One week in...

Thought I might just quickly post a reflection on how things are going on my training period, one week into my month in the Lakes...

I don't really know where to start with this. I'm sitting at my laptop at Sensei's desk, with a great view...

I'm thinking back over the last week and trying to decide what stands out.

Officiating at service, which is new to me.
Interviews with Keizan Sensei, dissecting my koan.
The strength of the practice.
The people, old friends and new.
The 'shuso shack' where I'm living.
The walk yesterday around Ullswater.
The news of a birth, an illness and a death.
Trips into Penrith for shopping, laundry, fetching & delivering folk.
The rain. So much rain.
A pub supper with Sensei.
The smell of incense in the brazier.
Afternoon naps.
Cycling along country lanes.

But I keep coming back to being in this place. The more I stare out across the valley, the more familiar this place becomes. I notice small changes. I see the way the craggy Knipe-top is revealed or concealed by the weather. How calm or restless the sheep are. How busy the road is - or isn't. The temperature, the wind, the rain. The clouds, occasionally the sun. The mice in the insulated walls of my shack. The bees in the flowered verge. The red squirrel, skirting the property.

It's all too, too wonderful.