99to1

Good weekend.
Some chores and a chance to talk with Loren.
Colin and Hannah stopped by with a pic-nic offering while we were out.
Home made squash and ginger soup and date squares.
With a touching note and a flowering cyclomen plant.

I woke with a lighter heart today, it feels like the heaviness is lifting.
I can see myself resuming daily asana soon.
Not this am though...the roofers are here and there's banging galore.

Well it was a real treat to see Jari again. My job offers me a wonderful opportunity to travel and meet people. It's always a pleasure when I can get to be in the company of someone I met during a visit, and Jari is no exception.

He's such a great guy, and fun to be with. We're all really lucky that he wrestles a bit with his english, otherwise he'd be far too witty for us. My colleague Gordie invited Jari, another coworker and myself up to his country place in the lower laurentians. This time near Harrington (as I explained below a region which was familiar to me 20 years ago).

The fall weather was spectacular, we walked on Mt. Tremblant, had steamies and poutine, later a fine pasta dinner with wine, and a couple of snorts of singlemalt whiskey. Gordie's wife even sent us up with a danish apple pie (crumbly top).

And then the swim.
Ok, so it wasn't a long swim, but we were in the water. The air temp was around 8C or about 46F, and the water somewhat cooler.
That's what you get when you taunt a Finn about swimming in a northern lake without, how did I put it..."the sissy heat benifits of Sauna"

Checking it out and sizing it up

Gordie and Jari

A Few Moments Later...

Toweling Off

The weather warrented this kind of coverage

Well as far as asana goes, I'm going to work on regularly geting up early first, and then add postures as my energy allows. Have been in a complete black hole in terms of morning energy since getting back from India. The stress of that job and my grandmothers passing has indeed sent me for a loop.

Today I was up early and at work by 06:30. Good thing...Gio and I, and maybe Drew will be doing another night ride along the canal wall again (need to leave early). The weather turned overnight, it's now colder. Currently this morning its 2C (35F) and with windchill more like -2 (28F). So tonight I'm guessing for about the same. Soon we'll be riding in the snow.

Glen and I are planning to go to see Darby in his new digs.
He and Shankara have set up a new shala in Montreal, and neither Glen nor I have been to see either of them in a long while. Darby will probably tell me that I'm fat. I think that's his typical response when he hasn't seen me for a few months. He doesn't even know that I've been to India, I'll have to bring him a copy of the family portrait of Pattabhi and family I took.

So last night's canal ride was splendid.
First-off we (Gio and I) did not miss the closing of the gates. Always good... When they close early, it makes us have to take another lets say 10km exit path off the canal wall. We have to cycle to the Jacques-Cartier bridge and then back home (which is basically right at the Victoria bridge).

"Le Cafe du Canal" was open and we had lattes and biscotti, along with bitter chocolate. We were huddled between to big rocks for coverage as the wind was up a bit. It was warm in that huddle, especially after we simmered the milk and brewed the coffee. Outside temp was about -1C (30F) and with windchill around -3C (26F). Is starting to get quite cold while packing up the coffee station/kitchen. The little cesna airplane seemed to be patrolling again...drug running perhaps?? I wonder if they have areal photos of our kitchen camp??

The city of Montreal looked spectacular on the other side of the St Laurence. We did not go all the way to Cote-St-Catherine, but stopped at the point where the newer trail climbs up to the road surface.

At one point (just about as I was calling Gio a sissy for not having climbed the steeper climb) I end-o'd, caught my handle bars in a tree and was thrown into another tree. It was a young tree and caught me lke a soft wooden leaf spring (pun intended) and no injuries.

Have only done about 200km (125 miles) this season. Almost all of it on the canal wall, with a few exceptions at Mt. Rougemont. But I have to say it has been one of my favorite riding seasons ever. Lots of Fall riding, that's my favorite time of the year. Gio says that much of our favorite clib out at Bromont has been ploughed for a suburb. :-(

Poor Gio, he was 25 minute early for our 16:00 rendez-vous, and I 35 minutes late. I hate getting to work early enough to leave by 15:30 and still getting caught in 1 hour ++ traffic.
Sushi was on me.

A cloudless sky this morning.
Long orange glow in the east that faded up to purple or violet in a star filled and half-moon sky. Absolutely stunning.

