Saturday morning

Birds in the air.

Jessie and I went to the park this morning; downgraded "hurricane" Earl had passed by Connecticut in the night and at 6:00 a.m. the dew point was busy dropping. The sunrise was beautiful, the sky clear. Probably in my mind, but it seemed as if the park itself, its garments of grasses, trees, shrubs and flowers, and its creatures all sighed with relief. We walked the eastern (shorter) loop. A couple was sitting on bench in the perennial garden near the rock garden where we often stop and I sometimes practice T'ai Chi. I thought, do I want to do my T'ai Chi where they can see me? Then reality dawned: this couple did not have an interest in a 60 year old woman and aging dog unless perhaps I stripped naked and paraded in front of them. So we went to the rock garden. Jessie lolled. And I did T'ai Chi.

Something I think doing T'ai Chi on my own has taught me is that whenever we do an activity under the authority, guidance and watchful eye of a "teacher," we don't really make it our own until we do just that. Do the activity on our own. I personally think it would benefit us in our T'ai Chi class if our instructor would have each of us do the form individually (e.g., in front of the rest of the class), not necessarily for critique but so that each of us experienced the form individually. I think if she had us do that, the others in the class would be sooner to go off on their own, apart from the class, and try it. As far as I know, only J (and possibly D) have done so besides me.

Back to birds in the air. After we walked both the shorter eastern and longer western loops, it was so lovely out, I decided to walk around the pond itself. I didn't expect to see any of the wildlife that has been in hiding lately - the foxes, the muskrat, the heron - but still thought it would be a nice walk for Jessie. As we walked along the northern edge of the pond, suddenly movement over the pond caught my eye - about 20 feet away from us, the great blue heron had leaped into the air. I could see the feathery fringes along her head. She was so close. Her neck in an S shape, legs out behind her. Yellowish beak. Two birds overhead in two days. Wow!

A good morning and good beginning to a 3-day weekend.

Peace.