Laurie Klein, Scribe

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Light Scatter & Yag Shots: Science Meets Poetry

by Laurie Klein 36 Chiming In

“Light scatter from the microscope,” the eye surgeon said. “Your own personal light show.”

During outpatient surgery today, vivid shapes—morphing from teal blue to chartreuse—resembled photos I’ve taken of water, at dusk.

Light Scatter, lake at dusk

Interrupting
my chronic, distorted vision
and escalating dread …
glimpses of Beauty.

Had I ever sat so still? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Immersions Tagged With: clarify, contemplative, light, light scatter, redirect, vision April 25, 2018

“Squirrel!” Or Harnessing Distraction

by Laurie Klein 14 Chiming In

“Squirrel!” Like the talking dog in the movie “Up,” I’m distracted.

While reading, peripheral movements at the bird feeder have snagged my gaze. A small rodent poses atop the Squirrel Begone Baffle.

Book forgotten, I fetch my camera.

ambition

I am easily baffled. Prone to distraction:

  • hunger clears its throat when I mean to pray, then my feet escort me kitchen-ward
  • a traffic accident occurs and I rubberneck
  • during party conversations my ears mimic satellite dishes; I eavesdrop on other conversations

Some days my head locks onto the wrong setting: S.W.I.V.E.L.

Squirrel!

A tree squirrel can rotate both hind ankles 180 degrees, allowing breezy, head-first walks down a tree trunk. Or the quick-shinny up a metal pole.

To learn from this one—albeit after the fact—I launch an imaginary conversation: “Do you have a message for me?”

Then I give him a voice and let him answer. You seem less agile, he seems to say.

Didn’t see that coming. Cheeky rodent. “Um, are you perchance … packing a metaphor?”

The squirrel does a double-take. Who me?

“Yes, you.”

Claws re-grip the pole. Coast is clear.

“Meaning …”

Dare …

squirrel makes his move

 

Standing fully extended,

the squirrel looks relaxed, yet

primed for action.

“Show-off,” I say.

I’m enacting my hunger.

I suspect he says this because in his furry mind, he suspects I am not.

So I change the subject

Whiskers, or vibrissae, surround the squirrel’s nose, mouth, and limbs. Vibrissae ferry nerve impulses brimming with tactile information straight to the brain.

Which restarts the dialogue. “Okay, Scamp, those whiskers suggest I pursue my current project with all my resources?”

The small head cocks, vibrissae quiver.

“Or … you’re implying a leap of faith will override my latest baffling obstacle: fear of finishing.”

Silence.

“I’ll discover balance in time for the next upward push?”

Nothing.

“Following my hungers, the God-given kind, might aid my mental agility?”

Tsk. Follow the ache; embrace the fun.

“I get it. Tend the small hungers within my reach. Then extend the reach.”

squirrel with seed
Timing. Intention. Readiness. Grace.

lauriekleinscribe logo

Distraction: harnessed via imaginary dialogue. If you try this, let me know what happens?

Dug, the talking dog, in “Up”—(watch here).

Double take post 1: 

Double take post 2:

 

Filed Under: Small Wonders Tagged With: baffle, contemplative, distraction, double-take, squirrel! April 11, 2018

Bite, or Flight? 4 Gifts of Attentiveness

by Laurie Klein 2 Chiming In

Mystery Bug

Ah, the siren call of the backyard rhododendron. Thick leaves gleam in the morning sun. I grab my camera, wedge my feet into black garden clogs, and squelch across lawn still bright with dew.

To my squeamish delight, this weird little bug appears, bright as a split lemon.

Will it bite? Does it fly?

I snap shot after shot, serenely transfixed. Spider or bug? What is it?

Two words swim up: Pay Attention. An order. A plea. A guiding phrase.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Springboards Tagged With: ask for a word, contemplative, guiding phrase, Lectio Divinia, pay attention July 1, 2015

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Where the Sky Opens, a Partial Cosmography

Where the Sky Opens, a Partial Cosmography
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