Life in the Cheese Drawer

frogs are quiet now

crickets sing from the tall grass

summer slips along

 

it’s hot out. and not only is it hot, but it’s wet outside. last summer, it was dry – i mowed my lawn maybe three times last summer and the mosquitoes and black flies were nonexistent. not so this summer!

in the springtime, seeing the different greens and tree colors really makes me happy – a glimpse of their true colors, and at times it’s indistinguishable from autumn. but chlorophyll soaks the leaves this time of year and the atmosphere keeps the heat from the sun past its apex.

i’ve got one camping trip scheduled for two weeks from now at william o brien stte park with megan, and i’m looking forward to it! it hasn’t been a totally busy summer, with my family reunion in early june. last week i was in the cities to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and the weekend before that was the fourth down at liz’s. now i’m debating trying to get up the north shore yet this summer – maybe late august or early september.

on the home front, nate and i finally are biting the bullet and putting in new floors. the flooring is in the garage, and the old carpet needs to come up in the next three weeks so that when liz comes the first weekend of august, it’s ready to go. the carpet is just gross! full of 25 years’ worth of dust and pet hair and general junk. i’m putting down wood-look vinyl plank, which should hopefully not absorb dander and stuff and help with allergens.

and on the running front, ragnar is two months away. the few times i’ve been out to st johns this summer, it’s been rough. i get bored right around 2 miles in, and i’m not sure why. i don’t get bored road running the same route, so i’m not sure what’s happening. but that’ll be here before i know it, so i’ve got to get some trail and hill miles in. i’m sure i will be lying in the tent at 4 am, sweat dried all over and shivering from the cold, wondering why on earth i’m doing this – i could be in my warm bed with a bathroom 20 feet away. it’s worth it, but it sometimes sucks while in the doing of it.

my yoga teacher training final is in a week! after this, i’ve just got to do the anatomy class and i’m a certified yoga teacher trainer. no idea what i’m going to do with it yet, but it seemed like the logical thing to do. maybe ill start a youtube channel. who knows!

anyway, that’s the update from avon. i’ll take pics of the floor renewal and have a long post about that for sure!

today i was hanging out on my patio at the gloaming, watching the sun make its way past the horizon and reading a book, when i looked up and there were teeny tiny frogs just hanging out on my siding, on the patio door. then i looked more closely at some of the milkweed i have growing next to the patio, and frogs were just hanging out on the leaves and flowers!

summer’s sliding by. the fourth of july always marks a halfway point, and because my fam reunion was early this year, it seems like the season is scooting a bit faster than i’d like. but i’m taking more vacation days over the summer than usual, so i’m happy to get some longer weekends in to enjoy the time.

most of the yoga practices i’ve done have started with an intention. whether you like to call this a prayer, good vibes, a zen moment, or just, heck, call it an intention, it’s a good way to bring focus to a practice and to bring an element of meditation and calm to your mind.

for my yoga teacher training, i have to create and then teach a class. i have the poses set and have figured out my cues, but i need to form an intention setting for the start and end of class. so, here we go.

Let’s set an intention of release for our practice. This can be something personal. Maybe you want to send good vibes to a loved one who needs a message of release. Maybe there’s something in your life that you need to work on releasing. Maybe it’s even something physical – your hamstrings are tight or you have a knot in your shoulder. If you don’t have a personal intention, think about releasing your expectations for your practice. Just observe what happens. There are a lot of hip openers in this flow. During hip openers, it’s not uncommon to release emotions, and it’s ok to just let them happen. Take a deep breath in and then release it.

eh, i think that’ll work well enough. when i set a time with my teacher to do my final flow class, i’ll post a zoom link so others can join.

