Inside the Little Plastic Castle

I’ve come up with a short meditation which helps me calm anxiety, anger, or despair. I first tried it when I was floating on my back in the pool, with my arms and legs extended like a starfish.

All of these breaths are gentle, typical not exaggerated.

1. Inhale into the top of my head, then exhale out and down to my left leg
2. Inhale into the sole of my left foot, then exhale up and across to my right arm
3. Inhale into my right palm then exhale across my chest to my left palm
4. Inhale into my left palm then exhale down and across to my right leg
5. Inhale through the sole of my right foot then exhale up and out the top of my head

When I focus on the star-shaped breath moving, my monkey brain is quiet. Each star takes around 30 seconds. It’s based on how I learned to draw a five-pointed star freehand.

( details of five lines and five points oriented on a clock face )

Do you have a go-to rescue routine?

Back from another week up north. This time I could swim, and oh it was wonderful.

This pic captures the almost-infinite subtle grays and greens, near 7am on a mid-August morning. Air temp is 60°F/16°C, while water temp is 70°F/21°C and therefore just lovely for a swim. When we swim in the afternoon, the sun creates a warm zone in the top four inches.

( morning lake photo )

Lake shoreline mirrors dark green conifers in the foggy horizon. Above the fog a blue sky glows out from the pink dawn haze, while the lake extends its glassy surface into a dark green shade near shore. Turned sideways, the trees and their reflection look like a Rorschach inkblot.

I’m stumbling along at 40% power. You may have heard it’s been hot in these parts. I am so grateful for air conditioning and MyGuy Taxi. Yesterday I did nine laps and was in the pool for 28 minutes. That was at least two minutes too much.

Luckily today I just inhaled Dreyer’s English: an utterly correct guide to clarity and style by Benjamin Dreyer, copy chief at Random House, known as bcdreyer online.

It’s not a standalone reference. As per his advice, use Words Into Type, Webster’s Collegiate, and the Chicago Manual of Style for actual reference. This book is an amusing rant by an experienced copy editor, and I recommend getting it from the library right now.

He contemplates the delicate task of making authors sound more like their best selves. And he has tons of quotables.

Therefore, tidbits re: misused, misspelled, and extraneous words:

( 2000 characters )

The book is available in print, audio (amusingly read by author and helper) and electronic formats. And his site features 14 pictures of his lovely dog.

Thursday

Swim at West Mesa Pool.
( some people visit museums I tour natatoria )

And that was it for Thursday, because I did too much on Wednesday and was exhausted.

Friday

Browsed various places with my walker.

Ate at Thai Vegan, one of many vegan restaurants in the city. They were vague about gluten, and I think I got some.

Napping, drowsing, snoozing.

Saturday

Stopped by “Sweet Nothings,” a GF bakery. ( nifty form factor for bread )

Swam at Sandia pool ( another high-school adjacent facility )

Typically fabulous lunch from MyGuy: The Salad Meal with avocado chunks, cucumbers, romaine, scallions, and cold shrimp; dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.

Walk at Petroglyph National Monument Volcanoes ( brief and impressive )

Back to walk El Paseo del Bosque north from Tingley Beach, with dog in tow. ( pebbles sand iron )

As Melissa Hung beautifully puts it:

“Though I’m not much more graceful in water than I am on land, swimming gives me the illusion of grace; makes me feel fluid in my movements. In an alternate reality of weightlessness, the water takes me–a teeth-grinder, a lopsided walker, a smacker when I eat–and makes me elegant: All my limbs flutter, one side and then the other, a constellation of moving parts propelling me forward.”

To Swim is to Endure: On Living with Chronic Pain by Melissa Hung
https://catapult.co/stories/bodies-to-swim-is-to-endure-on-living-with-chronic-pain

( how I learned to relove swimming )

( my routine )