getting water in the ear on a windy day

practicing braces and rolls in evergreen lake on a warm and windy evening

"A meditator should become so truthful that every step should be based on the truth of personal experience. All the mental layers of falsehood should be broken."

- S. N. Goenka, teacher of vipassana meditation

what iris helped me do to my river helmet

khanti iris

today swept

upside down over a large drop in rapids and it was great. didn't hit my head on any rocks today! the tiny boat i have is like a duck. saw a little bat this evening, very dear. also slid down a hillside in a rainstorm on purpose in my boat into the water (nose plugs) and two people just passed my tent and sd they liked how it was glowing

in a tent in a rainstorm in the st. francis mts w/ melville and a bag of tangerines

saag paneer / cup from Igatpuri

dead carp drop, Sangamon River

surf wave

happy john muir day

Every year the Governor of California is instructed by law to proclaim April 21st "John Muir Day." 

This day can provide each of us an additional opportunity actively to appreciate and reflect on the life of John Muir and the importance of not only being a steward for the natural world but also of cultivating an energetic and loving mind. A mechanical genius, creator of the theory of mountain glaciation, a key figure in popularizing geologic timeframes, alumnus of UW-Madison and a polymath, Muir insisted we see the natural world as our home and treat it with reverence as such. Completely sane and strong minded, he considered lizards his friends and felt that rocks sang to him. Here is a small guide for how best to make use of this important day.

On this day I am taking my helmet and smallest kayak to a standing wave on the Sangamon to surf and roll and enjoy the river.

This is a picture of John Stefan, of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, surfing the Sangamon.

sycamore at entrance clinton blvd historic district bloomington il

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roadbed maintenance magnesium lights I-70w central IN

I-70w oh/in border

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I-70w Dayton OH

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I-270w columbus OH

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near Wooster OH

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near the Mahoning River I-80w eastern OH

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Clarion River, western PA

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alleghenies, western PA

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Susquehanna near Mountain Top PA

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Delaware near Matamoras PA

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palustrine median southern tier NY

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Hudson near Beacon NY

Place of the mind

And eye. Which can destroy us,

Re-arrange itself, assert

Its own stone chain reaction.

- George Oppen on the Hudson River

Housatonic near Danbury CT

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College Hill, near Brown, Providence RI

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susquehanna river, pennsylvania

mackinaw river near kappa illinois, april 14, warm wind many birds

vladimir mayakovsky

shot himself on this day 80 years ago

Kindness to Horses


Hooves stomped,

singing as they trod:

--Grip.

Grab.

Rob.

Grub.

Wind-fostered,

ice-shod,

the street skidded.

A horse toppled

Onto its side,

and immediately,

the loafers gathered,

as crowds of trousers assembled up close

on the Kuznetsky,

and laughter snickered and spluttered.

--“A horse tumbled!”

--“It tumbled -- that horse!”

The Kuznetsky cackled,

and only I

did not mix my voice with the hooting.

I came up

and looked straight into

the horse’s eye...

The street, up-turned,

continued moving.

I came up and saw

tears, -- huge and passionate,

rolling down her face,

vanishing in her coat...

and some kind of a universal,

animal anguish

spilled out of me

and continued to flow.

“Horse, no need for this!

Horse, listen,--

look at them, - do you think that you have it worse?

Child,

we are all, to some extent, horses,--

everyone here is a bit of a horse.”

Perhaps

she was old

and didn’t want to be nursed,

or maybe, she took in my speech with a scoff,

but

the horse

with a burst,

heaved to its feet,

and neighing,

walked off.

Wiggling its tail,

with its mane shining gold,

it returned to the stall,

happily gleaming,

and imagined once more

that it was a colt,

and work was worth doing

and life was worth living.

1918, trans Andrey Kneller

st francis river april 11 

what is it to me that rivers run whole ages