I don’t know why but I used to have “skeptical” as a pejorative expression, ie. think … dirty word.
I then met Daniel i 1991, and we eventually married. He is a self-proclaimed skeptic. I went to my first Skeptics Dinner way back then (an event for Association members and guests) and discovered another meaning for the word: critical thinking. […]
Humour
Incineration
Last night I went to a celebration. A friend had just successfully completed a property settlement on the house she and her daughter live in, all part of the process of her husband becoming her “ex”.
She was staging a bonfire-lighting and had recommended to her guests that they bring along something that they would like to get rid of in the fire. Our neighbours just across Scotts Creek hauled over some old bamboo blinds that went up in flames pretty spectacularly. […]
Spring Clean
With only two weeks to go before the end of spring, there’s still time to do your spring cleaning, that is, if you’re so inclined.
I was raised by a very squeaky-clean type of mother. My sister and I did a lot of the grunt work – basically taking our house apart – scouring, scrubbing, and sluicing it down, until there was a sheen and a shine on everything.
If you know me a little, then you could imagine that this sort of upbringing would make spring cleaning anathema to me. I’ve rebelled against it for years. Until now. […]
There goes the Sun!
Suddenly, in one morning, The Yoga Shed has become an even more virtuous place be.
Eight solar panels and one inverter were installed today, ironically between rain squalls. […]
Where Does the Time Go?
I fear at times the answer to the sped-up-time question is “from not paying attention”, and after nearly 40 years of practising yoga, I certainly hope I can do better than that.
I bought a book for my husband a few years ago called, Why Does Time Speed Up With Age? I’m pretty sure he didn’t read it. Maybe he didn’t have time?
Still, it’s a question I ask myself regularly, as do others of my friends, who like me, are of a certain age. […]
On the one hand…
When I went out to the Yoga Shed this morning to do my practice, I had no idea what day it was, but then I remembered.
I’ve alway been amused by the fact that one of the most important days on the Australian calendar often coincides with the U.S. mid and full term elections. Of course, we’re talking Melbourne Cup Day. A day that features fascinators, top hats, and invariably, like today, a downpour to favour mudders and drizabones.
The U.S. midterm elections are considered to be a watershed and likely to reinvigorate Republicans in Congress. […]
Extracurricular Yoga
A woman called today and wanted some information about yoga for ageing. Why me? Two reasons, I guess. I’ve advertised I’m teaching a workshop on “Working with Older Yoga Students” and I am older.
The caller said she had been a yoga teacher and stopped teaching because she was too old to be bending in all sorts of positions. How old? Sixty-two. I said, “Well, yoga is more than doing postures.” “I know that,” she replied.
It’s so much more that I don’t know even know it all. […]
Frisking Vs. Frisky
I like joking. I think I have a reasonably good sense of humour. It’s fun to share a joke even with a stranger, like at the supermarket check-out; it’s an opportunity to brighten each other’s day.
Ever since fears about terrorism have been so widespread in the U.S., airport security checks there have become very serious and very thorough. Homeland Security does not allow joking. There are even signs posted to that effect.
Since my February surgery, by which I gained two new titanium hips, I have a new relationship with Security. It’s a very predictable one. […]
Sigh
Those of you who have practised yoga with me know I am a sigher. Why hold back? Sometimes yoga is so delicious pleasure begins to burble up from the belly, the kidneys, the heart, and who would want to stifle such an organic impulse. Add voice to it, and, voila, perfection!
I’ve traveled miles on this U.S. trek, now drawing to a close, maybe 450 miles in Arizona alone. Sighs have been too few and far between. […]
Age
Why don’t people hold age as a complimentary thing?
I’m not naive. There are so many difficulties; every sense is under siege -loss of hearing, vision, even sense of taste.
Gravity is going to have an increasingly deleterious effect on skin, muscles, and organs.
The result of the above is considered decidedly unsexy. If you are relatively unscathed, you are said to be “good for your age”. You are “spry” or you still have all your marbles.
It’s been a long time since anyone challenged my senior status. […]
Only in America
Only in America. Three pictures from my recent trip.