Night two at Jikoji is upon me, and it can not end soon enough! This is not to say that I have not found it a valuable and productive visit; quite to the contrary. I was doan this morning, which was another opportunity to practice the routine lighting incense and leading bows and prostrations. On more than one occasion, I was visibly grimacing and locking up out of uncertainty regarding my recollection and execution of the appropriate steps. Yet, after several weeks of absence, I still managed to hit that 80% mark. I will pay greater attention when online, as it is a role I enjoy being active in. The next to learn will be Doshi. Being here also allowed me to talk in more depth with Gerow, one of the residents here with a history going back some 20 years or so, back to a point in his life where he had to deal with the sudden illness and death of his 36-year-old son. That brings weight to my gut when writing and a tear to my eye when I imagine facing such a circumstance. It takes me back to the idea that, as good as things might be at any moment, appreciating them as transitory can make them richer while knowing the same uncertainty lies when the next big struggle or hardship might arise. Being equally prepared to accept anything as a random roll of the dice, even in the face of such personal loss, will be a challenge and a test of fortitude for me. Hopefully, nothing as dramatic will happen, yet loss and endings are inevitable regardless of how dramatic they might be. It was a sobering conversation to have had. It's well worth coming up for it alone. It was also because my presence here enabled Gerow the freedom to leave for the morning and the evening. Also, I finally unravelled some tech-knots related to 2FA that have been blockers with 3rd party services, and Tommy came up with food from Alice's. We had dinner together in the residents' kitchen. It was the coolest option available. You see, the positives surrounding this stay were overshadowed by two negatives that exacerbated and amplified one another: the heat and the bugs. The heat spiked dramatically, and none of the buildings have air conditioning. It was miserably stuffy and hot in the main building, the residents' kitchen, the guest rooms, all of it. Outside was far more bearable but for the bugs. I would have liked to have sat outside throughout the day. The desire that I'd do so was shared by the 17,219 mosquitoes that heard from 17 of their friends how my forearms, neck and back are the new hotspots for in-vein takeout. I had no place to go to enjoy the cooler, shaded woods and no comfortable place to shelter inside. It only just occurred to me that I could have sat in my car, faced it toward the woods and been way more comfortable. Oh well. Lesson learned: don't come up in the summer. It's an amazing place to be for 9 of the 12 months of the year. Not right now. Maybe that is why everyone else is gone.
