There appears to be a ladybug festival going on today. Perhaps they realize that this will be the last day they can hang out. And looking at them makes me wonder if they have names. There is a lot of similarity between them. I suspect they mate, but rarely do I see them flirting.

Emerson wrote: “The epochs of our life are not in the visible facts of our choice of calling our acquisition of an office, and the like, but in a silent thought by the wayside as we walk; in a thought which revise our entire manner of life.”

The ladybugs captured my attention on my way to the Coffee House on Main where I discovered Emerson’s quote. Back home I had to look up epochs, and I’m still not sure. However, I am still enjoying Emerson’s contribution to the meaning of life.

The author of the book says “we should not compare ourselves to others.” That’s difficult during the school years when we look at our peers. Lance LaVine comes to mind for me.

I remember being in Miss Knight’s art class our senior year, I think that was her name. We were assigned to do a woodcarving. I purchased a piece of balsa wood about a foot in length, and I had a little whittling knife to shape it. I proceeded to carve a Monk like figure that sits in front of me in the basement when I meditate, even to this day. Lance brought in a block of wood about two feet in length of hard wood, and he chiseled away.

This made me think I was taking the easy way out of this assignment, and his block of wood was a product of “higher meaning.”

I still feel that way.

“Wu-Wei is” according to Allen Watts, “the life style of one who follows the Tao, and must be understood primarily as a form of intelligence—that is, of knowing the principles, structures and trends of human and natural affairs so well that one can use the least amount of energy in dealing with them…. Wu-Wei is a combination of this wisdom with taking the line of least resistance in all’s one’s actions.”

I sort of experienced Wu-Wei Sunday when I transported Karl Dalager to a couple of churches in Iowa where Karl performed the services and shared the theme of Martin Luther King’s life that was well received by both churches. Karl also interprets for the Hispanic population at the hospital; which in my eyes far more meaningful than the episode that occurred this past weekend on the courthouse lawn.

“The human spirit is home to our deepest desires and darkest fears. It is also the place from which you yearn for a hand that will reach for yours. We both want and fear connecting with each other. Our resistance to others, resistance to change—these are housed in the mysterious realm of spirit. Our minds cannot conceive of solutions to our dilemma until our hearts are convinced to love”—from Radical Hospitality: Benedict’s way of love.

I don’t know how many of you attempted to drive to the cities this past weekend. Saturday, I set out early in the morning to the L.O.M.P., a statewide poetry group that held a Twin Cities conference.

This was scheduled to take place at a hotel near the Loft on Washington, somewhere near the dome. It has been a while since I was in the neighborhood. The last time I was there, probably 10 years ago, it was not a problem.

Of course driving into the cities, those nasty road signs began to point out that I-35 was closed for weekend traffic. This made me think I could travel down Lyndale. Instead I found myself heading east and then saw cars slanting toward the west on the road I should have been on.

About 40 minutes, later I stopped at a new hotel on Washington for directions. A bellhop gave me directions back to the Loft. I parked across the street from the Loft unsure if I could even park there. The parking area I had parked in years back was now occupied by buildings. One of them turned out to be my destination for the L.O.M.P. event.

While there I did mention something about Richard Brautigan and Charles Bukowski in the discussion and the importance of their contribution to poetry. Now I need to send money for the experience that I haven’t sent yet.