The Valley Of the Sun

Nestled among four mountain ranges,
Tucson Arizona is beloved to me as I went to high school and university way back when.
I formed my tastes for the desert, country and western music and mouth-watering Mexican food here.
I misspent part of my younger years drinking pitcher beer and making out under fragrant lemon trees in full bloom.
Happily I have relatives here to visit or I might skip Tucson’s western charms in favor of alluring undiscovered regions.
And happily, the rellies thus far have been congenial.
My yoga mat is a bit dusty after a couple days or non-use. […]

New York Stripes

New York Stripes

“New New, New York”, a woman standing next to me at the airport newsstand was humming. Not all cities get songs created for them – just the great ones.
I’ve been having a love affair with NYC this week. I admit it. I’ve been romanticizing the warts and celebrating the wonders of the city’s architecture, clothing boutiques, eateries and human verve.
It was a slight jolt this morning to traverse from the chic of East Village Manhattan to the mundanity of Queens for our ride to LaGuardia. […]

New York Stripes

MOMA

The yoga class I took Yesterday paled next to the offerings we saw at the Museum of Modern Art.
It was an interesting class, though, as much as I hate using that dull adjective. The decor of the Hatha Yoga studio was amazing; it was like doing yoga in a temple, with dark wood wall panels, Hindu statues, altars and icons everywhere, floor to ceiling.
The guru Ramakrishnaanamda is the galvanizing energy behind this studio. […]

New York Stripes

Big Apple

…little bedroom with loft bed….that’s where I’m sleeping for the next five days.
Am I happy to be here? I’ll say!
Reasons why:
1. I can walk everywhere until I drop, but I won’t because it’s a snap to catch public transport. Street life is so fascinating in any direction you walk. And, the only American franchises I’ve seen have been in Times Square.
2. This city is the epitome of multicultural, but not in the “melting pot” sense of a bland blend. People seem to take for granted that they are what they are. […]

Lest We Forget

Yoga practice is a portable affair as we travel to different towns, mainly one night per hotel. So delicious to start the day getting grounded and centred.
Especially as war has featured rather largely though accidentally in our visits to different towns.
I can say that the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC is one of the most remarkable exhibitions I’ve ever seen. It’s an intensely evocative experience and I would go again. […]

The Road in A Black SUV Jeep

The Road in A Black SUV Jeep

On the road in the US, on the fly on my iPhone, is not the best way to post to Yoga Suits Her.
Sadly my yesterday post vanished into the ether. I’m I undeterred; no, I am too prosaic to be discouraged. So here I go again.
(I want you to know though that I’m
I’m surprised that the flavor of our travels have centered around national parks and military movements. Daniel and didn’t overplan and these are just directions we meandered.
I fell in love with Yosemite & the giant sequoias & Shenandoah Park. […]

New York Stripes

Yoga Practice

Over the last month of traveling in the U.S.. Eek, it really is a whole month. Yes, I have squeezed in a few poses here and there, but most posing has been done in front of a camera.
Daniel and I have seen some wondrous sights on this trip: the giant granite monoliths of Yosemite, the monstrous and ancient sequoia trees, the iconic monuments of Washington DC, and most recently, the beautiful blue ridge mountains of Shenandoah park.
It’s fascinating being a tourist in one’s own country. This place is so vast and varied. […]

New York Stripes

Family Post # 3

My yoga practice is in tatters at the moment. And somehow I’m surviving and I can still hold my head high as a yoga teacher.
Maybe there is a category, a branch of yoga, if you will, which is practicing being in relationship with your family. […]

New York Stripes

Family Take Two

I’m in Annapolis tonight although I haven’t seen this town’s raisin d’être yet: the U S Naval Academy.
That will happen tomorrow.
So far I’ve had good old quality time with my family – nephew Mike, wife Karen and kids Grace and Nick. Also my totally gorgeous nieces Christa and Whiney (plus boyfriends).
Warren, their dad came with his financee Marion. He sold the family home and moved in with Marion; my sister Sue’s been gone twelve years now. […]

New York Stripes

The Brain Gym

There’s a lot of positive press these days about the effectiveness of doing crossword puzzles and sudukos to help ward off dementia and Alzheimers.
There was the story a while back about a certain order of nuns who achieved longevity and mental acuity greater than that of the general population by dint of practicing daily mental activities.
So now, many of us emulate the Sisters of Perpetual Brain Gymnastics by doing
our quotidian exercises, ever hopeful….
I saw some good evidence when made recent retirement community visits to Sara Weinstein, my mother-in-law, age 91,.
Self-confessed book-a-day reader, veteran of […]

Retirement and Beyond

Crystal balls are not really a necessity. Not at all. To see your future look to the folks in the retirement villages and nursing homes.
Even though fifty is the new forty, sixty is the new fifty, and so on, one day if you live long enough you will get to be an 80, 90, 100 year old. […]