Meditation

When Cathy, Squeak, and I walked the 2.1 miles to Glover Park (above, near the entrance to a walking trail) in my new neighborhood, I thought of my favorite meditation from the Shabbat Morning Service booklet from Shir Tikvah, St. Paul, MN:

o god of serenity, grant me the ability to be alone:

may it be my custom to go outdoors each day,
among the trees and grasses, among all growing things,
there to be alone and enter into prayer.

there may i express all that is in my heart,
talking with the one to whom i belong.

and may all grasses, trees, and plants
awake at my coming.

send the power of their life into my prayer,
making whole my heart and my speech
through the life and spirit of growing things,
made whole by their transcendent source.

Gingko trees spilling their gold across from Montrose Park on R Street NW.


Cathy and Squeak (barely visible ahead of Cathy) walking west past Montrose Park toward what will be my new home.


Remember the post last week about the Osage Oranges? Here they are, right along the hedge in Montrose Park.


Two miles later, here we are, almost at the new, huge park just a short block from my new dwelling.

It hasn't been easy to give up my wonderful little condo, but my new neighborhood is a wonder. Who knew? The people are very friendly, and things are not quite as rushed or NOISY as they are here. There are lots of little kids and happy dogs. The park shown is a national park, but it has two areas devoted to community gardens. One is right along the edge just up the street from the first picture, and another is deep in the middle of the forest.