Cherry Blossoms Day 2011

I parked at Dawson and rode my bike through Georgetown and down the National Mall, then back along the waterfront to see the cherry blossoms, with a quick Hains Point lap to stretch my legs before crossing the river and taking the Mount Vernon Trail north.

I have several seasons of phenomenal cherry blossom photos. Today, I paid more attention to the people...

Arena Theatre

Photographed on bike ride today...

The Human Face of Natural Disaster

When earth and water attack in quick succession, swiping a mighty paw through coasts and towns, all the world shudders, sympathizes, wishes to help. This is no punishment drawn on oneself, but the swift act of natural forces beyond human control. This is just tragedy, and it grows a human face very quickly as we read the news from this island nation.

Reuters posted a story this morning about a kindergarten graduation that transpired yesterday in the fishing port of Kesennuma on map. These fifty six year old kids had been waiting for the bus to take them home from the hillside kindergarten, when the tsunami washed the town away. The kid who had been collected by private car was never seen again, although his mother is still searching for him. Four of the children have never seen their parents again. 

"A friend who played with you and ate snacks with you and practiced spelling with you and who sang on the stage with you in the school recital is not here today," principal Junichi Onodera said at the graduation. "You must forever remember that friend."

Reference:

Japan kindergarten remembers child who is "not here today" 

By  Paul Eckert

KESENNUMA, Japan | Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:54am EDT

Other stories from Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan:

• Family members reunited after 4 days struggling to survive, by Hidetoshi Sotooka | 2011/03/25

• Ships brought inland by tsunami damage Kesennuma City, by  Eiji Osato, | Thursday, March 24, 2011

In the Beginning, Lakota style

According to Cinnamon Moon, the Lakota have four superior mysteries of sixteen in total.  These are the first manifestationsof the Great Spirit, in the order in which they occurred. Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, the Creator, in whom [in which] the Self is a molecule. 

1. Wi, the Sun, representing personal power, but perhaps not as other cultures would perceive it. Wi manifested from pure spirit as Light and Life. Wi is a teacher, a sustainer, and was transformed by the Great Spirit into the sun, with the power to provide energy for the earth to produce the substance of life. Wi is the light. 
2. Skan is Motion, the action inherent in all things, and manifestation incarnate [meta-manifestation?]. In the act of creation, Skan set the stars and planets moving on their paths and released the winds to travel across the universe. Skan blew water onto the earth to create the oceans and seas. Skan enters the body with the spirit and sets in motion the breath and blood of new life. Skan's the dance. 
3. Maka! Mother Earth, birth and sustenance, and so takes the form of the earth.  Maka is the essence of feminine energy, both the source and substance of life, The Great Spirit took all the colors of light and, putting them together, created the sacred brown of Mother Earth. Maka is mama, and she makes her needs known. 
4. Inyan is the foundation, the Spirit of Equilibrium, who came as stone to support the earth, holding her together. (Lakotas say "Maka-say-elo" all things upon this earth are endless.) Inyan is a living force; all stones in your path are alive. The rock, the mountain, and all minerals are the material body of Inyan. Inyan Ska, the quartz crystal, lives and grows within the dark interior of the earth; carrying this stone, dark energy becomes clear. Inyan's grounded. 

Here's one account of the Lakota creation story. I must say, Mother Earth is a whiny broad.

Lakota creation myth Inyan - Rock - is shapeless and omnipresent, and his spirit is Wakan Tanka: the Great Mystery. Han, Darkness, also exists. Inyan longs to exercise his powers, or his compassion, so he creates another being - as part of himself in order to keep control of his powers. This being is Mother Earth, or Maka. But in doing so he sacrifices his blood, which becomes the waters, and he shrivels up and becomes hard, losing his power. The water cannot retain the power, and goes into the making of Skan, the sky. Maka, meanwhile, complains to Inyan that all is cold and dark, so he creates Anp, the red light. This is not enough for her, so he creates Wi, the sun. Maka now wants to be separate, not part of her creator. Inyan can only appeal to Skan, in his role as supreme judge. Skan rules that Maka must stay bound up with Inyan - which is why rocks are bound up with soil. In another version, Inyan loses all his power when he makes Maka, and she taunts him with his impotence, so that he appeals to Skan. Skan then banishes Han, Darkness, and creates Anp to light the world. When Maka complains that she is still cold, Skan creates Wi, the Sun. Maka now complains that she is too hot. Skan therefore orders Han and Anp to follow each other round the world, thus creating day and night. To the Lakota, the most significant thing is Inyan's self-sacrifice in making the world. It is interesting that the prime mover of the universe is motivated by a desire to interact, and has to create a dynamic deity to continue creation. Duality, represented by day and night, is considered essential to this creation. Skan, Father Sky, resembles Zeus, and even creates for himself a daughter, the beautiful Wohpe, patron of beauty, harmony and pleasure - very like the Greek Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus: harmony springs from judgement. This myth is also interesting in relation to scientific accounts of the beginnings of the universe - the Big Bang.

