Zen and the Art of Window Washing

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justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 31, 2014 - 09:37pm PT
This one's for you Cosmic

Zen and the Art of Window Washing

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then wash outward from there.

You look at where you're squeegeeing and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at the soap film and a pattern seems to emerge.

In a house you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that kitchen window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer. Standing on the roof of the house, squeegee in hand, that frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.

The real window you're working on is that widow called yourself.

Absence of quality is the essence of streaked windows and clogged window tracks.

Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to wash a window.

To the untrained eye ego-washing and selfless-washing may appear identical. Both kinds of washers place soap on the glass. Both breathe in and out at the same rate. Both stop when tired. Both go forward when rested. But what a difference! The ego-washer is like an instrument that’s out of adjustment. He puts his squeegee down an instant too soon or too late. He’s likely to miss a speck of dirt. He goes on when the sloppiness of his sweep shows he's bored. He neglects the window tracks. He looks up the street trying to see his next job when he knows what’s ahead because he just booked one a second before. He goes too fast or too slow for the conditions He’s here but he’s not here. Every pane's an effort, both physically and spiritually, because he imagines his goal to be external and distant.

There is a perennial classical question that asks which part of the window, which streak of soap, is God.

The cleaner the glass, the more you see.

To all appearances he was just washing. In actuality he was just washing.”

You don’t make great conversations washing a window. Instead you spend your time being aware of things and meditating on them - on sights and sounds, on which side of the house will be in the sun or shade. Mood of the wind blowing suds, the dirt in the tracks, on the paint overspray on the glass and the planter you are standing in, thinking about things at great leisure and length without being hurried and without feeling you’re losing time.”

God, resides quite as comfortably a bucket of water or the mesh of a screen as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower. To think otherwise is to demean him—which is to demean oneself.

What the hell is ambidsqueegeedextrous ? What is it?



MisterE

climber
Bishop, CA
Aug 31, 2014 - 09:51pm PT
Dude is The Master.

Effortless, it looks.
SC seagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, or In What Time Zone Am I?
Sep 1, 2014 - 10:02am PT
we're going to have to have a Squeegee Off

FRONT ROW SEATS, I want front row seats.
Will make Canadian and American hockey look like child's play!

Susan
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Sep 2, 2014 - 05:29pm PT


"Squeegee Off" ???
I know nothing about the contender...

But my money is on the 'Cozmic' one !
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Sep 2, 2014 - 05:38pm PT
I have to go with the home boy also...he's a bad mother f*#ker ...Hush yo mouth , talkin bout cozmeek....I can dig it...
Flip Flop

Trad climber
Truckee, CA
Sep 2, 2014 - 05:53pm PT
What's my line?
[Click to View YouTube Video]

Listening to Jimmie Rodgers , Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

jgill

Boulder climber
Colorado
Sep 2, 2014 - 09:37pm PT
I applaud you, clapping with one hand.


;>)
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2014 - 08:28am PT
Funny.. my lab found plutonium.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Sep 3, 2014 - 12:06pm PT
I can dig it.
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Sep 3, 2014 - 04:56pm PT
Big Mike, the Buddha of Zen windows in Whistler is obviously holding back on this thread !

Lol Jim.. I was too tired from washing windows to read the op... Therefore couldn't reply.. ;)

When Big Mike comes to Vegas in October,
we're going to have to have a Squeegee Off
to see who the real MASTER is.

;-)

I'll even give Big Mike a Handicap.
I'll use my Right Hand.

If you're gonna give me a Handicap, you better make sure i can't outreach you!! Lol

As to the zen, there is a certain satisfaction when you drive away and the complex's windows shine back at you, or you pass by a pane you serviced and it gleams still, weeks or months later. Sometimes the flow is smooth and the work is easy, sometimes it feels like an uphill battle and everything goes wrong. Kinda like life.. Lol.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Sep 3, 2014 - 05:11pm PT
Cosmic the Streaker...

no tie-dye!

Just clarity of vision.
Non-plutonium formula cleaner.
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Sep 3, 2014 - 07:31pm PT
Lol.. I think i just had a seizure! Lol
jstan

climber
Sep 3, 2014 - 07:37pm PT
If you are on technetium you are long off the glow. Iodine?
phylp

Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
Sep 3, 2014 - 07:54pm PT
^^^ Excellent plutonium sparkly head!
Fish Finder

Social climber
Sep 3, 2014 - 08:04pm PT
I've seen cosmically work
I can vouch for him
He is definitely unstable
And somewhat purplish
Always being followed around by the smell of burning rope
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Sep 3, 2014 - 08:12pm PT
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2014 - 08:15pm PT
I think I know now why I have seizures when I wash windows with Cosmic...

;)
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Sep 4, 2014 - 11:58am PT
Thanks moose!


This thread needs some window pics.

Geeves getting his wash on
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Sep 4, 2014 - 03:56pm PT
Lol.. Well, i'm on a thirty two, taking this shot soooo.... Lol
MisterE

climber
Bishop, CA
Sep 4, 2014 - 05:36pm PT
Jeeves looks different from the MIB depiction...

;)
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