spiders, beans, and thinking machines.

i spent my morning well today.
or afternoon, rather.

i did, in fact, successfully avoid the cleaners.
and i did, as well, make my pot of french press.
kenya, to be specific.
and it was delicious.

you know, there's something about french press coffee that supersedes the entire "coffee" genus.
it could be the thickness;
the dark, chocolatey swirls of velvet waters.
or it could be the smell;
the scent of the land, its people, their stories.
it could even simply be the taste;
the rich, bold, earthy awakening of the palate.
but in all honesty, i think it must be a combination of the three.
the attack of the senses... is only something that a good cup of french press can do.

(there's my little coffee-holic praise for the day. i hope you enjoyed it.)

anyway, the rest of the late morning/early afternoon was spent outside.
i cozied up on the outdoor furniture on the deck, only to find that a little spider had done the same.
i could sense that he was afraid of me, so i picked him up and transported him to the next chair over.
and there he sat, sunbathing, happily ever after.
or at least, until my dog scared him away.

it was beautiful- IS beautiful- outside today, so i took a good 2 1/2 hour chunk of my day to just enjoy the world.
a little Tao helped with that, as well.
i bought a wonderful version a few weeks ago, translated and annotated by renowned author Ursula K. LeGuin.
she grew up watching her father study the Tao, and later took to it herself, so she's spent her entire life studying Lao Tzu.
her commentary is clear, heartfelt, and often times very helpful.
(i'd say it was worth the 18 bucks.)

so, i read the first five passages of book one.
some of these topics, i had been familiar with before.
wu wei, or not doing, as well as yin and yang were primarily the focus.
there were a few lines that stuck out to me throughout the five chapters, though:



"the way you can go 
is not the real way.
the name you can say
is not the real name."
(1, Taoing)




"everyone on earth knowing
that beauty is beautiful
makes ugliness."
(2, Soul Food)




"the way is empty,
used, but not used up."
(4, Sourceless)



here's one for the photographers (although the original reference was probably not a 4x5):


"heaven and earth 
act as a bellows:
empty yet structured,
it moves, inexhaustibly giving."
(5, Useful Emptiness)



i'll leave those up to you to ponder.
shout out your interpretations, if you'd like.
i'll be here all week.

*buh dum tsch!*