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Oct. 14 | The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Himalayan blue sheep chortle in snow, snow, snow leopard land;
enter the home of wheezy, sneezy, squeaky, lapping, tapping companion jets

Snow leopard taste: thin bullion and stale biscuits
At home:
roasted brussel sprouts
Snow leopard sight:
a mineral blue, a vivid green woodpecker, a yellow-throated marten
At home: a jet leaves two vivid, sparkler pink-orange contrails behind it on the soft blue sky, it appears to head straight up like a rocket, like Iron Man, as it arcs East
Snow leopard sound:
patter of rain on the tent canvas; sweet chortlings of the pheasant hen
At home:
the dog lapping, the dog's nail tapping across the wooden floor; the cat's wheezy, squeaky snore
Snow leopard touch:
narrows paths, no room for a misstep; walk lightly, legs loose, almost gliding
At home:
stiff legs; sitting cross-legged in an office chair
Snow leopard smell:
the rich hummus smell of autumn
At home:
dark chocolate and dark roast coffee
Snow leopard word of the day:
Chöd - Tantric discipline to overcome fear and horror
Snow leopard quote of the day:

"It helps to pay minute attention to details — a shard of rose quartz, a cinnamon fern with spores, a companionable mound of pony dung. When one pays attention to the present, there is great pleasure in awareness of small things..."
Snow leopard notable: only the enlightened recall past lives; poet-saint Milarepa
"All worldly pursuits have but the one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings, in destruction; meetings, in separation; births, in death. Knowing this, one should from the very first renounce acquisition and heaping-up, and building and meeting, and ...set about realizing the Truth...Life is short, and the time of death is uncertain; so apply yourselves to meditation..."
Snow leopard extra: the Tibetan "Book of the Dead"; The Medium, the Mystic, and The Physicist by Lawrence LeShan- telepathy, precognition, psychic healing; a sense of dread and last night's lingering dreams
Snow leopard gratitude:
wayfaring; the blue sheep of the Himalaya, bharal, na
At home:
a longer summer followed by several clear and warm October evenings

Panthera progress:
much time spent in early chapters

What is this? Blogging The Snow Leopard project.

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