Housewife!

I'm leaving on the train for NC at 10:55, and I woke up with big plans of what to accomplish before I left.

I wanted to finish packing, print out some things to read on the train, get ready in general, and make a spinach and red pepper pie and pesto mashed potatoes for D to eat for dinner any myself to eat on the train. (I'll be on the train till 6:32, longer if it's delayed...)

It's 9:19, and I just took the casserole out of the oven to cool. For the past few hours, though, I've been in a hurricane of housewifery.

I came downstairs, made coffee, brushed the cat, and went back up to shower. I packed, wrote in my journal, and listened to NPR. I came back down and began to chop peppers and squash, heat oil in a pan, and put together D's lunch at the same time I threw fruit in the blender for a smoothie. At any pause in the cooking, I washed the dishes. D grated the cheese for me in a hectic moment. Once the casserole was in the oven, I chopped and boiled potatoes, then mixed them up with the pesto we made a few weeks ago.

Whew.

But I really had fun. I-- sometimes-- really enjoy that sort of kitchen flurry. It's fun to try to beat the clock.

I've had an interesting relationship with housework this summer, anyway. When D and I moved in together, he cooked and I washed dishes. End of story. We divided chores very equally. Gradually, though, I began to cook some. Flash forward to this summer, when I could not find a full time summer job and was spending a lot of time doing nothing. Two things occurred to me-- one, that cooking would be fun and take up some time, and two, that if I cooked dinner, Dean's summer could be a little more like mine-- he'd have a little more free time. So I began to cook dinner, and sometimes even wash the dishes too (I am a much faster dishwasher than D).

It's interesting how relationships evolve beyond equal division of labor. It's kind of like thinking about "our money" when one person makes a lot more money.

It's a similar situation with D's lunches. I began making his lunch for him when he worked at a big law firm and was totally miserable. He was not eating much and I put together these fancy lunches full of fruit and snacks to try to tempt him to eat. He got a better job, but I still make his lunch. To tell the truth, I just like to. It's fun to come up with something creative and tasty.

Interesting stuff for a self-proclaimed feminist... in college I would have refused to do most of this stuff on principle. Men should make their own lunches, or go hungry!... and so on. Seems more like empty principle now... It seems more about love, or the ebb and flow of give and take.

What do you think?

Namaste

The Junky's Wife (thejunkyswife.com (can anyone tell me how to do the thing to make the words themselves link to the page? I'm sure it's very easy, but I can't figure it out)) wrote about yoga, and since I like to copy her when I can, I decided to write about yoga.

I had not been to a yoga class in 14 days, and today was great. I have two yoga classes, Tuesdays with V and Thursdays with N. They are very different. (Ed. note: at first I was using full names, but then I thought, due to the fact that this is blog and all, that I should maybe not use names, so I am using initials.)

Tuesdays with V used to be Tuesdays with D, but D left our studio because she needed to devote more time to other classes/parts of her life. I miss her: first of all, she was (is) very beautiful and I liked to look at her long, long hair, but more importantly she is one of the calmest teachers/people I've ever met, and her class was pure peace. Before D, we had Tuesdays with L, but L stopped teaching when she was about 5 months pregnant. She is teaching again but only at night. Her class was great too.

Anyway I've only been to Tuesdays with V a few times, but I like it a lot so far. V is both energetic and serene at the same time, which seems like a hard balance to maintain, but she does it well. She is encouraging and very specific with descriptions when she teaches, which I find helpful. And today, she said she needed people to massage for free to help her with her massage therapy training. The universe smiles on me yet again!

Another reason I like Tuesdays is due to the group of people who often go to the Tuesday class, or in yoga words the kula (Sanskrit for "heart community"). There are a few Tuesday people I've known since I moved here, and they are fun to talk to before and after class and they make me feel like I belong in the neighborhood.

