The Art of Zen Living

When I moved back to my apartment, there was an ant pile out next to the sidewalk right where my parking space used to be. I found it REALLY irritating. I’d notice it every time I was out there, and I’d kick it over sometimes, or drop water on it if I was adding water to my car, and I didn’t bother watching where I walked unless there were a LOT of ants out, and only then to avoid getting bit myself.

Some days, it would set my mood for the drive, or for the next several hours.

Then I accepted the first precept: I will avoid taking life.

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My original plan had been to write about “enough” tonight.  The best laid plans of mice and men, well, you know the rest.  Or I hope you do, because I don’t, exactly - something about aforementioned plans going awry.

Instead I’m going to share with you a bit about my day.  I was over at my mother’s house, planting some ground cover and shrubs for her.  In the flower bed in the back, there is a small palm tree of some sort - I believe it’s a date palm.  What it is doesn’t really matter.  What matters is that it’s fronds have razor sharp spikes that can impale a man and cause him to bleed to death in a matter of seconds.  OK, that’s a slight exaggeration, but they are sharp, and they hurt when you’re trying to work around them while digging holes to plant in.

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