It’s been a strange and lovely day with many gifts:

The rediscovery of the missing plastic coin, half hidden beneath the wood door in the field. It has a wreath of leaves around the dollar sign on each side.

Hard to put into words, but finding and losing a phony coin and finding it again offered fresh perspective about how to see and approach money concerns. (All money is phony in the sense that the bills and coins are only symbols of purchasing power. We can't feed our children dollar bills, or shelter them with coins.)

The rediscovery of the myth of Atalanta. (The race with Hippomenes and the golden apples was what I remembered, but I never knew that Atalanta was nursed and reared by a she-bear, and that maybe she was an Argonaut.)

The practice of the one Shintaido class routine I remember in its entirety. It includes warmups and the elements of tenshingoso, and never fails to deliver a sense of wonder, connection, and well-being.

The wind shifted just at the end of practice. It brought the sky to dramatic life, and later the pond as well, breaking the surface into spiraling tiles of light on water, mosaics of mesmerizing beauty.

A kingfisher with its black tufted head sat perched on a limb protruding from the water. I’ve never watched a kingfisher fish before. This bird flies heavily because of the weight of its head and beak, yet fishes gracefully, swiftly skimming the water and rising up into a circle of flight.

I caught the second half of the movie Bend It Like Beckham. I'd never seen it. Jess finds a way to do right by her family, and, despite family expectations otherwise, she finds a way to leave to play soccer and be truthful about who she is. Thus, she does right by her self.