Back in the saddle again

It is great to be back home.  It has been fun seeing everyone.  I'm struck how beautiful it all looks, the rain has been falling in our absence, so everything is clean and green and the sky is bright.  I've been straightening up in the garden too.  The weeds have enjoyed the rain, there are plenty of flowers to pick and food harvests to eat.

Meanwhile, at work.
It was great to start back at Nundah, Aspley, Sandgate and Clem Jones.  The weather is so pleasant and cool.  It is perfect "workout weather" I am a bit rusty, but the classes were fun and effective.

However,  the public holidays will be affecting Monday classes. 
So it is a good idea to keep mobile by heading to the Sandgate class.  It is Tuesday, 9.30am/ It is held in Sandgate Town Hall.  It is a wonderful venue.  Parking in Second Avenue.

Boston, the birthplace of the nation

The finish line of the Boston Marathon

What a contrast between Viva Las Vegas and Boston Massachusetts. Las Vegas is all style, no substance, everything your eye falls upon in Las Vegas is a  "construct" either to put visitors in a party mood, or to extract money. 

Whereas Boston is all substance, and very understated. It was cold and windy.  Maximum 4 degrees celsius.  It is the windiest city in USA.   Turns out that Chicago is only "windy" because of all the hot air.   The Boston buildings are solid and beautiful, and old.  It was one of the first settlements of the English.  The American revolution was plotted there and many of the founding fathers lived there.  We went on a walking tour of the city, which included Boston Common and State Street, the Old English church, Benjamin Franklin's resting place and so many really interesting stories.  Our guide was an excellent story teller, but could not understand our accents.



We went to a grand concert. Dido and Aeneas, the Purcell opera. It was held in Jordan Hall a sumptuous Concert Hall.  Wow, Bostonians love their music.  It was a full house, the performance was magnificent.  We were able to walk to the venue. 

The children of Boston designed the characters on this merry-go-round.  Guess what?  No horses.

Edgar Allen Poe

This represents the arrival of the Irish during the Potato Famine Period- The small hunched over sculpture is the family as they were when they arrived.  The statue on the left is the same family, after settling in America- hale and hearty

Grand Canyon Pictures

One of the most interesting moments of the trip to the Grand Canyon was heading down to the river with a native American guide who came from this land.  He talked about the condor and other native animals that are definitely around, but are frightened off, a little, by the tourists. 

That Grand Canyon

The story starts in Las Vegas. We left San Diego and many happy times, the wedding celebrations and my birthday, lots of site-seeing  and family time. 

Then we went to crazy town, Las Vegas.  We went there primarily because  Don really wanted  to see the Grand Canyon.  We had teamed up with Cousin Iris and we went all out.

by bus- 4.30am pick up, 

plane to boulder City 

My tiny mind couldn't grasp the size of it all.  the plane flight over Hoover dam made me appreciate how dry everything else is, rather like flying to Longreach.

Helicopter down into the canyon was an adventure. though the pilot didn't speak at all, I guess he didn't have to 

After boat ride with an indigenous guy on the Colorado river itself, which was my highlight

We went back up the top

A bus ride around to a couple of spectacular lookouts.  At one of these spots is an ancient sacred site.  It is a massive eagle with it's wings spread open wide. At this spot were lots of security guys in high viz jackets, right at the edge of the canyon, who were telling people to keep back away from the edge, any time they came to close.  A Hong Kong guy had  died there just the day before trying to take photos too near the edge and he fell.

So, while Don took care, he also took some great photos, but it's hard to do justice to landscape on this scale.

By the way, cousin Iris was stricken with a bad tummy bug on the day we were leaving San Diego and she gave it all a miss.  She went to hospital instead to get treatment and, of course, a doctor's certificate to claim on her travel insurance. 

Meanwhile, Don will attach photos of the Grand Canyon in a later post

Stand by for the next episode. 

See you soon

Ann

San Diego, the Theatre

Cousin Iris and I went to the Globe theatre in Balboa Park and saw a performance of "Life After", more a drama set to music than a musical.  The story was subtly drawn and nuanced.  The acting was striking, just hitting the right note.  The music had to be considered in connection with the voices.  The singing was exquisite, because the vocal quality was superb. The music was tuneful.  The orchestra made the sound richer.. in a word.   WOW

As well,  it was nice to mix it up with the San Diego locals, rather than tourists.

Mindfulness - everywhere

I've been thinking about Mindfulness lately.  I've noticed it is everywhere at the moment.  Some friends are bravely undertaking the Michael Moseley "The Fast 800"  book challenge,  He strongly recommends meditation as one of the pillars of good health.
I love the "What I've Learned" channel on YouTube.  He says that meditation changes the default negative setting of your ever-chattering monkey mind and flexes your 'attention' muscle.

At Kali Gray's workshop last night, she talked about the skill of Mindful Eating.

One of my class members sent me the March Mindfulness Calendar.  It has a little thought for each day, which would provoke gratitude and being in the moment.

Woodford Folk Festival - noticing interesting stuff

My Food Culture

I went to an excellent workshop "Freedom from Dieting"  It was by "My Food Culture" Kali Gray.  It was full of fantastic ideas.  She is a professional, qualified, practising dietitian with some revolutionary ideas.

check it out in the link below:-

My Food Culture

I wish everyone could have heard her presentation.