Sunday 29 October 2000 14:32 "Patience"*   It's snowing. The warm blue skies we enjoyed, their color reminiscent of soft, comfortable, well-worn jeans, are gone, scoured to a hard clear blue by the chill winds of yesterday, and now replaced by the dull gray that makes you feel the cold creeping into your bones. It's cold. I finally had to shut the back door and the windows. I wish I didn't have to turn on the heat, but I'm afraid it has come to that. QiGong and Taijiquan can only do so much for keeping me warm. And, unlike the delightful lady with whom I have today been exchanging multiple emails, I haven't a warm kiln and a warm man to snuggle up to-- Amarlis is an artist (Tiles 'n Things), and she and her husband live on the Pacific coast of northern California where it rains. She emailed me today to tell me my kanji ("patience") tile was ready for firing, and we got to "talking." She envies my snow, but we agree that, rain or snow, a warm man and a warm fire is the best anitdote for the cold. Sooooo true. It has been an extraordinary week in every way. The weather. T'ai Chi. Work. Friends. My birthday on Wednesday-- three cakes, chocolate all! And an embarassment of well-wishers, thank goodness, to help me eat them all! And most wonderful of all, I got presents. Not showy ones, either, and not obligatory ones. I didn't get even one of those. But I got presents from people I'd only just met, presents from people I knew but who didn't know they were even giving me a present when they gave it, and presents only I knew had been given to me-- the kind of presents that are real treasures: the weather, T'ai Chi, work, friends, my birthday. Each a gift. Each extraordinary. At least I had the grace to feel a bit greedy making wishes on three birthday cakes. I mean, even though there wasn't much left for me to wish for, I have to admit I wished for what was left. It'd be foolish not to when you're on such a roll, right? Right. Come on, baby needs a warm man and a warm fire! Come on, come on, baby, it's cold outside-- Patience... patience... Believe it or not, the tile isn't for me.   Copyright © 2000 New Moon Addenda: 3 November 00 * The tile arrived today. Amarlis enclosed a card with the translation of the kanji: "reasonable patience." I love it! Much easier to live with than bald patience, don't you think? Just exactly right. Jo's gonna love it, too. Thank you, Amarlis!   Please feel free to comment at: The Madwoman's Message Board