Pack Creek Ranch, Moab, Utah
Chilly mornings, calm weather, clear skies. Autumn again.
ENSO
Every morning, I stop to consider the Japanese scroll hanging in a place of honor in my living room. The simple circle is made with a single stroke of a brush made by a master calligrapher.
It is called an Enso.
Though I have tried, I cannot make a respectable Enso. A square. Yes. Even a triangle. But my Enso attempts resemble sloppy holes. Still, as an act of meditation, I still try to make one from time to time. Why?
The Enso on the scroll in my living room is an incomplete circle. It reminds me of all that is imperfect and unfinished. And I embrace that reality in my world and in my life. It is what it is and that’s OK.
The Earth has slowly turned again – Autumnal Equinox. All the usual signs of that are present – The days are shorter, the nights longer – the leaves of the Aspen and Cottonwood trees have turned yellow now.
But those are the most obvious indications of the rounding of the Great Circle of Being on a smaller, local scale.
Some examples:
The insect population has diminished.
No more flies in my kitchen.
And the flying acrobatic circus at twilight by small bats and swallows is over now that the insects are gone.
The hummingbirds are on their way to winter quarters in South America.
Bear scat is on the local trails, as the wooly ones come down looking for food to fatten up for hibernation.
The cows wander down from summer pasture, leaving their calling cards on the road to town.
Tiny mice have moved into my house for winter warmth.
Watermelons and peaches and piles of pumpkins appear in local markets. Halloween candy, too. And signs announcing political candidates abound. While “Help Wanted” signs are no longer in the windows of local stores as the tourist season winds down. Even some campgrounds are already closed for the season. And fire danger has diminished for this year.
These are all small parts of the existential compost pile that fertilizes the mental acceptance of the moving circle that is unfinished, incomplete, imperfect, and ongoing.
So say I.
So says the Enso.