{"id":44130,"date":"2017-05-03T06:59:39","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T12:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=44130"},"modified":"2017-05-03T07:04:18","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T13:04:18","slug":"ichi-go-ichi-e-once-in-a-lifetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=44130","title":{"rendered":"Ichi-go ichi-e Once in a lifetime"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beltane \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Rushing Waters Moon<\/p>\n

Fog this morning over Black Mountain. It comes in and out of view as the mist moves toward us. Now it’s gone altogether. There’s a thin scrim of icy snow on the solar panels. Colder last night.<\/p>\n

\"Kan\u014d
Kan\u014d Eitoku<\/a> (1543\u20131590), Cypress Trees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My Japanese informed aesthetic often finds resonance here in the mountains. The ponderosa pines that surround Beth Evergreen’s synagogue present heavily crenulated bark, twisted branches and a sturdy calm. From the sanctuary, looking south and east, one window pane has an especially crooked branch that reaches up like a hand. When the snow comes, it looks like a portion of a Kano school gold screen. Ravens and crows land on these branches, too, also emulating the scenery that inspired so many Japanese painters and printers.<\/p>\n

Moon watching, a Japanese pastime, has its analogue here as well. The moon rising and setting among the mountain peaks, clouds placing a thin gauze in front of it, the stars as its context, emphasize\u00a0the moon’s romance. I can stand on my deck here off the loft and watch clouds cross the moon’s face. Its silvered light makes beautiful shadows of the lodgepole pine.<\/p>\n

\"Hokusai
Hokusai<\/a> (1760-1849), Boats and Moon, an ukiyo-e print<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Big eared mule deer and thick, tall elk\u00a0come down to Maxwell and Cub creeks, lapping up the cold fresh melted snow. Mountain lions slip noiselessly through the undergrowth, lie prone on rock cliffs waiting for them\u00a0to pass nearby. Bears root up tubers. Minx, bobcats, pine martens, smaller predators, hunt for prey. Rabbits and squirrels and mice feed, look over their shoulder. The web of life is vibrant.<\/p>\n

\"Bull
Bull Elk, Evergreen, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ichi-go ichi-e<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/i>is a Japanese phrase often associated with the tea ceremony. The tea master arranges art in the tokinama, chooses teas and sweets, decides which tea bowls and tea pots and tea utensils to use, then greets their guests as they arrive, often no more than one or two. He does this to create an ichi-go ichi-e, a once in a lifetime moment or for this moment only. It connotes the treasure of each meeting between or among people.<\/p>\n

Each moment of the day Black Mountain offers ichi-go ichi-e to those of us who live near it, if only we stop and look.\u00a0To appreciate ichi-go ichi-e though we need to pause,\u00a0or as mussar teaches us, put a space between the match and the flame. If we slow down our glance, our gaze, let it come to rest, if we take a breath and consider what is right there in front of us, then we find once in a lifetime moments happening throughout our day.<\/p>\n

\"Ponderosa
Ponderosa Pine, Beth Evergreen, April, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These do not, as you might think, cheapen or dilute over time, rather they enhance our experience of the world. We recognize the fleeting nature of life, of this moment and that moment, of the unique and precious and irreplaceable flavor to each encounter. Nothing is old, all is new, always.<\/p>\n

In fact, to the extent that we can gain an appreciation of\u00a0ichi-go ichi-e, then we never age.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beltane \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Rushing Waters Moon Fog this morning over Black Mountain. It comes in and … Continue reading Ichi-go ichi-e Once in a lifetime<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,290,14,17,18,4314,4381,4312,4329,3907,4317,4305,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-asia","category-faith-and-spirituality","category-great-wheel","category-holidays","category-jefferson-county","category-judaism","category-mountains-2","category-plants","category-reimagining-faith","category-shadow-mountain","category-tea-2","category-weather-climate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44130"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44137,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44130\/revisions\/44137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}