Slight Adjustments

Sep 18, 2011 by

Today is the second day that in doing ordinary movements, like unloading the dishwasher, my muscles ache in protest as they decide if they will cooperate with me in placing the coffee mugs on the shelf above. They complain even louder walking steps or washing hair. The rebellion happening within my body is the result of practicing yoga two days ago after a too-many-days to count hiatus from the meditation that I love so much. Though I’m not a beginner, I took the beginner’s class thinking I’d ease my way back, like dipping a toe into a pool rather than taking the head-first plunge. In a class of about 12, I found my way in the back of the studio, away from the instructor, and planned to blend in, feel my way back to...

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Growing in the Shadows

Sep 14, 2011 by

Yesterday the Internet was ablaze with the video of a young woman singing her rendition of Adele’s “Someone Like You.” The video wasn’t linked everywhere because the young lady is such an exceptional singer. In fact, in my opinion, her singing is average at best. It was so popular because of who this young woman is, or more importantly, who her parents are. Meet Bobbi Kristina, daughter of American music icon Whitney Houston and one of the princes (with a little “p”) of yesterday’s soul pop, Bobby Brown. No pressure there, Bobbi Kristina . . . no pressure. In sharing her video singing debut with the world, little Bobbi Kristina has opened herself up to the inevitable comparisons to her mother, arguably one of the best voices in recorded history. And, not only that,...

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Those Who Know The Way

Sep 11, 2011 by

I had the rare treat of speaking with Grandma over the phone this morning. It’s rare because here recently she’s been neglecting to answer the phone when people call. In her weakened state, it’s difficult for her to get to a ringing phone in time, or she forgets where she’s placed it, or she’s simply in an “I’m old and grouchy” funk and doesn’t feel much like talking. So, today, when I heard her feeble yet frantic voice squeak out a hello, I was delightedly surprised. Today’s conversation went like many, previous others, with me shouting loudly into the phone standard questions like “How are you, Grandma?” “What did you eat for breakfast?” “Have you talked to anyone?” And with her 92-year-old, shaky voice she answered, as before, with the same rote responses. “I’m...

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When The Fog Rolls In . . .

Sep 1, 2011 by

This morning while having my first cup of coffee, I watched the fog roll in and slather a haze over what began as a sunny morning in Seattle. From the west, billows of misty gray cloaked the now phantom buildings that, if I hadn’t already seen them in the sunlight, I wouldn’t even know existed in the fog. Fog rolls in sometimes, distorting everything – even the things about which we are quite sure, like the high rise buildings next to our own. It’s funny though, the sun still shines behind the fog. In fact, sometimes its radiating light takes on a broader, more expansive glow, dancing in the thin mists of water around it. In the right light, everything, even low hanging clouds, can take the sheen of the sun. There is a...

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