Santa Christina

When things slow down during the festive season, it's a perfect opportunity to contemplate the nature of existence, or to spend quiet time in prayer or meditation. Life on one level is straightforward. Pay attention to details. Every action has consequences. Cause and effect is common sense. On another level, life is a huge mystery. Why is existence happening? This is an unanswerable question. It's popular to state how consciousness is an accident of evolution, as if consciousness could be problematic. Perhaps dogs and cats are better off. They don't think so much. For them thinking is more on the level of stimulus response. Seek pleasure. Avoid pain.

Human awareness or intellect opens a vast panorama beyond running around to satiate animal needs, venting aggression, struggling to control others, or to simply bask in ignorance. Perhaps the deepest human yearning is for knowledge and wisdom. Much of human experience occurs on the invisible level of thought, often very abstract thinking. The triangle is a traditional example of a conceptual construction that doesn't exist in nature. One could find shapes that resemble triangles. But the concept triangle is a geometric construction containing properties or thought constructions, for example, the interior angles add up to 180 degrees. One's intellect enables exploration, plus a search for meaning and deeper understanding of the experience of being alive.

friendly gathering

Lohbado enjoyed a friendly visit with his brothers and extended family. It's festive season, when family members get together to have fun and recall old memories, to compare perceptions and to relax.

brother Tim having fun in Montreal

Winter light season could be sombre, quiet introspective. One could find a peaceful place to examine one's mind. One could go out and dance among the ruins of an old malt factory. Montreal is filled with a rich variety of places to relax and visit friends and to appreciate the sensual display of sights and sounds.

trying to find clinic J in B pavillion

in pavilion J

in pavilion B

Brother Tim helped Lohbado locate a family medicine clinic which has been temporarily moved to pavilion B while the J suite undergoes renovation.

intestine jar

Celebrate dark days of December.  Get together. Be of good cheer. Days get shorter and shorter. Suddenly solstice. Things seem to stand still for about a week or so,. Eventually days begin to lengthen. During the shortest days of year, it makes sense to celebrate, to indulge playful friendliness. It's a time to focus on what's important, to perhaps spend some quiet time indoors, reflecting on one's life and deciding how best to live life to the full, or in a meaningful manner.

After much eating and drinking, Lohbado's digestive system felt stimulated to the point of being quite vivid. One night after overindulging he felt like a jar in which things had gotten out of control. Overload of his body created carnivalesque images in his mind.

boxing day special

Boxing day special, hurry while supplies still last, everything a certain percent off. It starts at 1 PM and goes to about 7 or 8 PM. Be careful of freezing rain. Certain freeway exits to shopping plazas could be congested. Don't fly into a rage as you look for a parking spot. Don't trample people down town. Hurry hurry hurry for super dooper specials.

Lohbado just woke from a nap. It's dark and slippery outside. Time for another cup of coffee and a session of prayer and rejoicing at the Moronovian Tabernacle.

Good Digestion

Loba turkey dinner

Today and tomorrow are popular feast days, a time to enjoy digestion, to mix inner and outer, to feel vivid. Make sure to wash your hands and cook the turkey properly so it's not raw on the inside.

vivid dreams of a long dark night

Adapting to indoor world after spending so much time outdoors is a bit hard on the body. It takes getting used to. Lohbado had insomnia all week. He finally lay down for a nap and had vivid, comical dreams. Soon the celebrations will begin. A line from Finnegans Wake summed it up: "It was a long, very long, a dark, very dark, an allburt unend, scarce endurable, and we could add mostly quite various and somenwhat stumbletumbling night." p 598 James Joyce, Finnegans Wake. New York: Penguin Books, 1999.

blood sample

Lohbado dreamed a drop of blood fell on a sheet of paper to be used as a blood sample. The surface of the page shimmered and formed a pleasant design, as if the image was an icon transmitting messages from the Great Nomroh, through the portals of the letter O. A rippling sensation passed through his head, like when a migraine finally dissolves. Lohbado relaxed and went into a deep sleep.

don't touch

Welcome to the first day of winter. Festive season is underway, or at least, preparations. Images pop into the visual field, memories, day dream. A plastic hand reached out to touch a rocking horse. A sign said do not touch. One day it's ice cold. The next day it snows and the streets become messy. It's all part of the fun that happens every winter.

coffee and sink meditation

summer 2006

Sink faucet provided water to make coffee. Drain received spillage and slop. Both are part of the human experience... to consume, ingest, collect, utilize. Waste matter, ashes, grey water... down the drain or in the bucket. OOO ... open a door. CHA... jump right in. A Moronovian dance, OOo and chA malleable, change the beat, fast or slow, loud or soft. Tweak the pitch up or down. It's also light and dark, negative and positive, suffering and and and and and....