Could see Mt. St. Gregoire and indeed Bromont along the clear horizon. Was listening to K Das, Live On Earth, disk one for a change. Radhe Shyam, and Samadhi Sitaram bridge just as this view of the sunrise broke...did I mention that it was stunning?

Really it was moving.
I have been longing to be able to wake early since my return from India, and now it seems to be coming around, like a huge weight lifting off of my heart.
Rad-he Shyam

Had a nice breakfast with Hilary & Mel, and Glen & Heather. Ran into Mitch and his dad. Pop was to have joined us but he cancelled. Loren and I were looking forwrd to seeing him, we'll plan something with him this week. He sounds terribly lonely, I'm considering asking him if he'll work as a painter for us. This is something he hasalways taken pride in, and we've got a couple of rooms in need of new colours. I think he could use the organization, and benefit from the project.

Most dishes at breakfast were served with cactus pear and Guava as part of thefresh fruit offerings. Will go back as the crepes looked stunning.

Leaves, raking and mulching, chopping wood, cleaning the yard etc...
Led me to want to move through some asanas. So after the work was done I set the mat down and did 5 sunsals. Just enough to land hard on my toes a few times and break a sweat. I miss it...
Still trying to reel in the abilty of having some regularity with postures in the mornings.

Lemonpeper linguine from Histoire des Pates with a tomato sauce and sauteed mushrooms, and an extra pale ale for supper tonight. Very yummy, though carbs already making me sleepy. Off to bed soon, least I can do is work on waking early. the skies are different in the mornings now that the weather is changing to winter.
Lots of grey

So the orchid that I got for Nan went to Lorna. After all, she was taking care of it in the hospital. I know that Hilary also would have loved it at her place, so Loren and I picked one up for her this weekend.

It's gorgeous...two 18 inch stems with curved arches of about 5 white blossums each, and about four or five more budding. Gave it to her this morning before breakfast. She was a bit stunned...it is more complex than the other one. She knew that I would be bringing her one after our conversation last week, when we decided that Lorna should get Nan's, and so Hilary had already bought the mister and the special watering dropper. I'm sure it'll be well taken care of...
a saintly flower for a living saint

A brilliant cresent moon, like the top swoosh on the aum symbol, with a small cluster of three stars suspended just beneath was the celestial greeting this morning. And then later clouds low on the horizon with an oranging sky setting the backdrop for the Champlain Bridge.
Still not totally grey...soon though I imagine.

Loren recounts the dream to me last night, she had it Saturday night.

She is visited by a small boy, and he gently tells her that someone has died. It is a blessing to hear it in such comforting terms, his message was delivered with otherworldly care tenderness and compassion.

Then moments later she is having a walk with McAeter, our little mini-collie mix who died about a year ago. The little dog is running and jumping and full of life, she is blessed to be with one of her favorite pets after his passing...she is so full of joy her heart could burst.

When the experience is over she is not even sad, just fulfilled that she could be part of such a blessing.

Loren has the dream the same night that Nona Hopper passed away.

Loren is so happy that her hand made card had been delivered before Nona passed, and that Little Nona had time to read it to her. Nona Hopper was One Hundred and One years old, a good friend of Loren's family and will be missed by many people...there were over 200 people at her 100th birthday party.

May she be free from sorrow and the causes of sorrow.

Last week on the phone Loren sounded a bit down. I asked if there was anything I could do for her. She said it would be great if I brought home some marmalade, and make her toast and marmalade.
I brought home 5 different kinds.
And have been making her great big toasts loaded with a mix of marmalades pretty regularly for about four days now.

Well...
Thanks are big time due to Julie, ashtangi.net founder.

Thanks Julie, really, and not only for the blogspace...

Her comment on the prevoius post made me do a little inventory. I was about to post another self-centered entry about the preparation I've done in anticipation of tomorrow's night ride that Giovanni and I have planned. I've trued his front wheel, arranged all my outdoor clothes, packed my bags, got the insulated insoles for my cycling shoes, charged my batteries for the light kit...and I came across her timely comment.

Here I sit about to detail how Loren and I have been together for 14 years, that we celebrate our relationship once a month on the new moon...that it was the new moon in November 1990 when our relationship started...oh my... didn't I see a new moon in my adgenda at work today? Thursday was it??
The day after my silly night bike ride is our anniversary???!!!!

A quick check here shows this is indeed true.

