Am I my brothers time keeper?

Thursday: Woke at 5:30, and morning practices in the classroom. Into the main hall for the group sitting at 7:15. A man behind me was wiggly and kept scratching his face and twitching. Heruko, sitting in front of me, was silent as a stone. Grabbed a quick bowl of cereal and yogurt, then went back to bed for an hour, until after 9:30.

Decided I didn't have time to take a shower before my kitchen meeting at 10. Saw Billy going into the shower. Down at the board in the entranceway, saw that Billy was on the team for 10. "He'd better be fast" I thought to myself, and then helped carry some vegetables in from the car.
Billy still wasn't at the meeting at 10:05. I lamely offered "I saw him going into the shower." Bill R, who was chief cook said "This isn't going to work" and ran to get him. When Billy joined the circle, we were told that he had been confused by the "HRS" looked after "10" and thought it said "10:45"... I realized I could have averted this if I had gone to check on him when I saw he was on the lunch team. Later when he was in charge of ringing the hourly chime, he was going to be a couple minutes late while occupied doing dishes. I went and let him know it was the top of the hour based on the kitchen clock, which it turned out was two minutes ahead of our time. I was trying to help, but then I realized that this probably came across as judgement. We made pasta with a cream sauce, spinach salad with grated carrots, and also plated some eggplant tapenade. At one point, I went to ask a woman who had provided us with gluten-free pasta to cook for her, if she would share it with another woman with the same dietary need. On the way, I saw MB in wrapped concentration, with metronome and guitar. I spent a lot of time with parsley, de-twigging, chopping and then, garnishing in the serving line. Also helped cook the pasta... which for 110 people is quite an undertaking. There was plenty for all, and it was good. Helped coordinate the clean-up at the end. Did some sweeping. Completion sometime after 2 PM.

Back to the room, and a lie-down, then took a shower and shaved. Organized my stuff a bit. It is now 3:30. I need coffee... good thing tea is at 4!

Snort. Didn't drink any coffee. Instead, took a nap until around 5. Spent some time in the backyard. It's so beautiful back there... Still hard for me to believe it is autumn. At dinner there was some discussion about this being a holy period in both the Christian and Jewish faiths. My thought was that these are both systems of the Northern Hemisphere. What are the native religions of Southern Hemisphere? After my time in the garden, caught the end of Tai Chi in the courtyard. I was enjoying the idea that, however you do Tai Chi is already perfect, and sent the wish for others to have that experience outward, as I saw the serious faces around me. Afterwards, I spent a little time reading. My time in the garden had me thinking about vibration, and the one "serious" book I had brought with me was titled "Music as Yoga." It felt that, even though we are asked not to read non-course material, there might be something there that would be germane. RF walked by on his way to dinner.

Lentils with potatoes, carrot and cabbage slaws. One comment about access to being present from a member of the L1 team (he said through body awareness and through Will). RF asked for his understanding of "Will"... RF's discussion directly stated that Will is something external to us, even though this is not my experience (Will is always there, but we are not.) Another person made a comment about an "Objective" experience, and RF asked for his understanding of "Objective." One of the kitchen team said that she had been being irritated by people, and it seemed to stem from her expectations of people's behaviors not being met. This led to an interesting discussion about cultural differences (RF's endless bowing with a Japanese promoter. "Here's your change, mate" in the supermarket.) Discussion of what is appropriate in the chapel (music OK, if devotion is its primary aim.) Nothing coalesced for the kitchen team tonight. I didn't cause it. The main hallway was heavy with the smell of Frankincense, and two small boys stood with trumpets by the door to the other part of the building (the church).

Worked with MB in the classroom on Invention 1, with Vincente listening for a bit at the beginning. The time is now 9:42 PM.

I took my guitar down to the dining-room, and practiced for a good stretch. My right hand is not feeling as loose today as it was yesterday. Contraction and expansion seems inevitable in many domains of growth. Larks, some of my compositions, the first primary permutation, second primary variations, Asturias at high tempo, and finally Moving Force. Frank, the Dane, came and talked to me a bit. I took a picture of some hands in bread dough in the kitchen. Missed a good one of several extended middle fingers. Walked around outside a bit. MB showed up and we had a cup of tea, talking to Mark Bernadini (who arrived tonight) and Rob Rushin. Talk of nightmares on courses, talking while sleeping, snoring, and so on. Rob has a big move coming up. Sad to see the CCA go on the market.

Sat in the chapel for a while. As I completed someone came and sat in the darkness with me. Then, some time later, a group of nuns, who have been preparing all week for tonight (the evening before Good Friday) came in and huddled around the large statue of the Virgin Mary. I, bowing, took my leave. The sisters are a lovely, graceful, and mysterious presence.