Lohbado's grandmother Aida Stumps told Peter Stumps to not shy away from pain or darkness. If you try to ignore the demons, they become louder and more insistent. Pain won't go away. Challenges never cease to emerge. Instead of reacting in fury, depression, self pity or resentment, one could view suffering as a catalyst. It could provide momentum to crack through the shell of self-centred obsessions, unexamined beliefs and opinions. One could go beyond the dull dreary habitual way of doing things and open up to something a bit more inspiring, or at least interesting, dignified, friendly, playful, imaginative, however you like.

happy man 2006

One of the personalities of Montreal's Mile End, he used to dance up and down the street, a slow, graceful choreography. He often took on the characteristics of a female burlesque dancer. He appeared to be a friendly, cheerful man.

in a cafe 2007

August 2006

Looks like today will be an indoor day for a lot of people in Montreal... freezing rain, snow, sleet, slosh. It's not the ideal day for outdoor activity. A rainy day is perfect for looking at photo albums. Maybe being over 60 has made Lohbado more sentimental, but there's something very enjoyable about looking at old pictures and enjoying the memories. I like the Dolly Parton record cover on the shelf.

The cafe is on the corner of St Laurent and St Viateur. For a long time, it was a pharmacy. It turned into a cafe and changed the name a few times... cagili, esperanza. I'm not sure what it's called now. But the original vintage look is still there.

ice fishing up river Kangirsuk, April 2008

click picture to see video. Lohbado edited some old video files from an ice fishing trip up the Payne River in April 2008. The Payne River flows into Ungava Bay. A few cabins were built up river with materials brought there by motor boat during the summer. Several snowmobiles and about 15 people went on the trip, guided by Tommy Kudluk. The region is famous for its arctic char.

holiday memories

On a cold day of winter, Lohbado went through old photo albums of summer activities with the children, going to the park, camping, relaxing in various restaurants and cafes. In about three or four months, the cold and heavy duty snowfalls are usually about over. Then comes the euphoria of spring and the enjoyment of summer. Today is Friday, a lot of students will begin their December holiday and the week of festivities.

attempt to bicycle Lachine Canal through snow

click picture to see video.Yesterday Lohbado rode to Lachine Canal, the access via St. Pierre and St. Jacques. There was too much snow on the trail, forcing Lohbado to turn around and ride home. No more Loba riding there until spring. There's rumour that the trail will be ploughed from Peel Basin to Little Burgundy. It would be nice if they ploughed all the way to Parc Renee Levesque.

Elvis on Viateur

Elvis 2006

Lohbado, when he lived in Mile End, used to do the laundry at a place on St. Viateur. The friendly owner whose nickname was Elvis had a little corner set up with various pictures of Elvis. He was one of the personalities of the neighbourhood.

Riddell fishing

Lohbado went through an old hard drive in search of files and stumbled across a photo collection from when he lived in Mile End. Lohbado visited Riddell fishing on Rue Bernard a few times and enjoyed looking at the old man's collection of things related to fishing, the outdoors and souvenirs from around the world. The friendly old man invited Lohbado and they talked for a while.

winter dream

photos taken about 15 years ago

Avenue de Parc Montreal

The fresh layer of snow dampened noise from the street. Lohbado slept deeply and dreamed about wandering through a neighbourhood he lived about 15 years ago. There's something impressive about the idea of a giant machine. Lohbado also dreamed about being at a birthday party. A cake with candles burned down to stubs was presented. The letter O or number 0 was inscribed on the birthday cards. Lohbado interpreted that as an auspicious sign. O is filled with creative potential. Zero invokes everything. It's an empty space in which anything could happen.