This morning we did 7 sun salutations to honor the summer solstice. Rhia came home Saturday so it really does feel like summer. We're going to the beach Thursday for a wedding-- can't wait to smell the Coppertone and Sea Breeze!
If I were rich I would live at the beach. I would be ocean front and watch the waves as the sun changes. I wouldn't work... or at least charge for it... I would do yoga on the beach and invite everyone around to join me. Even the seagulls. I would sip my coffe in the morning on the deck overlooking the beach... and I would eat my dinner on the deck watching the sunset...
My whole life I have wanted to live at the beach. When I was 10, my dad was building condominiums in Sea Isle City, NJ and we got to spend entire summers there. I body surfed and had water battles and made sand castles til my heart's content.
I can't believe I'm almost 50 and I still live here. I may have to make it a goal to not spend another year without seeing the ocean waves everyday.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Watching and waiting
We've been a bit topsy turvy. Which is a cute way of saying we are emotionally insane. It's interesting to me how one minute your singing "O What a beautiful Morning...." and the next plotting ways of egging your neighbors house. Like that would help. I don't want to be emo here but we did sort of have the wind taken out of our sails.
Last week I was trying to come to terms with our neighbors decimating their hill. I was trying to make light of it, joking about whup-ass and what not, realizing there was nothing I could really do about it cept plant the heck out of my fence, which, if you've seen my yard, is not really a problem. Saturday everything changed. I came home from SoulCollage Lunch Bunch to complete devastation. Seriously. They went from clearing the small trees/bushes/flowers off their hill to removing the huge, 150 year old Tulip Poplars off the top of the hill. And the Maples. And the Oaks. Wanton, willy nilly, their mammoth carcasses strewn across the land.
I couldn't catch my breath at first. Like, seriously. Kept wiping my eyes to make sure I was actually seeing what I was seeing. Ran up my hill. Ran to the fence. Ran out front... I had no idea what to do. I couldn't believe it. I began to cry, "WHYYYYY????" Why would anyone DO THAT??? Did you not see Avatar? WHO DOES THAT? I won't elaborate on all that I said... fortunately Barry came home and let me cry it out before I completely lost all my yoga training and busted down their door.
I was devastated. Now, look, I understand we are just crazy tree huggers. Not everyone feels this way about trees... that they are sacred... they are monuments to perseverance and beautiful reminders of balance and rooting. I get that maybe we are a bit over the top about trees, I have been known to go nuts on the electricity gods when they come to 'trim'. But this was not like anything I have seen here in Bowie before. Not even with the swath of destruction by BGE recently that everyone (except apparently my neighbors) was so upset about. That was nothing compared to the raping of the landscape that my neighbors did.
There is nothing green left in their yard except for the very tippy tops of the remaining trees. Not only did they cut down huge trees but they cut all the branches up as far as they could on the remaining ones. The afternoon sun is hot and horrible hitting my poor plants that are used to shade. I feel so bad for the people on the other side who's homes are now in complete blazing sun as they watch their hostas, impatiens and coral bells shrivel up and die. WHO DOES THAT?? We have all lived here for 20-30, even 40 years. These people came 3 years ago. WHY? Why would they move to a neighborhood surrounded by huge trees, lush landscaping and of course, our house which is an over the top, certified natural wildlife refuge... why come here?
The hardest part was telling my daughter. She is currently on a trip to all the major National Parks out west. She's an Environmental Science Major specifically to learn how to protect the environment. She's been studying all the beauty of the Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Redwoods, Yellowstone... you name it, she's been there. And she's coming back to this craziness. I feel like we are living next door to BP. In fact, I keep thinking this is a huge statement that maybe the world isn't as enlightened as I think... I think we are all the same, we are all one... I'm sad to think there is this much disrespect for God's creation, I always thought that was just ignorance. In this age of technology, no one can claim ignorance anymore. Again.. did you not see Avatar?
I realize in the grand scheme of things this is just a bubble. I realize there are people out there with real problems, far greater than their neighbors cutting down trees. I know we will recover, we will make the best of it, we will plant more :) It's just right now, while it's still raw, that we are asking how we could possibly live next door to folks with such blatant disregard for nature. We've been looking at real estate elsewhere. I've also been joking (sort of) with all my woo woo friends about having a ceremony on the Solstice (Sunday) to clear the negative energy, send Reiki Healing to the trees and pray to Mother Earth for forgiveness. Rhia will be here! Join us :)
Last week I was trying to come to terms with our neighbors decimating their hill. I was trying to make light of it, joking about whup-ass and what not, realizing there was nothing I could really do about it cept plant the heck out of my fence, which, if you've seen my yard, is not really a problem. Saturday everything changed. I came home from SoulCollage Lunch Bunch to complete devastation. Seriously. They went from clearing the small trees/bushes/flowers off their hill to removing the huge, 150 year old Tulip Poplars off the top of the hill. And the Maples. And the Oaks. Wanton, willy nilly, their mammoth carcasses strewn across the land.
