The Goose Is Out

Northdays Column for April to May

A great philosophical official, Riko (or, Lu Geng), once asked the strange Zen Master Nansen (or,Nan-ch-uan), to explain to him the old koan of the goose in the bottle.
"If a man puts a gosling into a bottle," said Riko, "and feeds him until he is full-grown, how can the man get the goose out without killing it or breaking the bottle?"
Nansen gave a great clap with his hands and shouted: "Riko!"
"Yes, Master," said the official with a start.
"See," said Nansen, "the goose is out!"

zen discourse 2: http://www.ordinarymind.com/koan_goose.html

Eggs' 'Foo' Youngsters

Amazingly, Spring, in which I have faith, and for which there is always hope, has managed to squeak its way minutely out of Kanata gardens and onto Kanatas' birdfeeders. April in Paris, London or Holland must be a most heavenly sight by comparison to our wee signs along the way, as huge circles of almond blossoms fallen to the ground, and great miles of waving, silk tulips prove the great triumph of the Creator, once more. Here, in Ontarios' somewhat dingy remain, we are content with those few rustic beginners from the beds closest to the house, or with even the first dandelion on the lawn.

Speaking of rustic beginners, these do not look like much at the moment, but the Peruvian Daffodils which I purchased last year, were put away according to instructions that I found on the Internet. The bulbs are taken up from the earth in early Fall, and then trimmed. The leaf end is stuck into wet peat moss, leaving the roots exposed for the winter. I have never heard of doing this before, but I was, indeed, delighted to see that all of my bulbs had survived, and that even root capillaries which had shaken off from the bulbs proper, began to take on translucency, and a white, succulent look, whereas they had been brown strings which looked like peat moss. The two bulbs that I had planted were nearly five inches long and three and a half inches in diameter, like an Amaryllis bulb. Their offspring are approximately an inch and a half long to date, and, hopefully, these, too will sprout in my container toward a host of blooms this summer.

Last year, my trusty better half waltzed off into the dark dawn on garbage pickup day, and came back proudly bearing eight tough rubbermaid plant troughs about two feet long, plus four or five decorative, round bowl-type hanging pots. All of these pots are quite expensive, really. When I sold about a third of my garden prior to the move to Glencairn, I happened to meet someone who was willing to trade to me about a hundred flower pots of all sizes for some Hostas and several other types of plant. I have priced some of these containers, and feel that I certainly have well over a hundred dollars in pots, even second hand. New whether from places like Eades, Home Depot or Canadian Tire, some of the round hangers are over seven dollars, and even medium sized green plastic flower pots are over three dollars each. The price tag on the tough troughs gleaned by my good pal the garbage picker is , believe it or not, $29.99!!  I guess that we do it, ourselves. Something looks tired or not quite right, and, instead of hoarding all of our tacky-poodle stuff for a yard sale, it is way more expedient to have a Fall turnout, consisting of exposed, clean goods set on the lawns with "FREE" signs on each.

Of course, there are fifty to a hundred plantlets to give away, every Autumn. I don't know how my neighbours feel about having the plants laid on them, but the area is certainly going to look great as those tall stands of brilliant,dark red lilies bloom in the Summer, all over our street! Perhaps, in a few years, I'll be quipping,"Here, take my Peruvian Daffodils, please!", but, at the  moment, I absolutely cannot wait for their gorgeous blossoms to grace my chosen spot of holy merit for Peruvian Daffodils. I am also hoping to be able to grab some partly faded Easter Lilies from the supermarkets, since planting them in May, after cutting back the greenery by a third, yielded such splendour in the early Autumn, showing crisp white blooms until frost.

One Easter Lily, having bloomed so late in the season, even began to express a tight bundle of new leaves from the earth, looking green and healthy well into December, and even under their leaf and snow mulch cover. Those tips of leaves are mush, now, but I am hoping for a repeat performance of the great, showy white blooms this Spring or early summer. Of course, I have tulip leaves pushing through the soil by about three inches, and the neighbours' bed has crocuses in bloom. I must remember to buy about a hundred crocuses next Fall, so that the beds have some sort of dress by mid-April. In early October of '03, I planted three dozen white jonquil Daffs - they are a larger version of the traditional Narcissus, white petalled, with a Daff trumpet ridged with orange colour, and very deeply scented. I notice that some French parfumists employ Narcissus perfume, an essential oil that I used to be able to purchase along with one of my favourites, Rhododendron. There is a scent called 'Rose Damask', but it looks as if there are dark red Narcissus flowers employed in it for scent. Perhaps this is just my mind interacting with the primal mammilary experience, since I have never seen red Narcissi or Jonquils. I have, though, seen some fossil evidence of what seems to have been a similar and prevalent wild orchid of Canadas' deep past - darker red or white, and another like a yellow Daff, but held above orchid leaves, not the flat, pale-apple green leaves of regular Daffodils. I meditatively consider the areas where these flowers are preserved, at least as gem tone or pigment, since some of these flowers have keys to undiscovered medicine within them.

Having just read a pamphlet on the waning efficacy of antibiotics, given through the pharmacy as a free hand out, I felt that hope for good health is not lost. We must examine and work with new modes of immunization or foster ingrained personal immunity to those newer or hardier strains of viridiae we are often warned about. The pamphlet warns that antibiotics are not really useful for colds or the flu, and should be used with caution for serious infection. Concomitant with the newer, stronger antibios are newer and stronger viruses ( I have just read)! The bacteria develop immunities of their own to the antibiotic medicines, so that these medicines should be taken exactly as prescribed by the physician. Do not stop taking the dosage prescribed before the pills are finished, even if you feel fully well. Do not share unused prescriptions with others, their conditions may not require that particular antibiotic, and taking these pills might actually improve a bacteria or aggravate your friend with serious allergies.

What I try to do is to be in touch with how nature handles the next, occult layer of earth as it turns up or scapes down to sands - of - what. I once baked some rocks in the oven, thinking how sanitized my soap-washed rocks would be, before painting them into objet d'arts. Little did I know that I would develop one of the worlds' most ghastly infections into my respiratory system. I was so feverish and sick, almost instantly, even though I had baked the rocks for two hours, that I have purchased pre-graded and polished rock since then, rather than attempting to work with raw material of my own. I see that nature makes the best of situations like this, choosing in some way to sow windblown puffs of health seed into small coves near these rock culprits, or to evoke from other gems and stones a remake of older florals and herbs, through considerate plantings made by the animal kingdom. Just as there have been devastating diseases in the past, there always seem to be pre-established remedies which grew in that era along with them. Anyway, I sigh with great contentment to see that, where I am planting the White Peruvians, there may have been green and pink "Daffs" of the same massive size and Martian looks, indigenous to our Canadian soils. (Have they returned here from Mars, I wonder?) I am hoping to bring some of the colour of these earlier souls into my White variety. Perhaps there will be some merit for the re-occurence of this plant in the same space. I like to think that planting fresh and wholesome plants heals the earth, and that a good stand of herbs will, in fact, rinse and prep the gardens around the blockl in the next few years. SSee, the goose is out!

In the text above, showing two s letters: the s is slanted and has both have a strikethrough, since the shaping is significant.

Happy Spring!

Chao Chou's Newborn Baby:
The Blue Cliff Record

(trans. by Thomas & J.C. Cleary. Shambala 1977.)