WordSisters

Tag: wordsisters

  • Beth Does Yoga sortof

    One-Legged downward facing dog

    I’m a shadow of my former self is my first thought. I correct myself. No, Beth. You’ve never been graceful, subtle or smoothly moving. You are more of a lumbering sort, moving in a slow, heavy awkward way.

    Class members are in an Eagle pose. Instead

    of looking like the king of the birds, I have my hand reaching out to the beam support to keep my posture upright and my foot touching the ground, so I won’t fall over. Even with that help I am in danger of tipping.

    Balance and Flex Together at the YMCA incorporates Yoga, Pilates and athletic training for balance, mobility, flexibility and core.

    Sunday morning and I’m here with a mix of men and women. By the end of class, many will wonder why I’m here. I’m doing them a service as it will become clear that I’m the worst in the class.

    My goal is to make it 55 minutes to the end part where we lay on our mat and meditate.

    The class moves to a lotus pose. I stretch my legs straight. I’m not able to sit cross-legged due to my inflexibility. Class members don’t know that I’ve have had both of my knees replaced. The only hint is my yoga pants with Twin City Orthopedics stitched to the front. Who knew that you would get swag with a knee replacement?

    Maybe class members think that I just don’t like following directions. That’s true too. But, once on the floor it will take me some time to figure how to get back up and it will not be graceful.

    The class moves to a cat pose. Since this entails being on your knees, I move to the dolphin plank pose instead. Fluidly the group shifts from one pose to another. I alternate between the plank and downward-facing dog. Eventually, the class will meet me there.

    I’m a lesson to others that they don’t have to follow along with the instructor and that they can make this class into anything they want. Indeed, it will at times look like I’m in a totally different class than them.

    I’m also an example of how not to be embarrassed but a demonstration of positive thinking that anyone can strive to develop harmony in the body and mind.

    On Monday, I will take my lumbering self to a Pilates reformer class. Overall strength, flexibility, coordination and balance are my goals. As well as not hurting myself.

    Gracefulness is not on the list.

     

  • When Your Kids’ Bucket List Becomes Yours

    Nihongo wa hanasemasen (I don’t speak Japanese).

    Japan was not on my bucket list. It wasn’t a longing. If someone would have said to me, “Are you ever going to travel to Japan?” I probably would have responded with, “Why would I do that?”

    Now that plane tickets have been purchased and dates marked off our calendar, Juan and Crystel argue about who brought up the idea of traveling to Japan first.

    Regardless of who did, Crystel gets the credit for selling the idea. She used a PowerPoint presentation to further promote her position. Crystel titled her demo, “What to Do on Our Japan Trip,” as if we had already bought the goods. She meticulously moved through each of her 29 slides, and many had links for further description. Such as, the pros and cons of staying in a Capsule hotel, hostel, or Ryokan. She could be a tour guide, I thought, as she described how she separated Japan into four destinations: city side, country side, Juan’s animé side, and beach side.

    Japan is an island country that is seventy percent mountainous. Mountains and valleys split the land. It was her photos of Japan’s stunning coastal scenery and untouched countryside landscapes that began to sway me. She was easily making Japan an attractive destination. A hankering began to flicker.

    It wasn’t long before Crystel and I were on the couch, side by side, researching the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’. She would plan our day to day activities, and I would secure the lodgings. You might think that I would be scared about letting a teen plan our pursuits. I admit to some trepidation. My unease fell away after I saw her ensuing PowerPoint presentation: an itinerary for Tokyo, Mount Fuji, and Gero. She had our schedule mapped from place to place. Each locale more beautiful than the last. She even planned an alternate choice for Jody and me while she and Juan visited Akihabara, the center of gaming, manga and animé culture in Tokyo.

    Our three-week trip to Japan will close with seven days in the tiny fishing village of Asobi on the Tango peninsula. The peninsula is located on the Japan sea coast, allowing us to take day trips to Kyoto and the surrounding area. Crystel will enjoy planning trips to beaches, hot springs, and Kyoto. I’ve already downloaded the paperwork for an international driver’s license as Tango is most easily explored by car.

    Crystel said she wanted to visit Japan because of the culture, Juan because of animé, and Jody because she didn’t want to be left at home. That’s not the all of it, she enjoys adventure as I do, and I stack them up when I plan our exploits. Now we have a daughter who is eager to explore as well.

    Traveling together, enjoying new experiences together, that’s the best kind of bucket list.

  • I Killed Her Off

    I Killed Her Off

    Rosie and Oreo

    Now that Jody’s home safe and sound, I can tell you that I killed her off. I often do this. Jody went to India for work for a week. For a fleeting moment she died, in my mind. How did that look? How did I feel? How would I tell the kids? Probably go to their school and take them out, I thought. I mean, I did it for the cat.

    I got a call at work from a person in the area who found Oreo, Crystel’s cat, in their back yard. It was a rainy miserable morning. I told her that I’d be right there. After calling Jody, I drove straight to the middle school. Juan showed up in the office first. I took him to a side room. With tears streaming down my face, I told him Oreo had died.

    Perhaps the school thought Oreo was a cherished Aunt or Uncle as I ushered the children solemnly to the car. Juan and Crystel wrapped Oreo tenderly in a blanket, carried her to the car and sat with the cat on their shared lap. We had surmised Oreo got hit by a car and went in the person’s back yard and succumbed to her injuries.

    Jody met us at home. The four us stood in the back yard, pointing to where our other animals were buried: 4 cats, a dog, and a hamster. Crystel chose Oreo’s resting spot. In the drizzling rain we shoveled a hole and had a proper burial. Crystel asked to take the rest of the day off. No, it’s just a cat, I thought. I bought her a Chai tea at Caribou and returned her to school. The school counselor was very supportive. I didn’t have the heart to tell her Oreo was a cat. I let the kids do that.

    I once went to a therapist who told me that my house would never burn down so I didn’t need to worry when I was away on a trip. I had confessed that I found myself sneaking a look around the corner to my house whenever I returned from traveling. I quit seeing her. What she said wasn’t true. A house could burn down. A barn could burn down. I had experienced both traumas as a young child. Don’t tell me it won’t happen.

    Out of curiosity, I did look up to see whether worker’s compensation would apply if Jody died while she was in India. It does.

    Killing Jody off doesn’t have anything to do with how far she travels. When she and the kids traveled to Maplelag, four hours from home, for a Nordic ski weekend, I killed them all off. Just for a moment. In that moment, I had their funerals planned, felt their absence and wondered what I would do with my sudden free time.

    All week while Jody was in India I felt her absence. I noticed how her absence changed Juan, Crystel and me. The house was quieter, we were quieter. Her energy was no longer visceral. Gone were the hundreds of kindnesses she does in a week such as making me breakfast before the kids get up on the weekends. Later in the morning, on request, making Juan pancakes with chocolate chips. Grocery shopping with Crystel. Making me a week full of salads. It was like the three of us were in a holding pattern waiting for her to return to start our engines. Everything stood still. Except when I opened the door to bring the kids their latest takeout.

    Jody most likely doesn’t know how important she is to me, Juan and Crystel. To our household. To the two dogs and two cats that are still living. She is our engine, our heart. What makes our family work as a whole.

    I’m so glad she’s home.