Day 46 National Park 2011
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I got up at 5am and brewed a beautiful cup of High
Mountain tea. I sat and thought about
how the DRBA monk and nuns do it day in and day out. I need the weekends, vacations, and summers
off. They just keep going all year long
even in the winter Chan meditation. The
forest monks get three months rains retreat and regularly taking turns to take
sabbaticals. I just find them amazing
and super human. I feel defective in
comparison, a weakling or something of that sort in comparison.
I also thought about when I was six my mom told me to
cherish book and knowledge as gold. She
wanted all her children to have a college degree and lead better
lifestyle. If only my mother didn’t give
up on herself she too could have gotten more education as an adult and realize
her childhood dream. I wished the same
for my father too.
At 9am I went to the restroom and I saw the same teenage
girls from China happily taking her time to take care of her skin by
herself. Last night her mother over saw
her brushing and rinse of teeth like military training. This morning she was on her own and her joy
and efficiency of taking care of herself was inspiring and contagious for camping
lifestyle.
Camping is fun and good if you know what you need to take
care of yourself. It doesn’t have to be
overwhelming drag of discomfort or inconvenience. It’s only inconvenient if you are not
prepared and don’t know what you need to be happy and stay healthy.
Meditation and recitation today was about confronting struggles
of forth chakra and below.
I tried a can of Bartolli Roasted Peppers with crush Red
Peppers for lunch, it was very gross. I
had to chuck it. I ate cherries for
lunch instead.
I met a woman in the restroom and noticed she was lobster
red. She was washing and taking care of
her skin and applying Neosporin on her skin.
I offered burn lotion to her.
Yesterday she did the hike to Muir Camp, base camp for Glacier
Mountaineers, that is quite high in elevation.
She has been here since Monday and yesterday was the first sunny day and
might be the only one for the week. So
she was not sun block prepared.
Yesterday’s sun and today’s rain creates icy conditions
along with fog. Today I had plans to do
that hike in snow without snow gear or ice gear. I decided I didn’t need to climb Mt. Rainier
in rain, wind, and fog on snow and ice without any snow gear.
It is wonderful to listen to the quiet air and feel the
cool damp overcast lighting on my skin.
I fell asleep during afternoon mediation. My head was heavy. It was a good rest and a struggle all in the
same time. I finally woke up two hours
later.
At 5pm I ate more cherries for dinner. It’s been a very cherry day. The blue sky was visible during this
time.
In front of the restroom an elder male was wetting his
slab of pinewood, machine cut to the size of a long cutting board. The bark was completely removed and he was
wetting it to use it as a smoker. What a
good idea. National Park wood is better
than the ones from commercial stores.
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You know you are on the west coast when you see REI,
Keen, Mountain Hardware, Osprey, and North Face products. The rest of the country has access to other
products that they are into. It’s very
different in the Rockies and Yellowstone.
Belly was full of tea at 8pm and I was super wide awake
with my nap. It was a lovely night, a
dry night. I strolled around the
campground. The snow boots kept my feet
toasty warm tonight on my stroll. I
stopped at the amphitheatre to listen to a ranger talk and decided I would
continue on. The stars were out tonight,
what a treat! The campground was lovely
this evening. I picked up a log of pine
firewood that someone left behind. It
was a bit wet from today’s rain but it wasn’t bad. I stacked it along with the rest of firewood
I collected. Collecting firewood from
each place I’ve been in is a thing for me.
