we had one of these in Lewiston -  "Pippy" for the striped tights - and we watched it, admiring its ability to do math #teachingattention

tradition handed down

VIRGO oracle weekly

A Zen teaching says, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." But being the post-Zen teacher I am, I protest and say, "No, the chopping and the carrying ARE the enlightenment. There is no separate 'after.'" The sacred is ALWAYS lurking in the mundane, disguised as ordinary tasks. And you Virgos are potentially the zodiac's supreme master of this controversial truth. Others may chase after astral bling and transcendent glitter, but you know that divinity lives in the earthy details that are right in front of you. That’s how you transmute seemingly unremarkable stuff into the sublime. It’s time to wield your superpower to the hilt, please!

Yup. Attention to material particulars is a faculty of thought. Reading and mothering and loving and scholarship and cooking use the same cognitive operation: attend ferociously to the small thing(s).

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Show respect in the details. Greet people, keep appointments, learn the customs and give each occasion the attention it deserves. Good manners tell people that their comfort matters to you.

That is the me thing but I dunno how to do it more or better. I don't know how to send a text that says "thinking of you, hope youre ok" beyond sending that, which is lame. ARE YOU OKAY? I HOPE YOURE OKAY is not a text anyone wants to get from me on any given day, I don't think. If youre reading this, I mos def sent that text to you in my head (and here) umpteen times. I am doing it right now. And you can assume I would much rather make you a pie or a plate of spaghetti or put a heavy blanket on you, warm you some real-life way. I am not Louise Erdrich. Words fail me. I'm reduced to candles, a fragile little flame in the dark that feels woefully insufficient.

I can notice how a strawberry might change everything, given time enough. For whatever that is worth.

the version my students read - they love this dog full of grit