Packing and Moving

August is a time of transition for me this year. First, we are moving offices. When I say "we" I mean about two thirds of the faculty at my college. It is a massive undertaking: two new office buildings and a new library. The offices are just about ready and the faculty in Humanities and Social Sciences are packing up and shipping out. Thus, today I sit in my old office, no books on the shelves, no pictures on the walls, everything stuffed into the boxes stacked next to me. It will be a good move.� My current office is like a bat cave, long and low and dark. The new office will be high and open and light. From yin to yang, you might say. I've been here for about 18 years; perhaps I'll be that long in the new place.

I am also packing for a different sort of move: a family vacation to England. We'll spend a couple of nights in London and then head to Oxford for a week. My college has a program there for our students, with some dormitory-like buildings and an apartment, or flat, that faculty can rent for short term stays. That's what we'll do. I look forward to it. I haven't been to London since 1989; and I have never traveled in England outside of London (save for a bus trip to Wales). We'll be there for only a week but we have tickets for Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon, and we'll take trips to Bath and, if the crowds aren't too great, Stonehenge. The Cotswolds are close, also.

Whenever I go on a trip, the Tao Te Ching comes to mind, and how I disagree with it. It's the old passage 47 problem again:

You can know all beneath heaven
though you never step out the door,
and you can see the Way of heaven
though you never look out the window.

The further you explore, the less you know.

I do believe that you can know Way without traveling, but I also believe that you can encounter Way while traveling. And that's what we'll do, watch as Way unfolds around us in England.

Posting will therefore be intermittent over the next ten days or so.

Comments

[gmoke]

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Does that mean, within the context of passage 47, that it can end with that single step too?

[Sam]

Yes, I think that's right...

[Andrea Raft]

Dear Sam:

I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name. I feel like we might be family. I just finished reading
Aidan's Way and came to your website to find sadly Aidan's Eulogy. I am so sorry for your loss.
I have been so touched by your story and how Aidan had touched your lives. I too have a disabled son who's name
is Jason. He is also the love of my life, he is 41 years young and doing very well, lucky for us he has not had the health or medical issues that your son had to endure. Jason suffered a cerebral hemorage at 10 days old and that
has left him with profound retardation, mild cerrebral palsy. But he is able to walk, see, feed himself, toliet himself
and possess the greatest gift of all which is his ability to love and be loved, in that miracle of silent yet profound
wordless communication. He is truly my love gift.

I have studied Chinese philosophy, not to the extent that you have, by any stretch of the imagination but now want to do more. I am in-fact a painter and much of what I have learned I have applied to my art of making art.
I had never thought about it in relationship to my son. I am so happy to have made the connection, thanks to you
and to Aidan.

I have taken up too much of your time already but I just want to thank you for sharing your story and Aidan's life.
You have touched me deeply. Reading your book was like having a conversation with you. I guess that I do not
have many people around me to share my story with so reading about yours made me feel so connected to you
and the way I feel about my son.

Peace and Love
Sincerely,
Andrea Raft