Jonathan Kirkendall on thu 20 may 04
Hello All,
After about two months of being away, I'm back! I'm sitting here in
my second floor home office, typing, listening to birds and the
strange, strange song of the 1000's of cicadas that have arisen from
the ground, molted, and moved up into the trees to begin the 17 year
cycle all over again. Five days ago we began to hear something, once
the traffic was quiet, off in the distance, like maybe the metallic
sound that precedes a train. Now, ever present, is the loud, odd sound
of something like a ray gun from a good B movie in the 60's. It's hard
to describe, but it's loud!
I just spent 6 weeks teaching for Naropa University's graduate
psychology program up in the Rocky Mountains, about an hour outside of
Ft. Collins at Shambhala Mountain Center. When I was a student at
Naropa 12 years ago (and a member of the Boulder Potter's Guild), I
took the same course, and in the spring, when the snow had melted and
we were preparing to head back to Boulder for the summer, I took a mug
I had made that had broken and hiked to the top of the mountain
overlooking the retreat center where the course had been held, and
offered what was left of the mug. You can imagine my surprise when I
hiked up the same mountain to find that same broken mug, now placed,
with a few other offerings, in the lap of a Buddha that someone had put
there. It was so moving to be up there, approaching this Buddha from
behind, saying to myself "You know that after 12 years at 8500 feet it
won't be here..." then to see it, the same broken mug, as I turned to
face the statue. Unbelievable.
And finally, 100 Bowls of Compassion was a HUGE success this year -
after expenses, we made over $140,000 for Miriam's Kitchen here in DC,
the most ever! In three years, this event has grown so much that
individual tickets were priced at $250, and we still had almost too
many people for the space!
I have some digital pictures of 100 Bowls that I'd be glad to share
with anyone who'd like to see it. I was able to take some pics from up
above the event, so it gives a good sense of the space and the
environment. Email me off list if you'd like me to send them to you:
jon@kirkendallpottery.com
I'm very glad to be back!
Jonathan in DC
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