But the greatest yoga day is Thursday, with N. N is wonderful. She is an excellent, excellent teacher. You can always tell that she has put a lot of time and energy planning the class. She knows and cares about her students-- she even emailed me a great email about chakras when I was out of town. One of the things I like most about N is that she is not afraid to challenge her students. Sometimes in yoga class, you can get so into "honoring your limits" and not demanding things that are too difficult from yourself that you actually never push yourself to go as far as you might. N finds a balance between not letting people hurt themselves and encouraging people to grow and find new limits. In N's class, I have gotten (mostly) past a fear of handstands (although I still can't do one alone), and it was in N's class that my heels first touched the ground in downward dog. Now I am working on lifting my heart in cobra-- very difficult for me.

One of my favorite quotes from N is "Yoga means union, not... mat."

Another great thing about yoga is the comfy, comfy clothes. If you are lucky, on yoga days you can wear your yoga clothes all day! I am lucky lately, as it's been summer, so I don't have to change. And I'm not teaching on yoga days this fall, so I can be cozy in my cotton and lycra for months.

Sometimes when I take a train or plane trip I but The Yoga Journal. I was reading in the last one (I bought it for the CA plane rides) about starting a home practice. I am beginning to practice at home a little. It's hard without a teacher there to soothe you and boss you around, but I think it helps to do a little on your own when you can.

Okay, enough yoga randomness. Questions: any more praise for yoga? Favorite poses? Poses you hate? (I currently hate revolved triangle pose.) Things in your life that are like yoga in mine?

Here's a link to a fun yoga pose to try at home:

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/487_1.cfm

It's Bharadvajasana, one of my favorites, although I didn't know the name till just now when I found it on the web. One teacher I had told about how gently separates your vertebrae and allows new blood to flow into your spine. I could almost hear the suctioning sound of my vertebrae separating, which is a great sound in my mind.

If you want to find your own pose, go to http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/index.cfm?ctsrc=tnav

Namaste!

The end of vacation:



The crazy bathrobe-wearing man is outside yelling as I am writing. He shows up every now and then to stalk cars stopped at the light. I can never tell if he's asking for money or just yelling. Once someone gave him a cup of applesauce and he half-drank, half-scooped it into his mouth. He has a long beard, a dirty blue bathrobe, and a hospital bracelet.



I've called the non-emergency police about him a few times, but now I wonder if it does any good. He eventually just comes back. Still, I am sort of afraid he's going to get hit by a car. He sometimes does karate shop moves very close to traffic. Other times, he does a yoga-type, namaste bow to the cars as they pass.



What can you do?



What does it mean to ignore this man?

Oh I wish I was in Frisco, with a brand new pair of shoes...

I WAS!

There's a bear over there, do you want to see it?

Hi, I'm back home! It was a great trip. There's no way I can tell everything that happened, so I am just going to list a few memories that stand out after being home for about 20 hours.

1. We saw a bear! It was not scary, which was surprising. At our campground in Yosemite, I was waving to another young woman whose campsite was across the road and she walked over with a camera and said, "There's a bear over there, so you want to see it?" D and I looked at each other and said, "Yes." We walked a few feet and down the road, ambling and snuffling, was a bear! It was big. It walked to the side for awhile and then walked away into the woods. A bear!

2. We hiked up big mountains in Yosemite. We estimate that we hiked about 29 miles in all. Everything was all vistas and cliffs and views. I'll try to remember to post some pictures.

3. I swam in a freezing cold alpine lake! It was after the third day of camping and I wanted to be clean, but the showers were closed. D and I stopped to put our feet in the lake, but it was very cold. Suddenly, I decided to just get in! I dunked myself under and swam for maybe 90 seconds. For a few hours, I felt very fresh and clean. (We found showers the next day.)

4. In other mammal-siting news, a marmot charged me.

5. Blue birds and sequoias.

6. Staying in San Fransisco with D's cousin and her boyfriend was great. They are both lovely and wonderful. I can be sort of a fussy house guest, and I was always comfortable and happy. We had great dinners and conversations, too. Thanks guys!

7. San Fransisco itself was beautiful, cool and windy and not summery at all. It's a city of sudden views-- lots of hills. We walked across the Golden Gate bridge, and through all kinds of neighborhoods. We walked so much I had to buy new, comfortable shoes.