Links to explore

• The Lakota Pantheon, Elizabeth Bissette
• Lakota Sioux Creation Myth, another variation
• Wohpe, White Buffalo Maiden, HinTamaheca
• My favorite Sioux character, Inktomi
• Indian Legends link list for 5 Lakota stories

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The Second Happiness

...yesterday arose from my decision to visit Meadowlark Botanical Gardens to renew our annual family membership and see what was going on. Although it began sunny and became overcast, and a chill was in the air at 45 Fahrenheit degrees, it was a lovely outing. Everything smelled so good, and all kinds of little green things were waking up, some already turning blossoms to the sun. I was able to ignore the traffic noise from the Toll Road, and in places, I didn't have to. I strolled around the interior perimeter and found new delights I hadn't seen or that hadn't been there before.

This blossom surprised me, not that I have any idea about matters horticultural. But it looks like a summer flower. It was hanging with its face down; I had to hold it up to photograph it. A sign identified it as Helleborus X Kingston Cardinale. It's a hardy shade hybrid that I might like to add to my own garden. I love that dusky raspberry color. 

Hackberry sapling - Edgar Allan Poe

Apparently, Meadowlark has planted a grove of historic saplings high on a hill in the northern part of the park. I found nothing about it online.  (This program may be where the trees came from.) This is the Edgar Allan Poe sapling, a descendant of a hackberry (Ulmaceae; Celtis occidentalis, grows to 80 tall and 50' wide) in the Enchanted Gardens at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia.

All the birds must have been in a good mood. Certainly, they were quite tame, and several chose to interact with me to one degree or another. This mallard was fishing; I spotted him from way on top of a hill in the woods, and determined to get his photo. At first, I thought it was not to be, as the vantages I sought did not work, and at last I gave up and started to walk across the bridge under which he was fishing. But a robin caught my eye, so I stopped to see what he was up to. He seemed to hop just as I snapped, every time, and then flew off.

But the duck swam under the bridge to fish nearby. I think I know why they call them ducks! I have several tail-up photos of the little fellow. At last, he was done fishing.

As I rounded the swamp lagoon, a pair of swimming geese noticed me and decided to investigate. I hung my camera bag on a post and sat down quietly on a chair as the approached. They did not seem too disappointed when I explained that I had nothing to eat. The gander wandered off to peck at the pathway, while the goose preened on the bank just a few feet away from me. 

I decided to walk the spiral walk up the barrow. (Well, that's what I call it; allow me my fancy.) It's a clear hill with a spiral walk around it, and provides a lovely view of the ponds at the center of the Gardens. As I started round the spiral, a bright flash of color in a faraway magnolia aught my eye. The blessed bird sat high up, and didn't move while I changed to a telephoto lens. I wish I could have got it clearer than this, but I was very pleased to get it at all.

What garden could be complete without playspace? Three little girls amused themselves while their mothers (and I) fussed about with cameras. A seating area nearby provides twig tables and chairs for outdoor tea parties. The area has been furnished with lots of clever armatures for growing topiary across the summer.

There were sculptures I hadn't seen in the north area, too. This rhinoceros was splendid, and looked at home in a savannah-looking flower bed. I found no information on this handsome pair, either. Sandstone, wouldn't you say?

Another surprise! A pavilion has been constructed for the new Korean Bell Garden. Funded by the Korean American Cultural Committee (KACC) and the Republic of Korea, this million dollar Garden will consist of stone terracing and stairs, Korean trees, a meandering path with various reflection stations, and the highlight, the Bell Pavilion and Bell.  Last June marked the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, and the garden commemorates that peace (Vienna Connection). "It will be the only garden of its type in a public garden in North America,” Garden manager Keith Tomlinson said, “It is so unique and horticulturally significant." This signature site will be a lot of fun to keep an eye on as it is developed. I can't wait to see the Bell.