I couldn't catch my breath at first. Like, seriously. Kept wiping my eyes to make sure I was actually seeing what I was seeing. Ran up my hill. Ran to the fence. Ran out front... I had no idea what to do. I couldn't believe it. I began to cry, "WHYYYYY????" Why would anyone DO THAT??? Did you not see Avatar? WHO DOES THAT? I won't elaborate on all that I said... fortunately Barry came home and let me cry it out before I completely lost all my yoga training and busted down their door.
I was devastated. Now, look, I understand we are just crazy tree huggers. Not everyone feels this way about trees... that they are sacred... they are monuments to perseverance and beautiful reminders of balance and rooting. I get that maybe we are a bit over the top about trees, I have been known to go nuts on the electricity gods when they come to 'trim'. But this was not like anything I have seen here in Bowie before. Not even with the swath of destruction by BGE recently that everyone (except apparently my neighbors) was so upset about. That was nothing compared to the raping of the landscape that my neighbors did.
There is nothing green left in their yard except for the very tippy tops of the remaining trees. Not only did they cut down huge trees but they cut all the branches up as far as they could on the remaining ones. The afternoon sun is hot and horrible hitting my poor plants that are used to shade. I feel so bad for the people on the other side who's homes are now in complete blazing sun as they watch their hostas, impatiens and coral bells shrivel up and die. WHO DOES THAT?? We have all lived here for 20-30, even 40 years. These people came 3 years ago. WHY? Why would they move to a neighborhood surrounded by huge trees, lush landscaping and of course, our house which is an over the top, certified natural wildlife refuge... why come here?
The hardest part was telling my daughter. She is currently on a trip to all the major National Parks out west. She's an Environmental Science Major specifically to learn how to protect the environment. She's been studying all the beauty of the Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Redwoods, Yellowstone... you name it, she's been there. And she's coming back to this craziness. I feel like we are living next door to BP. In fact, I keep thinking this is a huge statement that maybe the world isn't as enlightened as I think... I think we are all the same, we are all one... I'm sad to think there is this much disrespect for God's creation, I always thought that was just ignorance. In this age of technology, no one can claim ignorance anymore. Again.. did you not see Avatar?
I realize in the grand scheme of things this is just a bubble. I realize there are people out there with real problems, far greater than their neighbors cutting down trees. I know we will recover, we will make the best of it, we will plant more :) It's just right now, while it's still raw, that we are asking how we could possibly live next door to folks with such blatant disregard for nature. We've been looking at real estate elsewhere. I've also been joking (sort of) with all my woo woo friends about having a ceremony on the Solstice (Sunday) to clear the negative energy, send Reiki Healing to the trees and pray to Mother Earth for forgiveness. Rhia will be here! Join us :)
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
the best of times, the worst of times...
Life feels like a constant paradox right now. Or maybe it's a lesson on staying to the middle.... or not being attached to results... or maybe it's the age old 'life's a bitch and then you die' syndrome. Just kidding... kinda.
Last weekend we sat on the new deck remarking on how private our hill was. We couldn't see the neighbors, they couldn't see us. Perfect Feng Shui. The very next day, as Barry was buying all the lumber to make a little meditation house, bulldozers arrived next door. They ripped out every tree, every bush, every flower on their hill, intending to build a series of 10 foot walls for .... what? We can't fathom. It was heartbreaking, we've been here for 25 years, we watched the little old lady plant all those daffodils and tend to her azaleas.. sigh. Even worse, for the first time ever, we have a clear view of their entire house and vice versa. They even cut all the branches on our trees that hung into their yard! Take paradise.....
This past weekend we finished 'Spirit Shack', our little house project on our hill. It's beautiful, it's peaceful, it's brilliantly filled with energy. It was sooo hot all weekend while we were building and clearing and staining the wood. All we could hear was the constant grinding of trees and beeping of bulldozers. During our Reiki Share Sunday afternoon, the blessed thunderstorms finally came and the weather cooled (and the killers of nature had to go inside). Barry and I sat up in our little house, sharing some wine, breathing in the breeze, it was so lovely.
I switched my yoga schedule this week to one that I think is much more pleasing to my students and is great for me. I stacked my classes so I could be home Tues/Weds afternoons & evenings, giving me the chance to actually cook dinner for my family and get some of my much delayed projects done. I was so excited Tuesday after a great yoga class to begin some overdue gardening in my back yard and to decorate my new little house. The weather was gorgeous, breezy, low humidity and cool, I was elated! I opened all the windows in the house, gathered my supplies and ventured out. Into a cloud of exhaust, dust and horrendous sound. All day. Until 7:30pm. Around 6pm, after a wonderful dinner, Barry and I went up to our little house to try and relax. To the smell of exhaust and the constant beeping and grinding of their machines. I finally lost my cool and started spouting profanity.