8. And I drove in California! Along crazy mountain roads, even. Fearless me!

Okay, I'm surrounded by laundry and dishes and the cat wants attention. I'll continue the CA trip update soon!

If you're going to San Fransisco (or, goin' to California with an achin' in my heart)

Be an explorer. The universe is filled with wonder and magical things. -- Flavia





I'm going to California tomorrow! Just kidding about the heartache.





I'm a little nervous, although I won't bore everyone with my "I'mafraidoftravlingonplanesandincarsanddying" lamentations. I've been pretty calm, actually, and excited, almost like a NORMAL person about to take a trip. I did wake up last night to worries that popped up like little weeds every time I dozed off, but a lot of them were about things that had nothing to do with the trip, like about what I'm teaching in the fall, and times I've let friends down, and whether or not I'll ever write enough "good" poems for my thesis. Anyway.





No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell. -- Jewish Proverb





It was hard to find vacation quotes that weren't cynical! Most of them are about how much work it is to go on a vacation, and how everything goes wrong.





I have a weird relationship with traveling. I like the idea of it, but when it comes down to leaving sometimes I'd secretly just stay home with my routine. Routines are like fat, pleasant dogs, always there to sit on the couch with you in contentment.





I'd like to be the kind of person who craves adventure. Probably my nature is not going to change, but I remember in college, I had a real, true longing to travel. One of my housemates was from England and every time I would go with her to the airport I would be very jealous that she got to go see so many cool places and I didn't. I longed to go somewhere on an airplane. I'd like to be more like that again.






Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.-- Gustave Flaubert





D and I are going to fly into San Fransisco tomorrow, and we're driving out to Yosemite National Park on Friday. We'll come back to San Fran (that's what the guidebook says to call it, NOT Frisco) on Tuesday to stay with D's lovely cousin. I can't wait to see the city-- I think that will be my favorite part. I'm going to be a dorky hippie and go to City Lights bookstore for sure. I'm taking my new skirt my my bought me and my real shoes-- no flip flops-- because it's going to be SIXTY DEGREES! NOT one hundred and eleven or whatever it is in DC right now.



Traveling is not just seeing the new; it is also leaving behind. Not just opening doors; also closing them behind you, never to return. But the place you have left forever is always there for you to see whenever you shut your eyes. -- Jan Myrdal

So, I might not post again until I get back... thanks again to everyone who's been reading. I can't think of a question, exactly, but it'd be cool to see people's thoughts about vacations. Okay, here, finish this phrase: "Vacations are one of life's..." You can't say greatest pleasures.

Odds and Ends

I am really touched by the nice comments on my last post. Thank you!

I made it here fine-- eight and a half hours. The worst part was hours 4-5; it seemed that Hwy 29 was never going to reach Greensboro. But eventually, I got home. I am proud, and do feel a bit better about the drive back. I agree with what MPJ said in her comment that anticipation/ dread is the worst part.

I've been trying to follow the advice of Thich Nhat Hanh: when I find myself worrying about little things in the future, I try to recognize that it's my "habit energy" to worry and it doesn't do any good. He says to say, "Hello, dear little habit energy! I recognize you!" And then I try to reestablish myself in the present moment. Which is usually a good moment.

On another topic, I wanted to apologize for the gap in posts and say I might be posting something along the lines of once or twice a week for while now. I'll be out of town a lot (trying to live in the present moment) and school starts after that; I've just realized I spent the whole summer blogging and reading Harry Potter (I'm on book 6 still, by the way, which I like better than 5; Harry is much less angsty) and I haven't worked on my syllabus for the classes I'm teaching in the fall. I'll be teaching two sections of English 101 come Aug 27, not to mention taking a poetry workshop, thesis hours, and a seminar. Also, I'd like to spend more of my Internet time reading other blog as well as writing this one, so I'm officially going to 1-2 posts a week.

Here's a totally random question. I've been shopping some lately, and I am wondering what people think about the return of the 80s in fashion.

1. Do you, or do you plan in the near future, to wear leggings with a long shirt in public?

2. Do you think those little plastic circles with the line down the middle that scrunch up the side of your t-shirt are going to come back in style? Do those things have a name?

3. Jellies: yes or no?