Yoga for Life

Somewhere around my 50th birthday, my daughter gave me a yoga mat and video. She assured me that yoga was something I needed for de-stressing and keeping my body limber. I took it to heart and have been practicing yoga fairly routinely ever since. I have had a couple of yoga instructors I really loved, a couple that were ok, and one I just could not forgive for replacing my Favorite Yoga Teacher, Brian. But I keep it up here at home, when I do not go to classes at the gym.

A few years ago, my brother (the Doctor--as opposed to the Dentist or the Teacher...lol) told me of an article he had read about the correlation between how easy or difficult it is for a person to get up off the floor and how long they can expect to live. As I intend to live to 109, I figured I had better get after it!

Although, as in any exercise routine, the first few weeks of yoga practice left me with a subtle all-over achiness, I have never, ever regretted it. Staying limber and pushing my body to bend and twist have been extremely beneficial for playing with little grandchildren and great nieces and nephews, as well as for gardening. I have to admit that in my late 40s, once I got down on the ground, I would look around to be sure there was not anything else I needed to accomplish while in that position! Not so much, anymore--even at my ripe old age!

When I began snowboarding at 40, my instructor assured me that I would hate it the first full season, but that after that, if I stuck with it, I would really love it....Yoga is kind of that way. Bending and stretching muscles that have been left to their own devices for years and years will be unpleasant for awhile, but you will be amazed at the difference in how you will feel if you keep at it.

I have various yoga dvds in my library and tried them all. But this is my favorite. It has an AM and PM practice; both of them I highly recommend.

The Owl

I went to visit my niece and my sister, Toni, in Conrad last week.

Toni was complaining that her pretty blue Subaru was getting pooped on by birds...and not just little pigeon poop...great big globs of bird poop. She was bound and determined to find out the culprit, and was fairly certain it was the owl she kept hearing hoot at night.

The last evening I was there, we had a picnic in their side yard. Toni suddenly got excited and pointed out to me (just in time to see his huge wingspread) that an owl had flown from the tree in their yard, to a neighbor's house across the street, and landed on a pole. He stayed there the remainder of our time outside, so we were able to get a good look at him, and lots of photos.

In all my years, although I have heard them many evenings, I had never seen an owl in the wild....it was very cool!

My Sister

Let me tell you about my sister...Her name is Toni and today is her birthday...

She is the third child in our family and was born 3 years and 11 months after me. (Mama was very, very busy.) Much cuter and with a much more agreeable personality than I was gifted with, she was by far Daddy's favorite girl-child. She always had more friends than anyone else in our family. All our pets love her best.

--Just to show you how this worked at our house...when she read my post about my pet coati, she texted that she had always thought the coati was HER pet!!-- That's just how she was..so friendly, lovable and enigmatic with everyone and with her outlook on life. That is just her nature.

Of course, growing up, that means she got away with a lot...believe me...a LOT...

Strangely, I never really resented her for that. Granted, I did resent her for getting away with being messy in our shared bedroom (Mama finally had to draw a line, with chalk, down the middle of the room and tell us we each got to keep our side of the room the way we wanted.) And I truly hated her cats (on the farm we had at least half a dozen, and in Mexico, her cat ATE MY BUTTERFLY COLLECTION!!) But I didn't resent her for being cute and having friends...or not having to wash the dishes or not having to learn to cook, or not being responsible for the boys...I know it sounds like I did, but that is just my nature...I tend to not forget much....

Actually, I really admired and envied her, especially from the time we both left home and started out on our own. She always seemed to have her shit together so very much more than me...

-She got to live with Grandma and go to high school in California

-She graduated as an RN and got a good job right after

-She learned to drive and had a very cute red car as her first vehicle

-She got a really cute boyfriend (a few years younger than herself)

-She got the wedding she wanted, had 2 darling kids, and STILL HAS THE SAME GUY!

-She had a tight group of good friends to hang out with and travel and camp with

-She was always Dad's favorite, to the day he died

-She is the daughter who gets to sympathize and be kind and fun with mom (I have to

be the heavy...)

The day I realized how much I envied and admired her was the day I was riding in the back of Mom and Dad's truck, in the camper with my brother David, on the way to Minnesota to my brother, Rick's, wedding. We were speeding down I-90, when I heard a horn honking along side of us. Looking out the window of the camper, we saw Toni and our brother, Jon, tooting along in her cute little red car...AND I STILL HAD NOT LEARNED TO DRIVE A CAR!! That very day, I resolved to learn to drive! --If Toni could do it, so could I! And I did.

But I still hated that cat!!