Wednesday, August 15, 2012

MY ‘ONE TIME ONLY’ YOGA CLASS

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THIS IS THE DESERT JUST ONE SHORT BLOCK BEHIND OUR HOUSE IN CONGRESS AZ.
Best way for Pheebs & I to ward off of our weekly bout of 'cabin fever' is to slip ourselves away in the Jeep & run a few routine errands. Groceries & gas but no McDonald's today. Nothing else to write about that little drive to & from Goderich & we were back home within an hour.
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We are slowly organizing & pulling things together for our trip to Arizona in a couple months. This of course is bringing up a few questions, concerns, & decisions we have to make. Just what do we take to our house in Congress. We know that whatever goes will likely not be coming back. First, we have decided not to take anything of value or anything that cannot be replaced. We have to treat this house more as a cottage, simply because we do not know what the future holds for us. Here is the logic, & it has to do with things that have to be considered. This is the 'what if' factor that can turn into reality in a heartbeat. 'What if' at some point we are unable to return to Arizona again for medical, financial, or 'whatever' reasons, or what if we decide to sell the house at some point? Very real questions of course, with some as yet unknown answers.
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THIS WILL BE OUR MAIN MORNING WALK AREA THIS WINTER
First, the logistics of travel & distance. It is nearly a week's drive of 2200 miles between our Bayfield House in Ontario & our house in Arizona. And, it's not an easy drive!! We can't just jump in the car & nip over to Arizona & bring a few things home now & again. It's not only the distance.....it's the whole border crossing thing as well!! Being first & foremost Canadians, our main home base will always be here in Canada, so this is where all important documents & personal family things will remain. But what, if for some reason we decided to sell our Congress house some day & it is full to the brim with furniture & personal belongings. (clothes etc) We can't just jump in the Jeep, throw a small U-haul on the back & bring everything back to Canada. No room for any more stuff here anyway. Can't just nip on down to Arizona to sell things at a Saturday morning garage sale either. So, we have to be careful what we take & what we buy while there. Certainly will not be buying any spanking 'new' furniture or appliances. (washer & dryer come to mind) Anything going into that house will probably come from Saturday morning garage sales & second hand stores. Again, I think the right way for us to look at this is to treat our Ghost Town Road house as a winter cottage, a travel base, our southwest get-a-way, our wild west outpost. Casa Del Pheebs:))
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I have been resisting the urge to load anything in the coach for our trip so far. Have totally convinced myself that to do so would only result in me having to repack everything numerous times. Best to wait another month or so until we have everything gathered together in the carport. Nice touch of common sense there.  So, with those thoughts planted firmly in my mind, I went out this morning & started loading up stuff. Ya, I know.........:((
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GETTING A FEW THINGS TOGETHER TODAY
I have never been one much for the disciplines of exercise classes but I did get myself involved with Taoist Tai Chi about 11 years ago. Enjoyed that but due to a move from Fullarton to Bayfield nearly 10 years ago & subsequent winters away in the Southwest I was not able to pursue Tai Chi beyond the 4 beginner's classes I was involved in. Three years ago while Ranch sitting near McNeal Arizona for a couple months Kelly convinced me to come out to one of her Yoga classes she was involved with at the time. And, it did take a lot of 'convincing' alright.
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Looked to be about a dozen ladies gathered around in a large circle with chairs & mats when we walked in to the Elfrida Community Center that morning. David, an instructor from Bisbee welcomed us to the group & it wasn't long & I was seated in a white chair with a purple floor mat at my feet. I immediately knew I was going to be more comfortable here than a regular exercise class (oooops, that was about to change) when David dimmed the lights. I am not a bright lights kind of guy. The first minute was spent in a relaxation mode. Now, this was my kind of exercise. But, it was short lived. The instructor had a soft voice as we went through a series of stretches with closed eyes. The closed eyes part worked better for me than the stretching part. The stretches soon became embarrassing when I became painfully aware that parts of me were not stretching as well as others. A quick glance around at the ladies showed me my awareness was correct. A couple of the ladies, old enough to be my Mother, were twisted up like frozen pretzels on their purple mats. I was finding it hard to simply bend a knee joint to reach the floor or raise my legs to an even level while upside down on my mat. I was on the floor, first on my left side, then my right side. Didn't seem to matter what side I had on the floor, my body told me it was the wrong side. I had a lot more cushioning on my tummy side but that didn't seem to work well either. Mashed my face into the purple mat & even my moustache & beard let me know they were not happy!!. Every time I was on my back I knew what an upside down Turtle felt like. Kept thinking of that commercial years ago, "I've fallen & can't get up". Now there was a sobering thought....how WAS I going to get up??
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AND TOMORROW I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THAT BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK KELLY HAS ON HER LAP:))
Between aching contortions my mind took me back 44 years to my young 20 year old days in boot camp at a naval base in Nova Scotia Canada called H.M.C.S. Cornwallis. How different my body now as I sat there on the floor in this large dimmed room trying to do even the simplest of stretches. Where once I scrambled up & down 30 foot ropes, drilled for hours on parade grounds, ran for miles on cross country runs, & did a whole host of other improbable physical things, I now found it hard to simply even sit up. Had it not been for my supportive chair I may not have even managed to stand up at all. Oh, this was exercise alright. An exercise in humiliation. The only thing that finally worked for me was when after an hour of agonizingly thrashing about on the floor like a beached whale, I heard Yoga instructor David say, "and now for our final move. Yaaaaaaaay:)) Well, after we all did that final move, whatever it was, I still had one final move of my own left. I quickly moved myself right out of that building as fast as I could.  My flopping about on the floor of the Elfrida Arizona Community Center would never be seen again………10-4!!
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A STRANGE CRITTER IN OUR FRONT YARD TODAY
GROANER'S CORNER:(( Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, 'How old was your husband?' '98,' she replied: 'Two years older than me' 'So you're 96,' the undertaker commented.
She responded, 'Hardly worth going home, is it?

