Holiday Letter 2011

Happy Holiday’s to you in 2011!
This was the year Beth had back surgery, and was off work for 137 days. As she was recovering from the spinal fusion procedure, we both turned 50 years old, (we are only 9 days apart). I went to the lake with Beth, Jeanne, Bobbie and Larry, and some of Beth’s friends came out the next day. We kept a campfire going all weekend, and although the weather was cool and cloudy, it only rained a little bit overnight the first night. Bobbie took this picture when the sun came out the next afternoon:

The” 5-0” at Marion Lake

For Beth’s birthday, I threw her a surprise party at a local hotel. She had the whole weekend for role-playing with her best friends. We reserved a big room next to the lobby to play (and eat) all weekend long.
Our annual trip to Arkansas’ Beaver Lake was enjoyable –great weather this year…..no burn ban. I could add many more pictures of Beth’s fish-catching ability, she caught fish everywhere…..the freezer is stocked.

White bass

Even with a record-setting heat wave over the summer, we still went camping at least once in every month between April and October!
There were no international yoga retreats this year, but I made time for yoga weekends. I made a trip to Tyler, Texas to support YogaBeth’s workshops. She invited a guest teacher from Colorado to three different studios where she teaches. In September I made the trip to Estes Park for the Yoga Journal Conference by myself, sharing a cabin at the YMCA of the Rockies with a yoga teacher I know from Wichita. She had her two dogs with her, and they were great company while I was there.

Biking at Lake Estes

I started teaching a new yoga class at Linwood Recreation Center, turning over the Edgemoor yoga classes to a friend of mine who had been away from teaching for a couple of years and mentioned that she wanted to teach again. It’s well-attended and I love the time slot….I can go home from work for a little while before class starts and I don’t have to change clothes in my office bathroom with the cold tile floor!
I bought my first boat in 2011, a kayak. No batteries, motor, tires….toss it in the truck, carry it to the water, and paddle!

Lake Afton, late summer

Mom and I are wrapping up the year with one more adventure - a mother/daughter weekend in San Francisco. A little yoga for me, and some sightseeing for us both. I had asked friends there to “stop the shaking” before I arrived (they had been having earthquakes in the Bay area)……and unbelievably, the next weekend: we had one right here in Wichita! It originated in central Oklahoma, and I absolutely felt it underneath the house that night. I was completely surprised and amazed at the event….my first-ever experience of an earthquake.
I hope you and yours have a great 2012!

What will you do when your suntan fades......

I once put a song on a music mix for a friend of mine called: "What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades?" by Beulah. Cute song, and it will make you smile.....but there is a note of seriousness (at least for me) contained within the lyrics. Like this:

The days are getting shorter
And what will you do when your suntan is fading and the summer's gone?
Do you feel afraid?


This goes back to a time when I was at a crossroads. I was re-locating to another city, all the familiar faces and places were going to be gone, and my future was unknown, so it was pretty scary. The last few evenings I spent with my friends before I left were crisp and cold, it was dark very early, and you could see your breath in the air. Believe it or not, over 30 years later, and I still have that sense of foreboding at least one time or another in late fall. It may catch me as I leave work and it's already dark. It may appear with a gust of cold, biting wind, or the smell of leaves burning. With yoga, I have learned to see this as only a groove, a pattern, a memory, and I know that there is really nothing to fear. When that feeling happens, I take a deep breath, count my blessings, and embrace it. Yoga teaches us so much more than how to do a proper forward bend........

Retirement

Some great speakers crossed the stage in front of me this past week, Terry Bradshaw, Bill Cosby, Lou Holtz, Colin Powell, Rudy Guliani.....all brought to Wichita for a motivational seminar. One speaker was talking about retirement: "GONE are the days when you work for the same company all your life and retire with a pension!" he said. "You have to take control of your own retirement now!"

Not too long ago, my friend's uncle died....at 68. The funeral was held two days after he died in the hospital, which was two days after he was admitted, a quick and unexpected death from a stroke. Now while we might envy the man a fairly trouble-free way of leaving this earth, I learned that he had retired early, at 64.

Four years. Four short years to spend differently than our lifetime (it seems) of getting up every single morning, rain or snow, heat or wind warnings, with not enough sleep, with a headache, needing a break, and going to work every day. Four short years free of the grinding routine of his job (even those that love their work must admit that sometimes, it is just an existence/chore). Did he have plans to do things after retirement? Yes. Of course he did!

That fact was never more stark, never more personal, never more timely than at this man's funeral. I calculated, I extrapolated, I visualized and I dreamed of spending more than four short years in the next chapter "after my professional career" (AMPC).

AMPC, I plan to help a not-for-profit. I even have the general type of non-profit selected - either homelessness or feeding the hungry. While there are few paying positions in this area, I am called toward it, and know I'll find a way.

So what's holding me back at my age? Some of it is fear, AMPC, health insurance is no longer a luxury, it is a necessary as shelter and food (if you have assets that are at risk that is, my indigent brother will be served if he needs health care, with no way to extract payment from him afterwards). The leading reason for bankruptcy is medical costs.....not credit card debt.

The small population here is another obstacle. To put it in perspective, I used to attend the Susan Komen Race for the Cure here in Wichita. The event would draw about 7,500 people. I visited Little Rock, Arkansas.......their Race has 45,000! Forty-five Thousand people!

So.........if I live now, because tomorrow is not promised to anyone, and if I am going to do what I am called to do, I would have to change some things!

These are dangerous words........being written and spoken by a person who has lived in the same city her entire life (except for college), a person who has had the same type of job her whole career, and who lives in the first house she ever bought -more than two decades ago.

And yet.......there is my study and practice of yoga.....a practice that sustains me, teachings that I continuously attempt to incorporate into my life, and the calm and confidence that they instill. It will work out. Even on the cusp of great change, clear-seeing is possible, and the right choices will seem natural and organic.

Wish me well......
Namaste.

I swept the floor.......

My first Karma class:

I arrived at Karma studio early (work ends at 5, class is at 7, the drive is maybe 3 minutes......so there's no chance of my ever being late to this one!), grabbed my mat bag and a couple of blocks from the back of the mini-van and went inside. Every day now the place is taking its shape, becoming its own, changing, sporting new art and decorations on the walls. Shakira was blasting out of the speakers and Rebecca called out "we're dancing! come in and join us"!

One student arrived a few minutes later, did a little clothes shopping, and then we started the class. Rebecca unrolled her mat as well, and the three of us spent an hour on standing poses, supine stretches and then final relaxation. I have a Walkman, not an iPod, so I let Rebecca choose the music, Celtic (and how DO you really say that word? "sell-tic" kell-tick"?) as it turned out, and it did the trick.

The instructors are expected to help to clean and close the studio at night, so I followed the reception desk staff into the back room to find a broom, swept the floor and brought in the cardboard sign just outside the entrance for the night.

Here's hoping more Wichita yogi's will try a gentle Friday night yoga class to end the week and kick off the weekend!

Namaste, Cindy

Snow days..............

February 2011, snow days..............cold bitter wind...........cloudy skies.........save the outdoor kitty! stock up on stuff to make soup.........sleep for hours and hours..........