PNewL PNewS Volume 23 Issue 2

PNewL PNewS 

Volume 23 No. 2                “All the pnews that phits.”                    May 2015 

My Month in Motion

     While Roger has spent a lot of time at Puppy Camp, I have been on the road. Here and there with brief stops at home. Opportunities lined up this past month and I just couldn’t say no. So I didn’t and it turned out great and Roger still seems to like me. As Gini likes to point out, dogs have neither watches nor calendars.

     We started at the beach—Edisto, to be specific—and it was cool and windy and rainy. One day, Sarah threatened not to get dressed. It was that kind of vacation. It was a gathering of the itty-bitty book club, and we were there ostensibly to read and discuss a book I think only I liked. (Edisto by Padgett Powell. I just looked on GoodReads and it either gets 4-5 stars or 0-1. Kinda like beets—you either really like em or you really hate em.)

     It was a perfect situation and a very compatible group to accomplish whatever each of us wanted. The only imperfection in the weekend was out of our control. When we arrived, we found that the house we rented was having a new roof installed. There were tools left on the roof, which fell onto the deck below. Extension ladders were left in place—and the other side of this duplex was rented by a family with small children so the ladders seemed a wee bit dangerous. Meanwhile, inspectors and people from the rental agency and workers seemed to flow in and around us for part of Friday and Saturday. I recall counting approximately 12 who showed up. A couple even let themselves in to take pictures of the damage from the leaks that occurred when they took the old roof off. Turns out it rained really hard at that point. That was unfortunate because it was obvious everything was freshly painted. And somehow, all of this became our problem.

     The funny part is that when I think about our beach time, I mostly remember having an unexpectedly fun time getting to know some good people in a beautiful place. I jut happened to write a note to myself that it was  weird to move into a construction site while on vacation.

     Next up: Yogaville! Well, actually, next up was a visit to Charlottesville and Lynne, a high school vintage buddy, and Amy, a college vintage buddy and to introduce them to each other. It was great to be with old friends with whom there is gobs of history. Love it, love them. THEN to Yogaville.

     Sometimes I do things expecting a specific result and it winds up being totally different. Not bad, just different. Such was the case at Yogaville. This could also fall into the category of “I do things so you don’t have to.” I got a coupon to this place and it was so reasonable I figured it would be okay if I didn’t like it. Two nights, 48 hours, 6 meals. I thought I was going there to take lots of yoga classes. Au contraire! It was all about the yoga lifestyle. Silly me.

     At the first meal, I met a really interesting woman who was a professor in the African Diaspora from Washington DC. She had been everywhere and had traveled with ambassadors and spoken to large groups of people. Way different from my experience of travel. I ate all of my meals with her. I really enjoyed her company and would have liked to stay in touch but like so many of those encounters, I never even knew her name, much less contact information.

     The schedule for classes started at 5am and the person in the room I was in before me set the alarm for 4:45pm. Oops. Missed that meditation session. My bumbling through the day continued as I couldn’t find the 6am yoga class so I practiced in my room. There was a tour of the campus (900 or so acres with a community of about 250 members who live in the surrounding area and put in at least some time working at the Ashram) with some temple-ish places and a building where the guru is buried. It’s a beautiful peaceful place in the middle of nowhere. The tour guide had been coming here for 17 years before she moved to join the community last year. She goes to town (45-60 minutes away) once a month. No thanks.

     I learned some things that I didn’t expect. The food was simple vegetarian with lots of options to spice it up. I liked that. I could eat the same food and have it taste differently at each meal. And a constant availability of salad reminded me to do that at home more. It was very quiet, which made me realize how easy it is for me to make my life noisy. There were very few distractions and I liked that too. On the other hand, there were a lot of rules and not a lot of room for independent decision-making. That simplifies life and I can see the appeal... but not for long. I went to a ceremony and before it started, I asked the man who was going to perform it how long he had been in the community. He kinda snarled “Forty years.” Maybe he was having a bad day but I thought there should be a little joy in there somewhere…So, I’m glad I went and I was happy to return to my noisy distracting life.

