Saturday, May 10, 2008

Food, writing, yoga--my preoccupations

If you're read this blog much, you know I'm not a George Bush fan (I can hear my brother hooting at that understatement), but I really think we should all give Jenna Bush (now Hager) a big hand. She and her mom did everything they could to keep the wedding low key and out of the public eye--and all in all, they had pretty good success. Forget the tacky coffee cups and stuff for sale in Crawford. We didn't catch a glimpse of the prinicipals on TV today. Jenna and her mom gave a few low-key interviews this week, and Vogue magazine apparently had an interview, but that's about all. I was curious to see, for the first time, pictures of the actual Crawford White House--and I thought it looked lovely. The country may, as one commentator said, be all wrapped up in the wedding, but it wasn't the Bush famliy's doing. One friend of mine said indignantly, "I'm not all wrapped up in it," and I don't think any of us really were in the way we've followed major events, both joyful and tragic, in other celebrity families. So, a round of applause, please.

What started out as unbearably muggy day--90 felt like 110--ended up with a slight breeze and drier air when a front came through today. Friends and I had dinner on the porch--green pea soup (to use the kids word, "Awesome!"), a chicken fruit salad that was really different but oh so good, deviled eggs in which I departed from the usual and used coarse mustard, added minced capers and sherry vinegar--came out much heartier than most deviled eggs, and a loaf of sunflower bread that Jean brought. A nice relaxed evening.

I'm almost buried in postings on the Sister in Crime blog but some are so interesting, and sometimes they feature an author on a blog and there's a link. I read one by a woman who was doing unsatisfying work--I can't remember what--and said she "followed the artist's way and went back to the dream" of her childhood. That rang a bell--I remember the book, which was about removing the blocks to creativity, and I think following your childhood dream was part of it. It occurred to me how lucky I am--I've been following my childhood dream of writing for about 30 years now. So maybe it doesn't matter that I never made The New York Times bestseller list. I've been happy with what I've been doing--and I have every intention of keeping on doing it and getting better, looking for new avenues to explore.
Maybe all this optimism comes from having had another yoga lesson. One of the things I am learning (not that two lessons make me an expert) is that yoga encourages you to listen to your body. Today I was more tired, my muscles tending to quiver on exertion. We talked about it, and I realized I'd made a made dash through Central Market--miles of walking, I swear; okay, one mile?--and then had been in the kitchen cooking for two hours. Still I worked hard in the lesson and could easily balance to do Warrior One and Warrior Two, which I couldn't do the week before. And I did a side kneeling plank, which I found very hard so I was proud of myself. But I couldn't do Standing Dog, which I'd done the week before. I figured after all that cooking and the work at yoga, I had earned a nap--and had a nice, lazy one. But then that Standing Dog business was making me mad--went back and did it once, up in position and right back down to crash, literally, on the floor. So I went to feed the living dog in the back yard, came back and tried again. Held the pose for ten seconds twice, and "walked" myself back to a standing position. Pretty proud! Of course, one of the things Elizabeth repeats during the lesson is not to judge yourself, to accept yourself, and be proud of what you're doing. And there I am, Miss Compuslive striving for goals!

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