Life On the Lake 

Dedicated to the Joys of Waterside Living

Only mine by proxy

429

Would I enjoy this tree any more if it were mine and not my neighbor's? Probably not. Since he lives in Seattle, and comes up here only on some weekends, for all practical purposes the tree is mine. But trees don't belong to people, not really. Still, if he didn't permit me occasional trespass, I would not visit it and take its picture regularly during autumn.

It's not that I don't have a flowering cherry tree of my own. I do, but it is very different. For one thing, it has pink blossoms and in the fall it is most unspectacular. Now, the above tree produces undistinguished blossoms in the spring, which is very unJapanese, or unZen, of it. But it makes up for it in October. So my cherry tree, which shades the Three Otter Fountain and meditation bench, is useful and loved in its own particular way, while this tree (not mine) is pleasingly different, and is valued in another way.

And while I am on the subject of Zen, which is largely misunderstood, misunderstood largely by me, I caught two trout today and set both free. They took bait immediately upon its hitting bottom and fought well, but were highly colored, in the manner of October steelhead. These are fall spawners from a hatchery near Spokane, I am told.

What is Zen about the experience is that I have been having trouble seeing well enough, even in bright light, to tie my size 14 hook on two-pound test leader, and have had to resort to a magnifier that straps onto my head (most uncomfortably).

Well, today, in dim light on a cloudy October day, I managed to thread the leader through the tiny hook without help, after only a couple of tries, and when it came time to tie the knot (a turl, since I can no longer dependably tie the halibut knot), I managed it with only one brief failure.

Tomorrow, I expect, if I fish and have luck, I will not be able to threat the eye of the hook without going for my head magnifier, and will probably flub the knot several times before getting one that test solid.

So, which experience is the Zen experience, oh Master? The one today (actually two), or the likely one tomorrow?

Exactly.

Blueberry delight

428

Let us consider for a moment the blueberry bush, long past its blooming, as it prepares to go into slumber for another winter. We are still eating its frozen berries in pancakes and it has borne prolifically this summer. Now it delights the eye in its annual farewell.

If I'm not carrying the pathetic fallacy a stride too far.

Vine maple beside the three otter fountain

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I've waited weeks for this vine maple to dramatically change color, a sure sign that cool nights were on the way and rain would flow again into our drought-ravaged rivers. But the maple stayed tan and gray until a day or two ago. Then, with a night or two into the high 30s, the magic happened. And hard rains are gonna fall, an did. Porch gauge said 3/4 of an inch in twenty-four hours.

From TV, the usual suspect rivers burst into first flood. The Snoqualmie and Skokomish on Hood Canal. Quickly they dropped back into their banks. And the damage was minimal.

Here is a portrait in oil of Rainer Maria Rilke by his sweetheart, Paula Modersohn-Becker

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I thought it about time that I read some Rilke, an important turn-of-the-century poet, so I ordered away a copy of his highly recommended Selected Poetry, edited and translated by Stephen Mitchell, with an introduction by Robert Hass, a noted poet in his own right and a professor of English at Berkeley. I'd read his book of haiku translations by Basho, Buson and Issa, and enjoyed them greatly. And I'd read his first book of poems that had won the Yale Younger Poets Series publication award some time ago.

And good these books were. I usually buy used through Amazon and carefully check the condition described by the vendor before placing my order. It is a good, cheap way of acquiring a select library. This order was no exception: the book was read, yes, but clean and unlined. So I started to work my way through it and a tiny slip of paper fell onto the floor.

It read:

TO DEB

HAPPY B-DAY!

JOHN

Aw, ain't that sweet?

Who they were, are, is a complete mystery to me, but I hope they enjoyed the book before parting with it for less than $5 (which is what I paid for it), and are happy and well (and still together), wherever they may be.

Thanks for the visit,
Robert C. Arnold, Editor