An amazing autumn week - sun and warm air, the brilliant colors of the trees, good health, lots of guitar playing and running, and the beginning days of my spiritual quest.
Since deciding to call it quits to racing my running has been productive, fast, free and fun. I have been running 3-5 milers to Busey Woods. The forest is filled with vibrant colors and because it has been dry the odors are crisp and refreshing. I had the urge to run through the night yesterday, my body must be on a 2 week time schedule for super long runs. I considered doing it, but Rachel treated for Indian food so my full stomach prevented any midnight madness. Today was in the mid 70's and sunny so I decided to run longer than usual and made it 10 miles before the heat made me quit.
Guitar practice is moving steadily along. I have been making fast progress this month, each session my fingers gain more stamina, coordination, and strength. Two nights ago I created a few blues lines on the pentatonic scale which required a hammer on, timed picking, and a 2 and 3 string barre. I have begun to work daily on vibrato and string bending. I have made fast progress on both techniques, it is rough on the fingers but the callouses are getting tougher as each session passes. Chord transitions are becoming smoother, I was going through chords in order of the alphabet and discovered that chords C/D/E sound great in sequence. My picking is getting better but I need to begin working on palm muting because the heavier strings tend to hum even if I strike them correctly.
The spiritual quest has begun, I have been disciplined with meditation, sitting 2-3 times a day, and I cleaned the house for 3 hours this morning trying to remain in a meditative state. Rachel thanked me for cleaning the house and I told her I was actually meditating the whole time, a tidy household being the result. Currently the biggest obstacle is my addiction to entertainment - movies, watching/reading sports and other misc. things will keep me from my goal of having a mind wiped clean of extraneous noise. I need to be weaned from these things and break the habit. I know I can do it, but it won't be easy. Once the unnecessary distractions are eliminated my mind should begin to settle into a quiet and peaceful orbit. Then the work begins.
I carried a camera with me on one of my runs this week. Here is a picture from that day :
