By Chris Condon.
The Fire Horse Arrives
A year ago, I wrote my first Zen View column in the ModestoView celebrating the Chinese Zodiac’s year of the Wood Snake. The turn of the new year always seems to offer us an opportunity to reflect, if only for a moment, on the nature of time and change, so in that column a year ago I wrote, in a sort of sinuous, flexible manner, “Time is always flowing. Things change. The world turns. This movement – the snake shedding its skin – is an inevitable part of our lives. We can move with it.” Sounds good, yes?
Yes indeed, things do change, as here comes the Fire Horse, the next astrological denizen of the Chinese lunar Zodiac. The Fire Horse bursts forth in a maelstrom of rapidity and strength. Its character fuses the horse’s natural strength with fire’s intensity, suggesting bold action and a drive for freedom. Time is on the move; old patterns are broken asunder.
Yet all the elemental energies (which, in the Chinese Zodiac, consist of Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth) arise in the openness of space, which includes them all. In truth, we need to skillfully ride this energy of change through the time and space of our lives, with all its fleeting, unpredictable fickleness. To actually ride a horse (much less a Fire Horse!), one must attune and balance oneself to its particular movement, open to whatever might come next.
Quite a few years back, my wife and I went to see the Chinese New Years Parade in San Francisco. It seems long ago, but in the space of my mind’s eye I can still vividly remember the swirling dragons with long teeth and enormous eyes, the flying banners of red and gold, phoenixes and peonies dancing in the street, and firecrackers exploding all around. Time was on the move, and we were moving with it (and have moved ever since, balancing this way, opening to that), feeling the new year’s space of joy.
Interested in experiencing an awesome, family-friendly dance of energy, freedom, and change? Come to the 2026 Lunar New Year Celebration at the Asian Market in Modesto. Leung’s White Crane Dragon and Dance Association will be performing.
Asian Market
2425 McHenry Ave., Ste. A, Modesto, CA 95350
February 21st, 2026
Starts at 10:45 AM
Chris is a retired school psychologist and former middle school English teacher who enjoys writing, music, photography, and the outdoors. He has been practicing t’ai chi with the T’ai Chi Ch’uan Academy of Modesto since the early 2000s and has an ongoing mindfulness meditation practice. He loves to travel to far-off and less visited places. He lives in Modesto with his wife and their two cats.
christopherpc@myyahoo.com<mailto:christopherpc@myyahoo.com>