Now, I'm not saying my neighbors don't have the right to decimate their back yard if they want to. And I'm sure they must have some master plan that isn't evident. But after 10 days of this I am ready to forget all my yoga training and go open a can of whup-ass on them. I mean, honestly... I feel like I'm living next to a freaking construction zone. And to add insult to injury, when the construction workers finally left, their little brat fired up their overly big, overly loud and smelly riding lawn mower (in Bowie, I mean, who does that?) to ride around their dirt filled yard. I could just scream over and over and over and over. This morning 8am... it starts again. They are probably not even a third of the way done. I can't listen to this every day, I will go completely nuts. What to do?
We have worked for 25 years to create a beautiful, serene sanctuary for the wildlife, for our friends, for our family. The contrast between our yards is shocking. Why would people move next door to a home obviously lived in by nature lovers if they hate nature? But as I have learned in my life, I can't control others... only my reaction to them. And since my nature doesn't really allow me to open a can of whup-ass, I mean, I don't even know where you would buy a can of whup-ass, I must go within.
So, God? What's the deal? What's the lesson here I'm missing? I didn't accidentally pray for tolerance did I? Cause if I did, I was just kidding....
Last weekend we sat on the new deck remarking on how private our hill was. We couldn't see the neighbors, they couldn't see us. Perfect Feng Shui. The very next day, as Barry was buying all the lumber to make a little meditation house, bulldozers arrived next door. They ripped out every tree, every bush, every flower on their hill, intending to build a series of 10 foot walls for .... what? We can't fathom. It was heartbreaking, we've been here for 25 years, we watched the little old lady plant all those daffodils and tend to her azaleas.. sigh. Even worse, for the first time ever, we have a clear view of their entire house and vice versa. They even cut all the branches on our trees that hung into their yard! Take paradise.....
This past weekend we finished 'Spirit Shack', our little house project on our hill. It's beautiful, it's peaceful, it's brilliantly filled with energy. It was sooo hot all weekend while we were building and clearing and staining the wood. All we could hear was the constant grinding of trees and beeping of bulldozers. During our Reiki Share Sunday afternoon, the blessed thunderstorms finally came and the weather cooled (and the killers of nature had to go inside). Barry and I sat up in our little house, sharing some wine, breathing in the breeze, it was so lovely.
I switched my yoga schedule this week to one that I think is much more pleasing to my students and is great for me. I stacked my classes so I could be home Tues/Weds afternoons & evenings, giving me the chance to actually cook dinner for my family and get some of my much delayed projects done. I was so excited Tuesday after a great yoga class to begin some overdue gardening in my back yard and to decorate my new little house. The weather was gorgeous, breezy, low humidity and cool, I was elated! I opened all the windows in the house, gathered my supplies and ventured out. Into a cloud of exhaust, dust and horrendous sound. All day. Until 7:30pm. Around 6pm, after a wonderful dinner, Barry and I went up to our little house to try and relax. To the smell of exhaust and the constant beeping and grinding of their machines. I finally lost my cool and started spouting profanity.
Now, I'm not saying my neighbors don't have the right to decimate their back yard if they want to. And I'm sure they must have some master plan that isn't evident. But after 10 days of this I am ready to forget all my yoga training and go open a can of whup-ass on them. I mean, honestly... I feel like I'm living next to a freaking construction zone. And to add insult to injury, when the construction workers finally left, their little brat fired up their overly big, overly loud and smelly riding lawn mower (in Bowie, I mean, who does that?) to ride around their dirt filled yard. I could just scream over and over and over and over. This morning 8am... it starts again. They are probably not even a third of the way done. I can't listen to this every day, I will go completely nuts. What to do?
We have worked for 25 years to create a beautiful, serene sanctuary for the wildlife, for our friends, for our family. The contrast between our yards is shocking. Why would people move next door to a home obviously lived in by nature lovers if they hate nature? But as I have learned in my life, I can't control others... only my reaction to them. And since my nature doesn't really allow me to open a can of whup-ass, I mean, I don't even know where you would buy a can of whup-ass, I must go within.
So, God? What's the deal? What's the lesson here I'm missing? I didn't accidentally pray for tolerance did I? Cause if I did, I was just kidding....
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Prayer Flags
I wish.
Barry and I just let ourselves be completely ridiculous this weekend. He decided to be Builder Guy while I was being Creation Girl. There is no logic to building an extra house behind your house. And certainly not to making a ton of stuff to hang and decorate it with. But that's exactly what we did. It's crazy.
He wanted a deck. I wanted a place I could go to meditate that I didn't have to move a bunch of furniture and create the world over and over. A space dedicated just to one thing. He wanted to sit on our hill and dangle his feet over a deck and contemplate life.
It's humongous. I thought it would be a tiny crawl around structure. He didn't feel like cutting the 8 foot lumber... so everything is in eights. Like the eightfold path. I can't really say anything though cause I was just as excessive. I couldn't make one set of flags... I made 4. Whatever. So we're nuts. Can't wait to see the finished project!
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