It’s my last full day on the island, my least favorite day in the weeks I spend here. It’s the day I clean the Buddha House. That’s part of the deal, leaving it as clean as you found it. In my case, it’s usually cleaner than I found it because I have the standards of  Read the Rest…

When I was a child I often wailed “What can I do?” My father wailed back at me “The perpetual cry of youth: what can I do?” Irritated me no end but there you are. I am feeling a little of that angst this month because I am between quarters so no choirs to direct  Read the Rest…

It’s been another contemplative ten days on Whidbey Island. I guess I have become one of those hothouse artiste types: “Oh, I can only write on my island.” Except I’m home now and I’m writing this. I need to memorialize the week. Memorialize. That’s a word we all know now—those of us that follow the  Read the Rest…

I’m always struck by how cold the vernal equinox is.  Spring may usher in the warmth of summer on its far end, but it begins with Aries riding through the world, directing the whirlwind, waking up hibernating animals (like me) and splashing cold water on our faces.  During the week of the equinox, I was  Read the Rest…

I’m up on Whidbey Island writing a novel.  I have no idea how to write a novel.  This novel actually began in 1997 with a very long short story that I thought would develop itself.  I thought a novel would spool from my imagination without my having to think about anything like structure or an  Read the Rest…

When I was up on Whidbey, one of the wildlife issues was field mice.  In the city we deal with rats.  I know they are everywhere and lord knows I’ve had my adventures with them but I hated those adventures. On Sunday I went up to my local Fed-Ex to do some printing.  I like  Read the Rest…

I’m on Whidbey Island for four days at Windhorse, the retreat center I visit every year when the Buddha House is available because the meditation cabins don’t have toilets and I’m sorry, I don’t leave the house to use the toilet. I need a modicum of comfort and the cabins, though lovely inside, don’t leave  Read the Rest…

It’s been a month of extremes, starting with a long quiet June weekend on Whidbey Island.  I stayed at Windhorse, a Buddhist retreat center at the end of a long road and situated in the middle of the woods. Perched on a hillside are three well-appointed little meditation cabins and the Buddha House, a large  Read the Rest…