Stone Lasso.

Preface to this blog: Google has decided not to translate my blogger page from Arabic to English, so this may end up being a great big mess.

Update: it just translated, yay technology!

Since I arrived at Umm Qasr I have collected a smooth stone from the gravel walkways all around base for each day I am here. If all goes according to plan, I will have 30 stones in my possession, each with a date affixed to them by my green sharpie. In addition I write a word or two on each stone which chronicles a significant event of each day spent here. 

I do this for two, nay, three reasons.

1) With a memory affixed to each stone, it will make my time spent here easier to recall one day down the road, should I be able to tolerate lugging around a bag filled with stones. Who knows when this will end?  Perhaps I am setting myself up for turmoil and I simply won't be able to part with these memory stones. Perhaps I will. Non-attachment exercise.

2) The stone for the current day is placed in my pocket for the entirety of the day. The stone is large, and takes up enough pocket real estate that I am always aware of its presence in my pocket. When I am aware of the stone in my pocket, it acts as a lasso to corral my mind back to the present moment, instead of fretting wildly about the array of things which may or may not happen to me.

3) What else am I going to do? I have nothing but time over here, so I may as well do something, even if it is just collecting, washing, and scribing upon stones.

One day I'm going to have a lot of stones to contend with. I have a weight limit to stay under when I am transported via helicopter from base to base, so this ultimately poses an issue to me. 

But hey, that's Buddhism. There are challenges down the road, and I will address them properly when they get here. But for now, I have stones.