Day 88 October 31, 2010

Shipyard  NYC  2010

Day 87 October 30, 2010

Three and a half hours of yoga this morning, with David at the helm.  Oh my.  Intense effort.  Understanding comes from hard work.  Calmness arrives in the body when I start to think from my back brain, the oldest part of the brain which lets us know where we are in the here and now.  Right this minute, not in our future imaginings.

So often we live in the fore brain, the part of the brain where we move forward intellectually, with our will power, with our intent.  The back brain lets us sit back and take notice of where we really are.

The gray sky today only heightens the colors of fall as I glance at my very own garden, standing on my two feet but bent in half as I harvest broccoli.  Even when I glance at the forest from the highway the colours are amazing.  Such a reckless riot of colour. 

Next will come the black and white show of winter.  Are you ready?  I saw my first snow flake this evening.  I'm in no hurry for this next season.  I can wait till it comes.

Day 86 October 29, 2010

Well, I'm home again.  Such a long journey.  Actually it was only 13 long days and nights.  The 10 hours of driving back and forth to St. John, New Brunswick were well worth the effort because of the 5 hours of yoga, as well as getting to know the fine folks that organized and attended the workshop.  David led us so well.  It was a very special experience, thanks especially to kindness shown by Doris, Marie and Truly.

The rest of the journey mainly revolved around a boat trip with Jim, my brother.  He and I had a very rewarding time together.  We both obviously love boats and water.  I miss water the way you miss an old friend.  Jim bought his first boat with his good friend Paul at the ripe age of 12.  Jim financed his portion of the purchase with his own money that he'd earned on his newspaper route and by mowing lawns.  His current boat is his biggest yet at 36 feet long, 14 feet wide, and it includes a fly bridge.

NYC from aboard Forever Young 2010

It felt very strange to drive my car today.  I kept thinking, where's the water?  I did see water in Halifax harbour.  I drove over the bridge and gazed longingly at that expanse of water, the same water I worked on as a deckhand during my time with the Inshore Rescue Boat program.

The funniest moment during my drive was when I pulled past a full sized pick up truck hauling a canoe in the back on the highway.  The best of both worlds I guess.  A truck and a boat.  I thought of Jim today, driving his tractor on the farm, harvesting his potatoes.  From the car to the boat to the truck to the tractor, he is one man who loves to drive a vehicle.

I liken the practice of Iyengar yoga to driving your own body like a vehicle.  You are your own mechanic too.  You drive yourself on vacations to new places you'd never think you'd ever visit.  You remodel yourself, turn out a new model every year.  And the best part is, you feel more satisfied with each year's model than you ever thought possible.  Try it some time, you might enjoy it too :)

Day 85 October 28, 2010

Hibiscus



There is just something about this mauve pink colour that captivates me.  And the five fuzzy ended tips, they surprised me.  Did they surprise you too?



Day 84 October 27, 2010

airport  Toronto, Canada 

Do you enjoy airplane travel?  It can be wonderful and it can be terrible.  Actually, all travel can be that way.  Life can be that way. 

May you find the grace to embrace all that your life offers you, the glorious days, the hard days at 1:05 am when you make that 911 call, the tedious boring times, the enlightened peaceful times.  Be thankful for it all.  We seem to have one turn at this experience, or at least it feels that way. 

Honor yourself.

Namaste.

Day 83 October 26, 2010

You can feel yourself getting ready emotionally when you near the end of  a trip and prepare to return home.  People who you travelled to see and may not see again for quite a while become a substance that you memorize.  You actively say to yourself, I'll remember them just this way.  

Yes we try to hold on to our memories.  Our lives, our past.  When my mother started to decline due to the quickest onset of Alzheimer's disease that her gerentologist had ever seen, I started writing again.  I wanted to record some of my memories, so that they would be there in case I could no longer remember them myself.  

The way my eldest Tai, as a very young girl, once slipped many strips of colored paper halfway under the edge of a small rug, singing as she carefully tucked them into place.  Curious, I asked her what she was doing.  Giving them a nap, mommy.  