Thanks Julie

Two peas in a pod you say?
Here's a quote I really liked and included in an offering to Loren for November new moon 2002:

“Two tones nestled snugly together, bound by the faintest dissonance, a kind of magnetic tension that left them hovering in a delicate push and pull.�
From artbyte Magazine September-October 2001 The Sound of Silos

Thanks Julie.

My quick guess is that we've been together for 182 moons.
This must be our first anniversary that I haven't done a proper moon count for...Ban man. Or even created a card or image or something...still in a bit of a slouch when it comes to getting things done. Though we also celebrate the 17th, so I still can get something meaningful, or creative prepared for her.

However in celebration Friday night I cooked an anniversary dinner.
I prepared scallops in a white wine garlic sauce, basil pasta and green beans, side dish of shrimp with a yoghurt-dill dip. Accompanied by a really nice bottle of white wine, one that Al had bourght over as a gift for Loren during the past year.

Loren got flowers and truffles.

We lit a fire and dined in the living room, it was wonderful.
I thanked her for sharing her life with me, and for all of the wonderful times we've shared.

She asked me if this is what I thought it would be like 14 years later...

"In a way" I told her..."only much much better"

and the cedar chest, and the antique stereo, and some albums, and pins, and a punch bowl set, and a magazine rack, and a coat rack, three bowling balls, old monogrammed coasters, and a milkshake maker, hand crocheted afgans, an alarm clock...the list goes on

Spent some time with Hilary today over at Pops. It is the second time I've been there since Nan died. Pop was at the pool hall. I'm planning to see him Tuesday afternoon and get the hand made box he brought back from the DEW line. He says he built it in 1955. We poked around through their stuff for around a hour. It was great to see all that old stuff again, we spent lots of time with them in that flat as kids.

Had a very nice chat with Hilary, she really is a saint.
It's reassuring to know that one's own God-Mother is a living saint.

From the TV.
Hilary found it someplace in the flat, though no where near the tv itself. Have plans to use it as a mpg monitor guide.

Service Information

Waveform Characteristics

Going to see Pop this afternoon.
It'll probaly be just the two of us. Perhaps it could even be the first time I have ever spend time alone with him.

He is a hard man to get to know, conversation is typically a one way road, you listen to him go through the stories which are currently on his mind, and then the currently spooled jokes, and then the old stories. If you're lucky (and you like math) you might just get the review of cool tricks with numbers.
Typically it appears that his input to conversation is strictly by rote.

I don't mind that he's this way, it is just odd that he is so incredibly isolated and insulated behind his thoughts and mental activity. In a way I guess, just like everybody else...

It will be not come as a surprise to me if he opens up some tonight. I can't imagine how hard his life is right now so soon after loosing Nan. In a way I have to be ready for it.

I'm going to pick up a trunk that he built when he was working the DEW line up north. He says he built it in 1955. It's a simple old box probably built as a locker to keep his personal belongings safe. Will likely end up gathering some other odds and ends as well.

I hope that I won't be late...
Pop usually breaks out in hives if anyone is late...not stricly because of anxiety related to fearing the worst...but because he's battling with himself to keep from calling 911 because he's sure the worst has already manifest.
Will have to make sure I give myself lots of time to get there.
I hope we end up going out to dinner afterwards.

Pop says it was a fund raiser and that they had a great time.
Nan Dancing with Pop's sister Vivian (Nan is leading)

Detail

Up early that is...
I have managed only two morning practices since I've returned from India. I have been back since September 18th. My last session with Sharmila was Friday Sept 17th.

I think Guruji says winter is a good season to start a yoga practice...well if i had waited any longer it would have been a winter start.

It was surprisingly easy to wake and practice, given how hard it has been lately. It's about time to keep it going I think.

Well its been close to 20 years since I did any sort of fasting. I plan to do a weekly Monday juice fast. Going to start slow, some cashews and a bananna or two as my only food intake for the first few trys, and then only juice and water. Perhaps I'm going to allow myself 4 Mondays with the nuts and fruit and see how that goes from there.

When Jill (Sister) and I were walking courriers in Montreal we would do lunch together the day after we did a daylong juice fast...well it was sorta like a day and a half I guess. We'd eat at a good vegitarian place that was associated with the Sri Chimnoy (sp??) followers, the food was wonderful. It closed down shortly after Loren and I started seeing each other in 1990.

