Keeping Pace

Keeping Pace

Worn Out

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Some weekends are so busy that you need another weekend to use for recovery. This past weekend was one of those weekends.  During one of the rare moments when I was at home relaxing, I looked over at Ronin passed out on the couch. He looked like I felt: WORN OUT!  Although, I don’t know why. Even when I sat down on the other couch, with hot food in hand, he hardly stirred. I guess he knew that there was no way he was getting any of it.

Now, it’s Monday and I’m back in the office feeling a touch of a scratchy throat and wondering if it’s from over-extending myself or the overly air-conditioned office air.

 

No Clouds Rest

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It’s a short flight from Northern to Southern California. We peer out the window on the hills below us. This trip we are on was not the trip we’d planned. Although it was a completely different sort of vacation, we were hopeful that it would be a good one nonetheless.

I case you didn’t figure it out, our backpacking trip to Clouds Rest didn’t happen. It seems that all of the rain and snow we had back in the winter had not yet melted away by the beginning of July. The snow that had melted flooded the trails below. The ranger’s words were, “Umm…you can’t even get to that trail right now.” [Read more…]

Just the Beginning

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YaYa’s high school days ended with a freak accident in his weightlifting class. In the process of reaching a new max in the bench press, the attempted lift of 270 pounds came crashing down on him. To be exact, it came crashing down on his FACE. He had a spotter, however several small nuances the of the lift going wrong were not noted. From what I could gather from viewing the lift video, YaYa enlisted too much leg strength which ended up pushing the legs of the bench off the floor, thereby shifting the weight above his chest, and leading to the eventual loss of control of the weight. That’s just my theory and I am NOT a weightlifter.

Fortunately, YaYa emerged relatively okay from the event.  In the emergency room, I commented on how Someone up above must have been looking out for him. YaYa said, “Yeah. I think it was DAD.”

So today, as I sit in the front row of my youngest son’s graduation, I think about how lucky we are to have this day. When the choir sings the song “I Lived” by OneRepublic, I cannot help but let the tears flow down my cheeks. I fell in love with this song, four years earlier at the Monarch Madness Rally held by the Catholic School where YaYa began his high school education.

Tonight, as I sit at the commencement ceremony from the public school he ended up transferring to in his sophomore year, I am so grateful. Not only was YaYa able to find his way amid an entirely new school system, he proved that he can adapt to whatever environment he enters and make it his own. Not only that, he is now a part of not one but two amazing communities.

And that is just the beginning…

[Read more…]

Go with the Flow

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Last summer’s trip to Kings Canyon National Park was one of careful evaluation of the messages my body was sending and constant modification. Each day, I woke with a Plan A and Plan B. The outcome would depend upon what my body would allow. I remember feeling disappointed and frustrated. I felt bad that I was hindering the expectations that I set for the trip with theMAN. Not being good enough, strong enough, and tough enough is definitely not big on my list of qualifications. A fellow yogini/hiker likened the process as similar to the yoga practice; you do what you can but modify when you need to.

Yet, the trip ended up being wonderfully fantastic. Our modified plans allowed us to take in the sights around each place we set up camp. We were able to practice yoga each day, take time to journal, go for picture walks around camp, and got plenty of rest.

With this summer’s adventure a little over a month away, I am already assessing the need to revise the plan. Set aside the fact that I have not hiked as much as I would have liked, the biggest issue this year may be the amount of snow on the ground where we have our wilderness permit. I have been doing a little research (reading blogs, updates from the rangers, and even emailing them) and are now exploring other options. Unfortunately, with the dates falling on a national holiday, the options are limited.

Once again, it’s time to go with the flow. To be honest, I am not going to get all hung up on the perfect trip. Recent events/hurdles set in my path have made me take note of what is most important to me. Count your blessings. Say “I love you” often, and mean it. Go with the flow.

Down Dog

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Over the last couple of years, I’ve sort of let my guard down on keeping the dogs reigned in tightly. It’s pretty common to play fetch with them in the front yard. They are generally so into the game that they don’t pay much attention to the passersby. If it’s just me, I may call the dog closer to me when I see a dog walker coming close – just to be sure they don’t run over to greet the dog and get hit by a car in all of the enthusiasm. Simba is friendly but way over enthusiastic. Ronin, on the other hand, is nearly blind. So I don’t trust them in this regard.

There are times when unknown persons linger in their parked cars in the dark of the night. It often appears that they are waiting for to buy drugs or some other up-to-no-good activity. My oldest generally walks over to their car, bangs on the window, and shoos them away. For this reason, I often leave the front door open when I take out the trash, allowing the dogs to follow me out so long as there aren’t any late night dog walkers out. Such was the case last week.

I was home alone cleaning up after dinner and decided to take the trash out. If the boys were home, I might have asked them, but they weren’t and I did not want to wait until they were. So I grabbed the trash from kitchen and the bin full of the recyclables. Simba followed me out and immediately went for his ball. I told him “no” and had him sit & stay by the courtyard opening while I did my thing at the garbage bins. There was nobody in sight.

While I fumbled with the recycling, a woman came into view. She was a couple of houses away and a similar build to the neighbor who lived in the house she was closest to. She hollered over and I waved thinking it was her. Simba continued sitting until she yelled “DOG!” In his typical excitement, he bolted over in her direction. This was when she started screaming and sat down in the middle of the street as if she was being attacked. Except Simba was still in transition. That was when I realized this was NOT my neighbor.

I dropped the can and ran over but the dogs were now in a tussle. Although Simba’s tail was initially wagging, I couldn’t tell if it was friendly play or not. They screaming made me think it was not but I couldn’t be sure since she had screamed from the very start. Just as I was nearing, the interaction turned to fighting. Simba pulled away and I grabbed Simba his collar and backed away. Then Ronin wandered over, blindly trying to assess the situation with his nose. He was clearly not attacking but the woman started swinging forcing me to bring Simba closer to grab Ronin and pull him away. I yelled, “He’s BLIND and NOT doing anything wrong.” “He should be on a leash!”, she yelled back. I said nothing; I could not dispute her complaint.

Adrenaline pulsating through my entire being, I pulled the dogs toward me house. I was petrified that she would sue. I yelled at Simba as he wiggled in his usually enthusiastic way.

I roared at him:

DOWN!!!

I was pissed at myself for not closing the door behind me, or at least the gate. I was pissed that the garbage was full, making me feel as if I had to take the trash out myself. I was pissed at the woman for not turning in the other direction when she saw a dog off leash – as I would have done. I was gushing blood from my big toe all over the floor and couch. UGH! If that wasn’t enough, I was all wet. What the heck?

Fight or flight mechanism was apparently fully in-effect. [Read more…]

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