Ending the Beginning

I ended up running a little over my set end date with this blog, but I just couldn't help myself.
I loved the experience and learned a lot about myself.
I hope that everyone does this on occasion to spice things up and get creative.
Thanks for following and being a part of my life, one way or another.

Keep an eye out for my next blog.

Enjoy life to its greatest capacity.

Namaste.

Writing a Letter

I used to spend hours writing letters; I loved it.  It's always meant a lot to me to receive a handwritten letter, but these days, e-mail has taken over.  And, in a way, it's ruined the beauty of the spontaneously poetic English language and the creativity of our personal and defining handwriting.
When I sat down to write this letter, I wasn't sure what I wanted to say or how I wanted to say it, but I also needed to consider the significance of the time I would need to put into this letter for my thought process before I even wrote it.  There is no room for drafts or mistakes.  I cannot backspace to delete a misspelling or misplaced word.  As a writer, I have been known to spend a considerable amount of time on just one sentence or even just one word.  Plus, my handwriting needed to not only be legible, but also, hopefully somewhat aesthetically pleasing to the eye of the reader...  It's been a while.  This was certainly a challenge for me.
There really is so much that goes into the art of sending a card.   First, I had to seek out my stationery in my new house.  Once found, I flipped through the old stationery to find just the right color, texture and sparkle.  I added a little perfume to give the card a soft scent of myself for the reader.  I dug through my writing implements, looking for the proper color and fitting texture, making certain it didn't run on the card.  After I summoned the presence of the handwriting Gods, I put my pen to page and held my breath.  While I wrote, I laughed, paused, thought, giggled, smiled; I was happy. Once finished, I set it out to dry while I prepared dinner, with my friend distinct in my mind's thoughts.  Afterward, I placed it in its envelope, addressed it, stamped it and sealed the note.  The next morning, I woke early to place it in my outgoing mailbox.

What a sweet way to spend an evening.  It was creative, elegant and peaceful.  I love the act of thinking of someone for an evening, and then days later they receive your thoughts.  It's quite a lovely practice that we have given  little time and respect to these past few years.  Is it, perhaps, a dying art?  I highly recommend this challenge.  It certainly breaks up the monotony of everyday life, as well as brings a little color and love directly into someone else's.

Taking a different route

I always go to the same beach to walk along the water in Orleans when I'm headed out from my house, so today I decided to make a change.  And what a gift it was.  I headed out to Chatham, to Lighthouse beach, a beach I had little interest going to because of how it looked on a map.  Silly, I know.  But I wasn't so interested in driving to the ocean to see a bay, since I already live on the bay side of the Cape.  When I got there, it was stunning.  I am ever grateful for this blog, because it pushed me to go a different way, have a new experience.  The drive brought my through the sophisticated town of Chatham, (which I am now excited to explore).  And the beach, oh the beach in Chatham, it has a beautiful white lighthouse, waves crashing far out on the national seashore sand dunes, waves crashing on the beach I was walking on and water rushing into and out of a small kettle pond the ocean created.  It was lovely, exciting and new.  So much to take in.  And on top of all this beauty, there was a distant fog horn singing a soft lullaby out to sea.  The sounds at this beach are music to my ears and the colors instilled in my heart.  I felt so much love for the chilled land beneath my pink rain boots and the icy grey water tumbling over the grainy brown sand.  Oh, and along the way, I found a couple rocks for my collection.   What a day.  Definitely recommend trying a new route.  Easily breaks up the monotony of everyday life.

Participating in a Yoga Class

As many of you know, I am a certified Kripalu Yoga Instructor and have dedicated my life to my practice for the past 6 years with all my heart.  Recently, I've found myself busy with performing, travelling and cooking that I've denied myself the time I need to nurture my body, mind and soul.  It's been a while since I've had my 1-2 hour session on a regular basis.  I've found I've replaced my Yoga practice with swimming and running, but I know that it's not enough.  So today, I found a local Yoga studio, grabbed my mat and dove in.  Advanced Vinyasa Yoga.  Oh boy!
There have been times in my life when I've desired to only practice on my own, no need for teachers and students alike to motivate my practice, but, I figured, since I can't seem to roll my mat out in my own living room, I needed to participate with society.
The class was excellent.  Breathing in sync with other bodies and allowing the teacher's words to guide my practice provided me with a sense of calm, safety and warmth.  I felt comfortable and was able to release myself deeply into my practice.  Moksha.
Yoga is such a wonderful way to break up the monotony of everyday life.  Allowing myself 1-2 hours to connect entirely with my presence is a true gift.  Checking in with how I am doing and where I am in my life can be revitalizing and reawakening.  It was a workout for my body, mind and soul.  I now feel refreshed, cleansed and motivated to live life better than yesterday.  It's a wonderful feeling.  I cannot wait to get back on my mat again tomorrow.

