No Zelda's this week, so let's do a little writing exercise: freewrite on "animals are intermediaries between the physical and the spiritual"
animals are intermediaries between the physical and the spiritual, the remind us that we are naked apes, mammals, that any connection we have with the universe comes down to us through ancestors who were less sophisticated, more immediately connected to eating and fucking and trying not to get eaten, to the things we don't talk about in polite company
animals are intermediaries between the physical and the spiritual, between the angels and the demons, between the thought and the action, between the word and the deed, between the flesh and the idea
animals are intermediaries between the physical and the spiritual, they carry us back and forth between our split natures, between the angels and Brother Ass
my dogs move back and forth between my world and a world more ancient and primal they are my connection to messages from powers pitched to high or too low for my ears to hear
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It's the barroom meditation...sort of staring into the mirror over the bar, looking at the rows of bottles, contemplating life. Random intersections of notions, ideas, overheard words, scenes observed, random conversations. Done right it's a great enhancer of mindfullness. (Done wrong, of course, it's just another source of attachment and suffering.)
Every so often, the meditation supplies must be renewed, so I communicate my needs to the barmaid with gestures and waving currency. Mo ichido kudasai. Tipping generates meritorious karma.
Random conversation, random flirtations, random cognition under the catalyst of ethanol. Hurrah.
Overheard discussions, insight into the minds of ordinary humans...mostly about sex and drunkenness, what does that say about my favorite breed of chimpanzee?