The Ministry of Naps in Everyday Ramblings

The irises are almost done but there are a few in select locations around the neighborhood still blooming. I love this color and the light. We are having a much appreciated break in the spring gloom today but it will be back tomorrow.

My neighbor who has been taking me to the grocery store once a week for gosh like 7 weeks now asked on Tuesday if I wanted to go for a walk with her later in the week. She has never seen the lilac garden so she let me provide direction for the big loop around the neighborhood midday today. We both wore masks. She wears hers most often below her nose but lifts it up when she gets within a few feet of someone else.

We both had moments of weakness when it came to a couple of big friendly dogs we met along the way. There was illicit petting going on. The owners were complicit. Seriously, after being cooped up for weeks (as so many of us have been), how are you going to resist a big healthy dog that is wagging its tail and wants to say hello.

Most of the counties in Oregon are doing phased opening up today. In my county and Kes’s though the only thing opening up are shops and non-mall stores with protocols. Other counties are having restaurants and hair salons opening but they are seriously discouraging people driving to another county for a haircut.

It is a mess. A big confusing mess.

Other than the airport there is no blanket rule that one has to wear a mask. Some businesses are requiring it. About 1/3rd of the folks I see out and about are wearing masks.

I have had contact this week with an ex, Mr. POA, who lives in Oakland. He’s doing fine even though he developed emphysema last year and just turned 76. He lives in a good neighborhood with supportive and creative neighbors. He thinks his most recent European trip will be his last and is sad about that. He loves ballet and he shared some links of streaming performances he enjoyed.

Watching them has been giving me some creative ideas for simple things I can add to the joint work I do with my students, ways to make what is basically a routine set of movements a little more interesting.

Speaking of yoga, I have decided to add a live Zoom hour yoga class into my rotation that is available for any of you who are in an appropriate time zone and are interested. I am not charging for these classes but leaving them open for donation.

The first one will be Tuesday May 26th at Noon PST. If you are interested, leave me your email in a private note and I will send you an invite.

You don’t need a yoga mat, just a chair and an electronic device and enough room to stand and spread your arms out. I do a 15 minute meditative relaxation practice at the end of the class, so they are calming. Mostly we work the back through a full range of motion, gently, and they focus on the joints, bringing movement to the joints.

I am also going to get another floor practice up, this one for the lower back, and will leave the link to that (which is recorded so time zones are not an issue) on a Friends Only post.

The rains are coming back tonight. I may go hiking with Mrs. Sherlock this weekend, or may not.

But in the meantime I think I may be visiting The Ministry of Naps in the afternoons. Very cat friendly, the ministry is…

Last updated May 16, 2020