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)

- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

10 comments:

  1. It's ironic that all those of us who live to be a certain age realize how much agility we have lost. We sure had enough of it when we were young, but young people never think it will happen to them.

    Yoga can be a very gentle form of exercise and you can go at your own pace. But if you're through with it, then you are through.

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  2. Where's the video camera when you need it???

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  3. You crack me up! I laughed all through your whole yoga lesson! Thanks for the big belly laughs!

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  4. I guess it's none of my business, but if you are going to maintain your residence in Canada, and you have a very nice motorhome, why would you need another home in Congress?

    JC

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  5. When you purchase a new toaster, do you throw out the old one? Somehow in our house the old one gets put on the shelf somewhere, cause ya just never know.... So its these second hold back things we put in the pile to go to the winter cottage..... Have three screw drivers, select one of them and put it in the pile to go to Az... Also I went over to Harbour Freight and bought some tools too, but you can do that down in Az.. Over the years before you know it the Az place will be fully stocked... And I would bet as close as you are to Sun City and places like that you could spend the rest of your life going to garage sales where folks are tossing out absolutely wonderful stuff......... But come to think of it, that might be a little too close to the city for you Al....... Maybe just send Kelly! LOL

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  6. good luck with the packing and organzing and repacking again...I see a pattern here for the next two months..but what fun it will be once it is time to hit the road!!!

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  7. We've learned in doing these "Ex-Pat Assignments" over the years that, if you want to 'keep it', it's usually best to keep it at home. We didn't ship anything we thought was so precious that it couldn't go down with the ship. I even shipped my guitar which, although they have more of them coming out of the Martin factory every day, would have been sorely missed.
    There always seems to be enough "stuff" to go around. It won't take you long to be wading through it again.

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  8. Good Groaner today AL,,,,,I love old people with a sense of humor...
    Ms Pat says when we get home we aren't even going to unload the Motorhome, since we will be heading out Oct 1st,,,

    Seems like there is always something to boggle our minds,,,right?Don't sweat the small stuff!!

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  9. Your Yoga story was great and made me tear up with laughter. Thanks for touching our funny bones.
    Box Canyon Mark

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  10. Mark mentioned funny bones, but I'll bet your bones didn't feel "funny" for days after that yoga class! Talk about a "class act!"

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