Tuesday, March 11, 2014

sailing

The weather was much warmer today, and as I walked in the sunshine, Christopher Cross's song 'Sailing' came to mind. Sailing - the activity and the song - was very popular in 1979, the year of the song's release. On a day like today - sunny, warm, with a light breeze - Lake Travis, near Austin, Texas, would be dotted with tilted sails of white and other colors. Without engines or gasoline, the little boats could quietly gain impressive speed. Those on the boats - in minimal attire - would be casually steering the boom, or dangling their legs in the water, or swimming, or eating sandwiches. These mostly amateur sailors had fun working with the wind to get to their destinations, this cove or that, in the lake.

For a while in the 1990s, we had a subscription to a magazine about Korean culture. In one issue, there was an article about Korean nuns, with a paragraph or two about meditation. One of the women shared an image she said she often experienced in meditation - gliding in a small sailboat on a smooth surface.

I could see how that might be. Even watching sailboats from a distance is a peaceful experience.

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