 

Resources
NVRPA, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens (official site)

• list of gardens

My Flickr set for this post

Wikipedia, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

BGCI, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

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A Day of Two Happinesses

Well, there were two highlights to my yesterday, but I'm sure happiness was a flow rather than a pair of instances.  Here's the first one. (This will probably bore anyone but the me of tomorrow, but it's my log.)
         ;-)

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The Body Electric

First, I performed well in a Computrainer session. It's always nice to have a good cycling day, whatever the venue. But I have been painfully ill three times since the new year, and lost a lot of ground. My functional threshold power, 160 this time last year, is now 120. Without going into details, it has a lot to do with stomach acid affecting my breathing, almost an asthmatic condition. So a good performance signifies recovery progress for me, not just a good day.

I have been working on breathing while I am cycling, as if the process weren't autonomic: measured breaths, reaching, with a full exhale, one after another. I've also been teaching myself to relax instead of tightening under pressure. I've been mentally sorting out stress triggers, and been able to re-categorize a whole bunch of them as unnecessary. And I'm improving my nutrition, trying to recover a better acid balance, although I am dragging my feet all the way as I have to give up one foodstuff or another. Alcohol was easy, but coffee is proving harder.  I suspect in the end I'm going to have to give up meat, but the thought just makes me hungry for rare cow.

For the second time this week, we performed 4 sets of power intervals as follows:

• 30 seconds at 150% of FTP followed by a minute of recovery/Zone 2, 
• 60 seconds at 140% of FTP followed by a minute of recovery/Zone 2, 
• 30 seconds at 150% of FTP followed by 4 minutes of recovery/Zone 2. 

Kay and Barbara during a rest interval

On Tuesday, we did 4 of these sets on a 2% climb; on Friday, we did them on a 1.5% downgrade. With an FTP of 120, I should be anaerobic at 168 and 180, but I'm not; I was well over that in both cases, doing more of an all-out effort on the 30-second intervals, especially yesterday.

So I was able to do it on Tuesday, with Susan, and felt good about that. But yesterday, I did it well.  Pierre coached us through the first two sets, suggesting when to apply power. And in the last two sets, I pushed the final 30-second interval to see just how fast I could go. Oh, how I pushed to break 30 mph! And at the last gasp of the last interval, found enough to reach 29.9.

Definitely a sign of recovery. I may not have the stamina or the climb strength yet, but it's coming back better than ever.  I credit two things for the improvement (besides the coaching):

1. The breathing just seemed to click on Friday. I was doing it right without thinking about it, and for almost the first time, the breathing seemed to mesh properly with the spinning. I have never been less winded for this level of effort. THAT just has to get chronic. Clearly I'm on the right track here. I haven't consulted any online resources yet about this, but like several of the links I found for this post. 
2. I've really been working to develop a smooth pedal stroke. Bouncing around in the saddle turns my tummy into a churning food processor, uncovered and flinging acid right up my throat. I've developed a much smoother pedal stroke so that I can maintain a reasonable cadence. Really high cadence work is out of the question for me right now. But I'd love to run the SpinScanTM Pedal Stroke Analyzer software again. 

Breathe! It's the key to everything.

The Reverend Cat Peterson Blake

...found me after three decades through my webmaster link on a defunct website.

Here she is at the helm of Sojourn, the 45 foot steel ketch on which she and her husband spent the last five years cruising in Mexico. They are in Maui now, where she is writing a book about their sailing adventures.

Since I last saw her in Moss Landing, California, she has studied Ayurvedic, Chinese, and herbal medicine, homeopathy, and become a minister with Interfaith.

• College of World Health
• Wise Eating, Dr. Steve Blake. Part 1. Part 2. 
• Leilani Farm Sanctuary Board of Directors
• About Steve Blake
• Steve Blake: Figuring Out Fats: Omega-3, Trans Fats & Cholesterol (2008, San Francisco Vegetarian Society presentation)

Apart from reconnecting with an old friend, it's pretty cool that the universe reconnected us when I so needed direction and strategy from this kind of expertise.  The universe has tossed me a couple of physical challenges recently; I believe my comfort and health over whatever years[?] are left me depend mightily on the kinds of choices I make in 2011.