Yoga hive eye

I took a yoga class this evening. It was hatha or some kind of flow-y style of class. Before it began, the instructor walked around the room and set electric candles on the floor. Each candle had a switch on the bottom that when sparked would turn on the flicker. They looked like wax candles that had melted down in the centre. 

At some point during the first few minutes of the class a hive grew on my right eyeball. This has happened before (thank goodness there are no bees!). The hive messed up my contact lens and turned my eye into cranberry jelly - a squashed squint of allergy that was under constant rain pour, what with the buckets of sweat. Maybe the hive is a sign of an allergy, but to what. Sun salutations? I have no idea why it turned up, or who sent it, but although unpleasant it didn't detract a fig from the relaxation I was feeling. My girdles have been loosened! Shoulder and hip, that is.

Sunday run

I didn't sleep well last night but I stuck to my original plan and ran this morning. I took the path along the water by the university and smelled the choppy waves of water on the wind in the bright sunlight and the combo of wind, water and sun made me smile like an empty moron. It was a warm feeling of spring freedom - is this spring fever?

Lately I haven't been feeling motivated to run the longer distances, and I felt some of that irritation this morning. It wasn't just tiredness. I hope I can get excited about it again soon, but if it doesn't come back I guess I will have to address it. Find something to take its place.

20k.

Volcanic embers

Saturday mornings are becoming the exquisite gems of my week. I'm keen on a long snooze after a week of sleep deprivation and work, but I'm unable to sleep in much on Saturday and Sunday mornings and it has nothing to do with the hour of my bedtime. I chalk it up to re-aligned circadian rhythms and the cat, who is definitely a morning person....er, kitty. I used to be such a night owl but that seems long ago now.

The joy of my Saturday morning is in the solitude. One of my favorite things to do on a weekend morning is watch movies; a night of shadowy dreams sets me in a suitable frame of mind for watching something deep and complex. The other thing I like to do on weekend mornings is run.

I haven't been discussing my running lately, but there has been some activity. I ran on Thursday at work, and then last night when I got home - the cool wind felt refreshing. Yesterday morning I also did a Bodyrock session (actually it was an intensive Zuzana Light session with a murder of burpees) which armed me for a long and challenging day in battle. Some morning start better with sparks; others with embers.

CBC

Retired people who are still bitter about their jobs are sad but also really funny. I wonder how they can still carry the passion to hate an organization they are no longer a part of. One from which they have been liberated.

If your job was to torture people, or if you were bullied for years and just retired five minutes ago, your residual anger at your former employer could be understandable.

But if you just got up in the mornings and went off to your kinda crappy but tolerable office for your entire career and now you don`t have to because you are retired, the rest of the working world finds you very, very lucky, and would you please now just move ahead with your life.

Yesterday two women on a busy street commented on my purse, a CBC satchel. One of them asked me where I got it. After I told her where I bought it, she sputtered, I worked for the CBC for 35 years and I never got one of those.

Gee, that`s too bad, you didn`t get a purse. What a horrible oversight! I bet you totally deserved a canvas satchel! And I bet your managers are kicking themselves to this day for letting you go.

Teak and steak

The southern trip is over and we've been back to city pace for a few days now. After two days of office work, I can feel the familiar stresses sinking in, the roots searching blindly for places on which to take hold, though I can still feel the influence of sunlight and rest on my psyche.

I may be home among the pine trees but my core remains a trunk of Costa Rican teak wood. I hope it can stay that way until at least the next excursion.

:: Daydreaming under the heart leaf tree ::

I'm going to try to focus on small things for the next few weeks. I need to remember that my job is just a day job. Put in the time, then put yourself on the bus back home. D and I are planning regular mud facials to keep the relaxation boat afloat. Then there's running. Cake and bubble tea. 

I attended a spin class tonight, a friend's final class of the season. I chose the bike nearest the back door, swung wide open to catch spring breezes and air out the sweaty studio. Now and then I caught a whiff of the outdoors, the earthy scent of steak grilling on a barbeque, and my stomach gurgled like a delighted baby.

Pineapple slices and chocolates

Fruit from Costa Rica for the proper frame of mind

Yesterday the three usual suspects went for a run on our lunch break. We choose a 30-min loop where the land received lots of sunshine. We saw a woodpecker and also a young guy surfing the monstrous hills on his skateboard. One of us did sprints up the hills. Another ran slowly. The third took it really slowly. This was our second run in four days. We are forming quite the committed team.

Snowy morning

This morning's run was planned, executed and thoroughly enjoyed, even in wet falling snow. I can get nostalgic about everything, and so after a winter of few long jaunts I was hankering for a path run regardless of the weather (hat and sunglasses are reliable cures for almost every season). 

On the path I giggled at some geese hissing in my direction. Rude, I know. They have't seen a lot of humans yet, especially humans charging toward them and their mates on high speed cycles, so I guess they're not used to the idea of sharing the path (but they will learn). There weren't many people out this morning but I passed some walkers and was passed in karmic return by cyclists. 

I also:

Considered how poached eggs (and other Big Breakfast fixins) can serve as catalysts. 

Appreciated my new running gloves.

Cursed my undercharged music player.

Hoping for Montreal. Anticipating Deventer. Aching for Tamarindo.  

Recalling how my toes feel after running 17k.