It's pleasant, waking up from dreams, for the reason Li Bai adduces up there in the subject line. For all the mindful 'be where you are' Buddhist teachings, one must admit that where one is has a certain dull sameness to it. Same house, same job, same city, same me. A dream is a trip to elsewhere, a view outside of one's narrow reality. So I relish my last night's trip to Tokyo, which wasn't of course anything like the real one, and even though it did turn into a bathroom frustration dream, as dream!Tokyo is wont to do. This time, at least, all the toilets weren't smooth upholstered chairs, as has happened before; but Mizuno-san, the concierge at the dorm, had removed all the toilet seats in the building, leaving only the cold porcelain bowls.
We have the first snow of this winter today, a scant week before New Year's, so the world is a different place. I am trying to reconcile myself to the loss of convenience and the knee pain that goes with boots, don't ask me why; especially since my knees have already been paining me in ordinary shoes.
They ask why I live in the green mountains I smile and don't reply; my heart's at ease. Peach blossoms flow downstream, leaving no trace- And there are other earths and skies than these. -trans Vikram Seth
