Sunday, April 16, 2006

Exciting! ...Really.

Easter weekend was interesting, went to a sharp-tailed grouse lek early Saturday. By early I mean that I got up at 4 a.m. What a great thing to do. We got to the pasture before the sun had come up all the way. Rolling down the windows I could hear them drumming and calling, really weird sounding. As it got brighter we could begin to make out the white feathers on the males as they danced around. People who had been before said that this was the longest they continued, about half an hour. It got quiet really quickly once the grouse saw the Northern Harrier. We realized it was a Harrier too but had seen it sitting on the fence post before the grouse did. That was fun and as we drove off we realized that we had a flat tire. Fun, we had to turn bak to Cheyenne and call it a day for birdwatching. After getting home I slept another four hours.

Sally, my parents' new golden retriever puppy, is a little bit out of control. Just a little bit, but she is small enough that she can easily be fended off. My parents need to establish dominance with the puppy even though she should be much more docile. But she is hardly my problem, me not being there most of the time and not really planning on living at home for much of an extended time.

I got the books for my Japanese class. They are mostly interesting and I need to read the first few chapters for next week. I already found some material for my presentation about the connection between Zen Buddhism and the Bushi or warriors of Japan. Hopefully not too many people choose this subject but it seems likely. Some of my other sources will probably be Musashi since the Book of Five Rings does cover quite a few concepts of Buddhism and it will be unlikely people will have a copy of that book or have read it. Also the experience I have so far in Kendo I will try to apply so that people can see the connections.

"See that which cannot be seen." Number seven of nine basic attitudes for a warrior from Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi as translated by Stephen F. Kaufman. A very Zen statement, to see the thoughts of your opponent and act accordingly before they can react is the true way of defeating your opponent. If you can do this you will be the best. If you are not, or cannot, then practice. On that note, on to homework.

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