, for a long time, I required some preliminary stretching to physically endure sitting.) IK admitted to drinking coffee this morning, though he usually doesn’t. We talked a bit about this and he mentioned it had been recommended to him to try tea with a bit of honey.

A small team for the Open Circle – eight in attendance. A good number though. Curt noted that though there has been guitar playing in the room before, this was our first gathering to make music in this new space we inhabit. The circle began well for me. I was fortunate to have IA on my right. It wasn’t until we tried the 3, minus 1 circulations with the chords, that I got lost. (I discovered later that at least for part of the time, my confusion could have been attributable to IB trying to pass the circulation to me when he should have been passing it to IK. But I am not sure that explains my initial confusion with the exercise.) Ninety minutes is way too short for these sessions. We just get rolling and the time is up. I got a taste of what it is like to have the whole circle in one’s awareness as the notes get passed. I think today maybe my first real experience of a circulation as a player as a result. And I expect it is just the beginning of layers of experience in circulations.

After the Open Circle, IK and I stayed to re-organize the storage closet adjacent to the performance space we’ll be using.

It was hard to take 'before' photos of the room because it was such a mess, there was no context for any of it - but here are two:



And after:





You can now walk into the room.


Of course the floor needed washing afterwards because of all the dust we tracked out. But the job was done.