I remember enjoying the process of going through a day without the usual connection to food...activity at mealtimes, breaktimes etc...
I think its a very good form of discipline.

And I am ready to have that back into my life.

Moons pass
Like the gentle
Blowing-out of a candle
Our rhythmic waning
Ushering tender unspoiled brilliance

174 New Moons, November, 2004

Happy anniversary my love

Roderick and I found ourselves at Rougemont. The access to the St. Laurence Seaway Wall is now closed for the season. At least is is from the part close to my home. We can drive 20 minutes to the other locks and do the ride backwards, St. Catherine-to-St. Lambert and back, or we can drive 40 minutes and end up at Rougemont.

Giovianni is starting his busy season and was not free to ride, so I convinced Rick that he should come out. I've been trying to get him to come out for a night ride for a couple of years now. He's turned it down, partly I think because he considers(ed) it to be too extreme for him. Any way he finally decided to join me and he had a great time.

The weather was spectacular! Probably around 4 or maybe 6 degrees C (40-43F), no wind at all and only a little bit of ground wetness from an earlier light rain. No hat required under the helmet, very light layers, no shell either. My choice of winter tights was too hot, lighter fall/spring tights would have been fine.

I set him up with my spare lights, one on the helmet, and one on the handlebars and we were off for over an hours pedalling in the woods. I really should have brought the coffee kit as it would have been a perfect night for it.

Before the ride with lights on the helmets

Wednesday was also the actual date Loren and I mark our anniversary. Though as mentioned before we actually celebrate on the new moon. And I didn't bring flowers or a card to go along with the romantic dinner I prepared.

So Wednesday I wrote the poem, and got flowers. They were put upstairs in the bedroom on the cedar chest. Loren would not expect that I would have had any reason to go up there, as I was busy prepping for the night ride. Also we keep it closed so that Luna stays out of our bed during the day while we're out, so I was sure to close access to the bedroom, as not to give it away that I had been in there.

I'm sure she thought I had forgotten, and probably felt that another bike ride was keeping me from thinking about her, and as expected she only went up much later after her dinner and typical evening routine...and was quite stunned by my little offering. She left me a very nice message when she discovered it.
The sound in her voice told me she was touched.

Into the mirror to examine the bruise on my eyeball.
The impact had essentially left a discoloured ring in the white of my eye.
If felt quite odd to have a bruised eyeball, I wondered how I got it.
Bike ride accedent?? Clumbsy vinyasa??

The closer I looked the more complex the colour and shape of the bruise became. It was an examination of a very tender environment. The round reddish-pink outline had most of the colouration and detail.

Upon very close examination, the outline seemed to be changing state. Quite shortly the colourful ring revealled a complex geometric pattern, it had become lotus flower petals.
It was subtly openning, almost like it was blossoming, layer upon layer upon layer of petals.

Even though it was difficult to discern any detail in the center of this flowering orb within my eye, it was clear something special was there. Something was floating, suspended within the center. It was almost shining, or at least emmiting a mild glow. The more I tried to look at the center, the more compelling the blosoming periphery became.

I recognized that this was a graceful occurance and I just softened my gaze to try and have my attention on the entire flower, to absorb the whole thing.

Last week I had a breakthrough in waking early, all weeek I got myself to work before 06:40. In a way, it feels like I am returning to myself.

This week I plan to train to actually get up with the alarm. I had gotten to the point to be able to do this regularly before my trip to India, and yet this aptitude still remains elusive.

If it goes well, I will add simple forward bends, as a step to reclaiming my morning practice.

Stil sitting in the evenings, preceeded by a couple of surya namaskar and sirsasana. The plan for the evenings is to resume doing closing sequence before sitting.

Will try to pass the day on water and juice alone, perhaps going for a few cashews around lunch hour. The plan is to rely more and more on liquids only for the next three weeks, to get myself closer to a weekly juice fast.

Did well with the list this weekend...

-plastic over attic door
-cedar hedge
-stuff from Fern
-folding
-listen to bob dylan soundtrack
-scanscan scan

Only the folding diidn't get done...
Should add that we had to buy the soundrack first...sometimes the tasks are a little more complex than they appear.

We even added more things...
-clean scary room (a bit)
-boxes to 295
-laundry at 295
-clean kitchen
-other scans
-install winter tires on bike (front fork doesn't take a 2.4" tire)