     But not for long.

     Once again, I hauled Roger out to Puppy Camp and took off for The Penland School of Crafts, an hour or so away. I have wanted to go there for a long time and when Pam, a wonderful teacher of mosaic, was scheduled to teach, I said sign me up. And I am very glad I did. This was a 5+day class. The plus is because it runs Monday-Friday and ends on Saturday morning but also because the first couple days lasted into the wee hours for some (not me—I bailed at about a 14 hour day). We spent those days working with clay, making what Pam calls “Parts and Pieces” for the mosaic. The other days we nipped and broke and arranged and set and grouted. It’s…well...therapeutic. I really enjoyed the process. And it was a really supportive group that mostly got along (there’s always one…) and really seemed to care about each other. The setting of the School is gorgeous and peaceful, the food was good and varied, my accommodation was perfect for me and a good time was had by all. I look forward to the opportunity to return.

     My last trip of the month was to Baltimore. Amazing but true in these challenging times. A conference on women’s leadership I was really looking forward to but it was cancelled. I was disappointed for all, but in a way, that “free” weekend was welcome. Now, I am packing to go to my 40^th high school reunion. The difference is Roger gets to go too. And that is a good difference.

Things I am Learning

& Miscellaneous Observations

• I am constantly being referred to important interesting thought provoking eye opening articles online and so I open a tab to save them until I can read them and or the browser says you have too many open—you have to close some. And then I read the articles and feel informed and smart, briefly. Occasionally, I close the browser by mistake (or like yesterday when the browser crashed and closed approximately 19 windows) and all those safely saved windows are closed and there is just a small relief that I don’t have to be that informed. There’s a fine line between informed and TMI/crazy-making.

• Neighbor Jeff had a dream the other night that Roger (who didn’t look like Roger but he knew he was Roger—you know, dream stuff) was riding a skateboard.
• The itty bitty book club is reading Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. This is a favorite from long ago. Rereading it is so warm bath (does that term need explanation?). I find myself reading a few pages at a time, wanting to savor it.
• I hate it when I open the washing machine and the first thing I see are broken pen parts.
• Yesterday, I had to slow down on Main Street because a cat was crossing the street—in the crosswalk.

• I went to open a new bank account. The bank dude was open and honest. He said when I leave the state, I should go to the grocery store and get something and then get cash back rather than pay the ATM charges. He said, “You know—get something you like or will use--like gum…or kale.” I laughed and said, “That’s an interesting combo.” He shrugged, “This is Asheville.” Loved it.

• When I went to the bank, I thought I was looking pretty good—I had been to the library for my morning shift and was feeling put together. When they took a picture, I found this was not true. And it was going to be on my debit card…forever….The nice man suggested we take another one—“and maybe you could smile or something.”

• My job at the library recently has been withdrawing books that don’t deserve to remain on the shelf. It is a wonderful feeling of power. I used to hate it—it was sad for the book, especially when its history shows it only went out a handful of times—but now that I see how full the shelves get, a book that has gone out 11 times and not once in the past three years? Outa here! I am ruthless. Actually, the computer makes the decision but I like to feel I have a hand in it.

• In what I am thinking may be a never ending project of emptying the double-wide (which I have decided to call Upstairs—Roger, let’s go Upstairs!), I say to you: THROW OUT THE TWIST TIES. And the same for rusty paper clips and plastic bags…well, plastic bags are recyclable and so are paperclips but really…how many of these things does an elderly man need? I have a problem throwing things away too but now that I see it from the perspective of the person who is going to have to go through this mess? I’m thinking it is time to act…well, maybe next week.

• Last month was my birthday month and I have this unwritten rule that releases all spending restrictions. I am not a shopper really, except in April. Thank heavens that’s over. Well, there are still a couple things on order. But really, it’s time to stop.

“We had moved to Washington for the duration bent upon proving that the way to have an informed public opinion was to inform the public.” Wallace Stegner, “Crossing to Safety”