Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

And just why did I feel so good yesterday? The refreshing haircut, yes, but perhaps an auspicious moment to do it. The sun enters Sagittarrius today, my birth sign, and with a full moon no less. A few days ago I felt like a slug; today I feel like a tigress. The past month I have been broody and gloomy and sluggish...that pre-birthday month of introspection which I neglected to recognize. That that lunar month is actually Scorpio probably makes it even worse.

A few days ago, this news would probably have depressed me even more than it does. The story points out that by the next return of the Year of the Tiger, these big cats could actually be extinct in the wild. (Why couldn't it be rats?)

Let's join my muse Vincent to rally around whatever it takes to keep tigers on the planet.

I love how he says, "When the buying stops, the killing can too." You should hear him say it in Chinese.

Overcoming PHSD

The western commercial holiday frenzy is at last over. I have overcome PHSD (post holiday stress disorder).

Yesterday on the way to work, enjoying some clear bright sunshine after a period of intense vog and humidity, I greeted my little friend, one of several neighborhood kolea ( Pacific Golden plovers).

Every morning it's as if she's waiting for me.  I just wish she wouldn't stand in the middle of the street. She should be picking through the grass for bugs.  Still, I stopped the car and took a few shots out the window; she was very close, so I could observe her feathers, the marking, the stance. I'm trying to paint this bird, Chinese style, but it's hard.

But I shouldn't worry, her wings are very strong. I think of them when I'm doing qigong; they take her to and from Alaska every year, so she probably has the sense and ability to avoid traffic, dogs and cats.

So after the roller coaster that builds and descends from Labor Day to Epiphany, I come to a pleasant halt, a breather period from now to Chinese New Year (Feb. 14), the Year of the White Metal Tiger.  Lao Hu, our household tiger and kitty wing chun expert, (who might like nothing better than to take down a kolea) has settled into his Yellow Imperial position on the new Laz-y-Boy recliner, possibly attracted by the Ed Hardy "Tiger" beach towel employed to keep the Wizard from sweating profusely on the leather.

This year, CNY not only coincides with Valentine's Day, but is just before Orthodox Lent, a period I enjoy exploiting for fasting, meditation and spiritual clarification. Fitness and weight loss too. Having dispensed with the solar/yang observances, now I can honor yin.  (I need to get myself in shape for a planned trip to China in May.)  In a moment of remarkable clarity, several of us in my office have started a qigong practice group.  It's part of a month-long company-sponsored healthy living thing for the new (Gregorian) year, (we call ourselves the Incorrigible Curmudgeons, not of the demographic or sensibility that goes for weightlifting, intense mechanical workouts, competitive ball sports or running) and I think we will be continuing this indefinitely.  My wrist arthritis discomfort already has improved from the practice. The most interesting thing is how many people not on our "team" have been attracted to the practice.  Qi is flowing through the office!