And my youngest, with her out going nature that earned her the well deserved nick name, Jenny go go.  If anyone was going anywhere, she wanted to go along too.  She was so wonderfully curious about everyone and everything.

Acknowledge your memories.  Revel in the good times you recall.  This will fill your heart to overflowing, and then help you embrace those you meet in the present.

Aunt Grace's needlepoint

Day 82 October 25, 2010

self portrait 2007  Ross Creek, Nova Scotia group exhibit

This was how the process unfolded for this self portrait destined for the Ross Creek exhibit [there were also preliminary incarnations that were dropped by the wayside]: 

cut up paper photos, attach to red willow branches with double sided carpet tape, choose reunion photos, wedding photos, your children's photos, yoga photos, write on the clay vase in purple ink, freely associate as you go, not knowing what you'll write until you see it in front of you, but you have an idea in mind, to share your life, place the vase on a heavy roll of newsprint that appears to be a good imitation of a marble column, be grateful when the high wind doesn't tear off the photos when you deliver the piece to the gallery, laugh when Terry, the curator, tells you,  "that winter has come" a few weeks after the opening, this means that the photos are starting to drop from the branches, ...how natural.

Day 81 October 24, 2010

Avonport, Nova Scotia

Early spring day, one tiny drop of snow left on the field across the water.  Tide is high.  Here in the area of "the worlds' highest tides" in the Minas Basin which is part of the Bay of Fundy,  it's either full out mud flats, or trickles of water, or full water mode, or in winter time mudbergs, to differentiate them from icebergs.  Mud, mud, mud, there is always lots of mud.

My eldest daughter's spouse once commented that whenever he visited us he could count on getting some mud on his clothing, he being an urban dweller, gathering mud is noticed.  For David and I it is just part of our way of life.

What is your neighborhood like?  Urban, rural, town, island, desert?  What about your neighborhood is just part of your way of life?

Day 80 October 23, 2010

What's vertical?  What's horizontal?  Is your day proceeding as planned?

Location: remote area near Tofino, B.C.  Lovely walk down to the beach.  Prior to our return walk up the long hill we'd been warned by a couple who made a point of talking to us on the beach (that had only 5 people on it) that we might encounter a bear, for they had on their way down.  No problem, I thought.  That is until I actually started up the hill.  I went first, to protect my youngest who walked behind me.  Quickly I tried to remember everything I knew about bears, not much.  We made a lot of noise, intentionally.

The way was narrow and rocky.  I just didn't want to meet a bear in a tight curve through the rocks.  I kept scanning the woods, seeing as far ahead as I could.  Mid way, a bird landed screeching, about 3 feet away from us.  We both screamed.  So much for remaining calm.  Fortunately it was only a bird.  Mind you, I was ready to die defending my young, if need be.  I just wasn't looking forward to it.  

Nothing but relief hit me after our 20 minute walk, when I saw the top of the hill nearing, for I knew the parking lot was close.  Back to humanity.  That remote location was quite special and it filled me with a peaceful calmness.  The return trip up that hill though, well, so much for serenity.  I did get some good photos though! :)

Day 79 October 22, 2010

We're on the hard today.  The marine forecast has a small craft warning with wind, so after four days on the boat moving from one destination to another we are spending a day tied up.  Tomorrow will see us with only 125 nautical miles left to go until we get Jim's boat back to its original boatyard in Rockland, Maine.  Our plan is to take take two more days for that journey.

Today is for watching the busy boatyard workers where we are tied up, move boat after boat onto the hard.  Last night there was snow at Jim's farm in upstate New York. Winter is indeed coming so the boats all up and down this coast need protection.

Today is for laundry too, all those garments that protect us from the elements need their own level of care.  What kind of care will you take of yourself today?  Will you reward yourself for having worked hard at some task recently?  Will you relish the time it takes to stretch yourself out, get all the kinks out of your body, in whatever way you choose?  Will you read something just for fun today?  Will you stare at the clouds on your back resting on your yoga mat, admiring their very ability to shape shift, like I did this morning?  Will you make a point of really talking to someone today, about something real, not just the pleasantries, the superficialities? Will you feel grateful for something you experience today?  Let's hope so.