I am staying in the same guest house as before. It is a large guest house with a living room/dining room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Last summer, I used to sit at the dining room table and look out the door at the beautiful landscape outside. This time, with the table being front and center whenever I walked into the room, I found that my mind was always on food. So the other day, I decided to do a little house cleaning and rearrange the furniture.
Now when you walk in the door, there is a sofa and some chairs around a coffee table. I moved the table back closer to the kitchen. This morning there was a pleasant breeze between the kitchen window and the window and the side window as I ate my breakfast.
Housecleaning has been a new experience for me here in India. The guesthouse is carpeted and since I had watched the cleaner use a broom to sweep the carpet, I decided to do the same. The broom is a bunch of straw tied together. It actually does a nice job cleaning the floor.
Something new this winter is that the white wash on the walls and ceilings of this guesthouse is coming off. I think it is due to the moisture between the cement/brick walls and the paint. In the living room, the sofa and chairs were against the walls and they were getting a nice dusting. By pulling the furniture away from the walls, I was able to clean up the furniture and make the room it easier to clean
In the kitchen and bathroom, the ceilings are also “chipping.” My first big clean up upon arrival was the kitchen where the counter was covered with many plates and dishes all covered with a nice dusting of flakes of whitewash from the ceiling. I got busy and washed all the dishes and stacked them on the shelves which are covered and so, free from the ceiling dust. In the bathroom, the flakes fall on the floor, so I just use water to clean the floor. That works just fine.
All of this peeling whitewash has been helping me learn more about impermanence. Neither living nor non-living beings/objects are permanent. This guest house and the buildings in the village here, as anywhere in the world, tend to be in various stages of existence. Once built, they begin to decay, albeit slowly. Not unlike humans, once born they begin to age. All of the plant and animal kingdoms display this cycle as well.
A little spider, which had been hanging under the small shelf above my bathroom sink, has been keeping me company for the past month. It was doing me no harm and was probably helping to eat any flying insects, so I just left it alone. Anytime it got to near to me, I gently blew on it and it would move back out of the way. But this morning, I looked and it was gone. Either it had moved off to a dark location somewhere or it had met its fate by becoming dinner for a gecko. Just the mere mentioning of this spider reflects the small attachment I had made toward it. Now, as with the house, I have been shown another example of impermanence. Our time here is so limited and precious.
Now when you walk in the door, there is a sofa and some chairs around a coffee table. I moved the table back closer to the kitchen. This morning there was a pleasant breeze between the kitchen window and the window and the side window as I ate my breakfast.
Housecleaning has been a new experience for me here in India. The guesthouse is carpeted and since I had watched the cleaner use a broom to sweep the carpet, I decided to do the same. The broom is a bunch of straw tied together. It actually does a nice job cleaning the floor.
Something new this winter is that the white wash on the walls and ceilings of this guesthouse is coming off. I think it is due to the moisture between the cement/brick walls and the paint. In the living room, the sofa and chairs were against the walls and they were getting a nice dusting. By pulling the furniture away from the walls, I was able to clean up the furniture and make the room it easier to clean
In the kitchen and bathroom, the ceilings are also “chipping.” My first big clean up upon arrival was the kitchen where the counter was covered with many plates and dishes all covered with a nice dusting of flakes of whitewash from the ceiling. I got busy and washed all the dishes and stacked them on the shelves which are covered and so, free from the ceiling dust. In the bathroom, the flakes fall on the floor, so I just use water to clean the floor. That works just fine.
All of this peeling whitewash has been helping me learn more about impermanence. Neither living nor non-living beings/objects are permanent. This guest house and the buildings in the village here, as anywhere in the world, tend to be in various stages of existence. Once built, they begin to decay, albeit slowly. Not unlike humans, once born they begin to age. All of the plant and animal kingdoms display this cycle as well.
A little spider, which had been hanging under the small shelf above my bathroom sink, has been keeping me company for the past month. It was doing me no harm and was probably helping to eat any flying insects, so I just left it alone. Anytime it got to near to me, I gently blew on it and it would move back out of the way. But this morning, I looked and it was gone. Either it had moved off to a dark location somewhere or it had met its fate by becoming dinner for a gecko. Just the mere mentioning of this spider reflects the small attachment I had made toward it. Now, as with the house, I have been shown another example of impermanence. Our time here is so limited and precious.
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| July 2010 - Tea time in the summer! |
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| the new arrangement |
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| Nepura Madabhani Painting I hung on the wall - Sujata giving rice milk to the Buddha |
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| A view onto the front porch |
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| Kitchen - with safe drinking water (filtered) |
I so agree that our time here on earth is short! Savor each moment you have! Susan
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan! I'll try
ReplyDelete