Today is my two-year “yogaversary.” It’s been two years since the day I decided to use the extra 15 minutes I had each morning during summer school to start a yoga practice. I figured I could build a habit during the month of June, continue in July during my vacation and then it would be …
Tag Archives: encourage
Waterfall
Trickling tumbling, rolling, splashing. Each drop of water falls on the wings of gravity through the path of least resistance flowing into a collective stream to parts unknown. #waterfall
We’d rather be roadtrippin’
My dad and I had been planning a road trip out west for several months after I chose retirement at the end of the previous school year. I had never visited any of the national parks this direction, nor several of the states we would traverse. He had, but was looking forward to seeing them …
Dawn
The dark fingers of night with her sparkling jewels loses her grip on time in a fiery sunrise battle that results in a victory for the clouds of gray. Tiny spots of blue peek through with the promise, they will have their time too.
Goodbye, Summer
I’m holding the hand of Summer as it slips into the starless darkness serenaded by frogs, crickets and cicadas. It has left us for a while. I resist the urge to cling and scream, “Noooooo!” because it is futile. I must let Summer go. It is the natural order of things. The water in my …
Fresh
Walked out of hot yoga to the fresh scent of the gentle rain dancing on my skin.
Dolphin!
In a previous post, I mentioned that no matter how many times I saw a dolphin in the wild during our trip, I felt an adrenaline rush as I pointed and hollered, “Dolphin!” It was the new “squirrel” as this word and gesture involuntarily interrupted conversations unrelated to dolphins. I can blame this new behavior …
Clicks and whistles…
Ever since I watched the movie, “A Dolphin’s Tale,” I have entertained the idea of visiting Winter, who was the star of the show. After her amazing rescue and rehabilitation, she became a permanent resident of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium along with her best friend, PJ, and many other terrific sea animals. When my bestie …
Don’t Worry, Beach Happy…
If you’re looking for the compromise between a deserted beach and retail tourist attractions on the Florida Gulf Coast, try Madeira Beach. We stayed at Madeira Bay Resort, which just across the road, with a sunrise view of Madeira Bay. The condo was clean and seemed recently remodeled. The less than five minute walk to …
…The Other is Gold
This post is somewhat of a continuation of the “Heart Prints and Wings” post, but the venue and the focus has changed. I’ve moved on to the part of the song that goes: “…keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold.” While I would prefer to change the word “old” to another …
Who ever said principals were boring?
I met a kindred spirit at Anamaya. She was a lovely lady with a quick smile and a patient voice, who quickly became an inspiration to all in our group. We sat together at dinner one night and through conversation discovered that we were both retired principals. E had been retired for several years and …
Dreams with Wings…
Monarch Travels Application Video Today would have been our 35th wedding anniversary. I celebrated by applying for a scholarship for educators to research Monarch butterflies at their winter roosting site in the forested highlands of Mexico. I figured that submitting the application today would somehow be lucky. In the application materials, I included a link …
Heart Prints and Wings…
It was my first trip out of the USA and I was traveling solo. There were many firsts on the trip… Costa Rica… the smallest airplane I’d ever been on… living in the Casita with three ladies I had never met… and more. I should have referred to “the three ladies I’ve never met” as …
Life’s a beach…
Sunset at the beach. What could be more perfect? While I had already throughly enjoyed many aspects of my trip to Costa Rica, sunset at the beach seemed to be promising as a highlight. Following a very rough, but scenic ride on dirt paths that serve as roads in the Costa Rican jungle and bisecting …
Storm Before the Calm
The occasional voice of thunder was deep and faint. The scent of rain was on the breeze as it gently accelerated and alternately slowed. The gray clouds tumbled into a roll and marched closer to the yoga deck from which I observed. Because of the vastness of the ocean and sky, storms could be seen …
Butterflies and Blue…
It’s so hard to pick a favorite spot in Costa Rica, but the edge of the infinity saltwater pool is definitely a contender. The edge overlooked a valley full of flowering plants and colorful butterflies that reached out into the distance to the ocean hues of turquoise, azure and blue. From this vantage point I …
Beautiful Voices
Every yoga practice has been beautiful in its own way. Thursday was about opening the throat chakra. Breathing in the ocean air and gazing across the turquoise and azure waves is the ultimate blue experience. Communication originates here, listening and speaking. The reflective properties of water, particularly when still, mimic listening and water in motion …
Chef’s Special
From a hammock on the deck at the Casita, I hear the howls of the monkeys and the chirps of the geckos joined by the clank of metal and the clink of glass from the nearby kitchen. As meals are prepared, the scents of spices travel like a ribbon winding through the rain and flower …
Happy Birthday, Dragonflies!
New dragonflies were born this morning, emerging from an unseen water source like a tornado swirling higher and higher, rising away from the rain forest floor reaching above the canopy, dancing in the sky and seeing the ocean that extends forever, unimaginable from the vantage point of their birth, for the first time. Their lives …
Beautiful
I arrived at Anamaya Resort yesterday and I have never heard, uttered or thought the word “beautiful” more in my life than in my time here. While the surroundings are visibly beautiful, so are the people, the experience, the food… basically, everything. It’s the rainy season here and thunder has rumbled in the distance on …
Duckling Wake
Today when I arrived at the lake, I spied a mama duck and her ducklings. After the initial silent “oh, they’re so cute” adrenaline rush, of course I took some photos. Then, I observed them and noticed each one’s tiny wake, extending from their tail feathers in a triangular pattern with each ripple reaching out …
Goose Island
When I drove across the Taneycomo Bridge yesterday, I noticed that Goose Island was visible and inhabited with about 100 geese and a few ducks. Before anyone points it out, I know that Goose Island really isn’t an island, but a peninsula or probably even more accurately, a sandbar. Goose Island just has a better …
Honu
One hour of Yin, or deep stretch yoga at Kom Hot Yoga can transport me to the beach, which is my ultimate happy place. Today I felt like creating Turtle Pose, which opens the hips and stretches the back. Honu is the Hawaiian name for the green sea turtle and envisioning him gracefully propelling through …
First run of my (new) life
“Hey look Ma, I made it!” The first run of my “new life” was hot and hilly. It was the kind of run where patches of shade served as motivation to keep moving #OnTheRoadAgain I hadn’t run for a couple of weeks. Life was in the way. But this run felt good. Today I was …
Butterfly Shadows
Lying in the giant shadows of the much smaller butterflies, breathing the fragrance of the fuchsia fans waving from among the fronds of the mimosa. The sun sparkles through when the breeze makes room. This is my favorite tree. I had one in my yard growing up. It was “home base” for wiffleball and we …
Retired Girl in a Beautiful World 