 

what winter does

is make us forget how

May splendifies the earth

from the drabness

and brown of hibernation

to

greens so bright

and neon

filtering

in the light of a

spring sunrise

that you forgot the colors existed.

what winter does

is make us forget

the smell of lilacs,

though we

think we recall it

in the dead of

january,

but it’s just

a memory,

because that

first small scent

of spring lilac –

the memory was

nothing like this.

what winter does

is make us forget that

its complete silence,

its stillness,

its full calm,

was preparing us

for what we

forgot.

hello from my patio!

every spring i’m shocked at how much i missed spring. the frogs singing in the marsh, the birds chirping all over the place, all the weeds in my flowerbed.

it’s also yoga on the patio time! that’s always a pleasant thing to do. i finished up my two yoga classes and am doing two more over the summer. in the fall i’ll finish up an anatomy class and then have my teacher training done. i may post my final essay for my one class here, but we’ll see if i get to it.

commencement is over, thank goodness. now work will be (relatively) slow for a bit before we go into full recruitment gear for fall. we’re also mid-web redesign, which will come to a full head in the new year.

i was going to do “no-mow” may, but i fear that if i do that, it will be “time to bale” june if we get any more rain.

i planted a wisteria by my shed in hopes that it will be gorgeous in a few years. i also planted a honeycrisp apple tree since my second tree died a couple years ago and it’s good to have fruit trees in twos. my tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, radishes, carrots, and dill are in. and i got my flowers done, too. i hope it doesn’t freeze now.

and the hole in my roof is fixed! so good to have that done. unfortunately, now i have no shade on the north side of my house due to four aspen gone since we moved in. there’s one more dead aspen back there, but it’s in a weird spot and i’m hoping it just fall over the opposite way of the house come some strong winds.

and may is halfway over! it just keeps on going. slow down may so i can enjoy you a bit.

i wish that i could not write something for earth day. because that would mean that every day is earth day. but we continue to celebrate a day toward our home in the cosmos, and we continue to think that we have time.

i read somewhere recently that the biggest scam ever played was corporations tricking individuals into thinking that changing our daily lifestyle is what will make the difference in climate change or overflowing landfills or endless plastic bags and swaths of plastic in the ocean. why a scam? because it’s not about whether we choose to forgo the plastic straw or turn out the lights or move closer to work to use public transportation.

it’s that those are the options we are given. sometimes those are the EASY options we are given. most times those are the ONLY options we are given.

it’s really corporations that need to change. it’s the system of ease and single use that we have been lulled into. corporations know that humans are lazy and that convenience is what we strive for. and they’ve done nothing but cater to it because we will pay for it.

so what do we do? what can we do?

i, for one, will take some minor inconveniences if i don’t have to witness water wars. if my state doesn’t become a hot spot for migration when the coasts get too warm and start to lose land to the ocean. if my ecosystem changes.

sure, i will continue to do what i can do. i’ll avoid certain products and try to use alternates and work on my plastic usage. but what really works is mass pressure from consumers on corporations. unfortunately in the capitalistic society, corps with a conscious are rare and it’s all about the cash.

if you couldn’t tell, i’m feeling a bit pessimistic about earth day this year. last year i was hopeful. but i feel like we’ve still learned nothing.

some life updates!

1. i got the recording of my presentation that i did for my leadership program. take a look! it’s a little hard to hear, but i did have a mic and i could be heard during the presentation.

 

2. i’m wrapping up my classes that i took this semester. i’ve got another couple weeks left of my yoga history/philosophy class and my relaxation/meditation class. i just have to write two final essays, which should be easy peasy. i did write up a meditation script, which i might share in a couple days.

3. UGH let me tell you about my half marathon last weekend. i almost didn’t run it and was waffling up til the morning of, but then i got dressed, and once i get dressed, then i have to go. it was cold. at starting, it was 26º. as the day went on, it got maybe 4º warmer, but the wind picked up up up and it was brutal. but here’s the best (worst) part: a half marathon is 13.1 miles. this one, even on the official website!!, is mapped out at 13.5. i was hauling my cold, tired self from mile 12.5 onward wondering how on earth this half mile is SO. LONG. went on forever! but the 13.5 length suddenly made sense as to why i was just dying for the last (fake) half mile. and ultimately, it’s FINE. but when they send your final results? they base it on 13.1!!! so my GPS told me my pace was a respectable 12:05 mile, but the official results list 12:25. not cool! if i were a competitive runner and using this race to get into other races, i would complain. but it’s done. phew! i have another half marathon now on may 7. here’s hoping the weather is at least above freezing. i’m not holding my breath though, considering how this spring has been going.

4. i’m SO ANXIOUS for warmer weather. the gloaming is at 8:30 p.m. and i want to be out enjoying it, but it’s hard when it’s 35º and snowing. come on warm weather!!!