Creating a new recipe

I love to improvise, so actually creating a recipe, remembering what I've put in my food, was a challenge for me.
I'm not much of a shopper.  So, my friend had already bought everything she wanted me to make.  I got right to it.  One of my specialties is roasted vegetables, especially beets; she'd made sure to mention her desire for them as soon as I landed.  That meant that I had to plan the rest of the meal around my beets.
She had jasmine rice, onion, squash, zucchini, garlic, scallops from the Cape and limes among other things.  I put my chef hat on and got creative.  I love cooking random vegetables together, so I chopped up the veggies and threw in some dried cranberries dressed in salt, pepper, cumin, sherry, shoyu and lemon zest.  Delicious!  After combining with the jasmine rice, I added some dijon mustard to finish it off.  Oh glorious food!
Then came the scallops.  I had never cooked scallops before, believe it or not, so I had a lot of fun with this one.  I threw in some lime juice, butter, garlic, paprika and oregano in a pan and placed them in the broiler.  After they were cooked, I mixed in a little kudzu to thicken the sauce and poured it on top of the scallops to serve.  Yum!
As for the roasted beets, I won't tell you my recipe, but gosh they were good.  The recipe is outstanding, but varies depending on the home I'm in.
This creation certainly spiced up our day.  Plus, knowing that I had completely created each recipe on my own made it all the better.  Try it out.

Past Enjoyment Re-Kindled

I arrived in DC today wondering what on earth I was doing here, after such a huge snow storm with another on its way.  The roads were a mess.  Literally, the "plowed" roads had at least a foot of snow on them, and they had had a full day since the snow stopped!  It's unbelievable.  I'm from New England, and clearly we know how to handle the snow in comparison to DC.  Something to remember next time I venture south in the winter.

With nothing else to do, my friends and I bundled up and headed in pursuit of snow playtime.  We borrowed a neighbors sled and made our way through the bumps and crevasses of the hardened snowy streets of DC to a colossal hill.  I was bubbling with delight at the thought of making my way down this challenging hill with a river to the right, a ditch to the left and a man hole and prickers at the end.  

I hopped on the slick sled with a friend and we flew down, straight over the bumps bruising our bottoms and straining our voices screaming and laughing down the frozen mound of earth and snow.  Running our legs into the ground as we briskly prance straight up the hill to race back down again.  What fun!    I have always loved sledding, and am excited to go again and again.  I feel like a little kid.

Finding Something New

I've rarely spent time on hobbies in my past.  I didn't want to waste my time with something I didn't really care about.  When I chose this challenge, it took me some time to come up with what I really wanted to do.  I had trouble coming up with an idea.  So, I decided to go for a brisk stroll on the beach to get the the ball rolling on this challenge.  Whilst deep in thought, I looked down and saw a brilliantly colored rock amongst several others beneath the surf.  I picked them up, felt their weight in my hands, admired the texture, shape and radiance and thought: collecting rocks!
As you know, I live on Cape Cod, and there are millions of stunning rocks in the sea that happen to make their way on to the beach.  I was quickly taken with this hobby.  Rushing out onto the beach, rain or shine, searching for small rocks, big rocks, odd rocks, lovely rocks, jagged rocks, smooth rocks, etc.  It was easy and a lot of fun dancing around the beach, sprinting from the waves as they crashed over the beautiful rocks.
For me, my everyday life includes driving the Outer-Cape; this hobby gives me a reason to stop at the beach besides surf watching.  It makes my visits a bit more enticing and gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I've found this to be one of my favorite things to do now, and have even begun making collections for other people.
The colors are beautiful.  The rocks are smooth from the lapping of the gentle waves, others rough from the tumultuous stormy seas.  I love that most of the rocks only shine and show their pristine colors and rippled affects when they are submerged in water.
This hobby has not only given me joy from such a simple action, but it's motivated my creativity.  I've found so many rocks in just a few weeks.  Currently my Yoga "altar" holds them, but I want to find a way to have them submerged in water, christening my home with their eye-catching colors and charm.  This hobby has brought the ocean into my home.  I feel happier for it.  I have found a hobby that gives me peace and happiness.  It makes me stop to "smell the flowers," so to speak.