Journey to the Center of the Earth

Very exciting - I am back walking up to Lookout Hill, the highest point in the park, and in Brooklyn, two days in a row! The torn and pulled muscles have definitely mended - well, 95%. No stooping to pick up the crack bags yet, since I'm not back to touching my toes again. And a delightful discovery - the top of Lookout Hill is now the Center of the Earth! And I've got the picture to prove it. It's been weeks since I've been up there, although Ber went up on the days I decided to stay home and sleep in. He thinks that someone else is also picking up trash, since some of the beer cans he spotted have disappeared. We cleared up a few. Actually, the park in general looks much cleaner, at least on land. The water still contains all kinds of crap - the trash can, orange cones, mirrors. Apparently there was a TV new report about it last night, and the Parks Dept. says they don't clean it out because "someone will just put more trash in again." The logic here is....nonexistent? beyond me? unfathomable?

Also on the steps: the delightful message to someone and their mother. I heard two kids on the street arguing the other day, and one said 'F*** your mother and your grandmother!" And unto the seventh generation? Actually, my kids in elementary school didn't even need to say the f word. "Your mother" was enough. I tried. "He doesn't even know your mother, how can he be insulting you?" I would ask. Or "He's telling you how lucky you are to have such a wonderful mother." And when did this happen, this referring to one's mother as the ultimate insult? Hmmmmm.

Another triathlon in the Park today, also run/bike/run.
Wish they'd come with another third part. It offends my sense of language. TRI means 3, for heaven's sake. But it was a beautiful day and everyone seemed to be having a terific Sunday.

There was a nice little church group singing along to a tambourine. Great music! I was a little too shy/respectful to ask if I could film them, but just really enjoyed the joyful noise.

Also saw two vividly red cardinals, but they were not inclined to sit for their portrait. The color is such a treat for the eyes.

I have to say that I have never been as aware of my body and muscles as I have been the last few weeks while these torn and pulled muscles were healing. I'm going along just fine, and then I bend and there's that tiny little twinge when the bending angle is about 80 degrees that tells me that I'm pulling on the part where the hamstring is attached to the knee and I'd better stop, or change the angle, or something, before I really hurt. I feel like I'm obsessed with my body parts, and I really don;'t like it. It feels very self-centered and boring. Ber says that he's been trying to explain these kinds of things about his knee to me for a few years, but that I didn't seem to be listening. We agree that you have to have gone through something like this to understand someone else's pain.

But then there's the self-involved part. I have the same problem in yoga sometimes. When you're thinking only about yourself and if you're doing the position correctly, listening to yourself breathe and paying so much attention to that, it seems very selfish and self-centered.

The Dalai Lama says, "If you contribute to other people's happiness, you will find the true meaning of life."
How to reconcile this with this constant
monitoring of every muscle? Contrast
this with Socrates' statement
that the unexamined life is not worth living. Which I've always thought
was kind of condescending and patronizing, much as I admire Socrates. Where's the balance between dwelling on one's own mind, spirit, muscles, and thinking about others and the good you can do for them? Just wondering.