Gratitude for petals on gravel, old women clapping at dholak..

The construction project over the road has been going on for almost two years.  The dust and the noise.. the men cussing and harassing women and girls sometimes. The cherry tree slaughtered on the parapet to make way for parking lot with concrete.

The pile of gravel under the flamboyant tree has the red petals. I imagine that the red petals might be impurities in the concrete or maybe they will be crushed up with the gravel to make the concrete.

The petals make a nice contrast with the gravel for the time being. Gratitude for the temporary niceness.  Everything is temporary.

While the feelings of heaviness  linger and work is done to function, looking around when singing Ramayana and even though I am not fully involved in the singing and singing in a kind of way which is like second nature.. like breathing..

.. there is  encouragement that the old women are clapping while we are singing. I have been in some audiences where people kind of listen with no expressions and you wonder if they are thinking what noise is this and what does it mean.

So I pay attention to the singing.. and focus on the joy in their clapping and less on the heaviness.

Gratitude for the old women clapping..