Underwater

Since the pandemic, walking has been my main exercise and while I really enjoy it and enjoy listening to podcasts as I walk, I just feel a bit landlocked.

Even thought I felt fatigued and as if I didn't have enough time, I did get an opportunity to go swimming today. Couldn't find my good goggles and one of my flip flops is missing but I have back-up goggles and back-up flip flops. Not ideal but as the 'Fugee likes to say now -- good enough.

Unbelievably, It's been two years... Tried to do freestyle on my first trip down the lane and couldn't do it so I did the backstroke for awhile and then told myself to calm down and breathe and I was able to feel comfortable with my head underwater. Swimming was definitely relaxing...

During my morning walk the other day, saw four goldfinches emerge from this area by the sidewalk with coneflowers and some other puffy, purple flowers.

Further along I saw a hummingbird, several cardinals, a robin and who knows what else. A few delightful moments during this wild ass time in the world and in my life. 

It's hard to believe that it's 2022 with all this fascism and misogyny. 

Wanderlust

My family and I are still exchanging photos from May's trip. My aunt was looking for a picture and I was like, "Hey, send me that one."

At the Kingsley Plantation

Also spent more time thinking about how our itinerary could have been better and, now, I'm dreaming about being near a beach again -- as if I'm the only one with beach dreams...

Right now, I'm enjoying watching my zinnias grow. I've been watering them daily since the heat wave hit. Saw a friend post of picture of her garden and she had blooming zinnias. How did she do that? We're in the same region. Called myself planting right after the last frost. 

Comparison really is the thief of joy, isn't it?

Got to do a whole hour of yin yoga today. Now, that was relaxing and enjoyable.

Peanuts

Haven't been on a plane in almost four years and found these peanuts as I readied to put items in my carry on bag. 

One thing is for sure, with the rows being so compact, I don't enjoy being by the window anymore. 

What I did enjoy was spending time with my nephew and his family, including his infant. As I walked my grand nephew around, his little baby breaths blew me away. And I also enjoyed seeing how my nephew has grown... 

Spent first part of vacation in Georgia then spent time in Jacksonville. My suitcase weighed about 24 pounds and was mostly comprised of tank tops. The weather looked like it was going to be warm but it was cooler and perfect for walking but I almost thought about buying an extra short-sleeved shirt.

Went to see Kingsley Plantation and the palm trees and water are beautiful but I definitely thought about the people who were enslaved and the horrors that they endured.

From Kingsley Plantation, we headed to Fernandina Beach to get a glimpse of the water. Seeing the water and feeling the breeze was magical and I wish that our trip had been organized a bit differently but that's definitely hard to do with four people involved. 

Honestly,  all I wanted was to pull up a chair, listen to the water and watch the waves and repeat the watching and listening the next day.

Best Laugh

On Wednesday, prepared to "lose myself to dance," and signed up for virtual Zumba but thought it was weird that the screen said the instructor would join five minutes before class; that screen is not usually there when I log on.

Had my iPod with me because I wanted to wish the 'Fugee a good night so I immediately saw an Instagram message from the Zumba instructor telling me that there would be no class and that she had posted the cancellation on social media. I'm in Argentina, she wrote.  That was the best laugh that I had all week -- maybe the only laugh that I had all week…

It's been hard for me to find a book after reading Circe. Started reading I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death. First of all, thought that I had read one of the essays before but couldn't remember when or where. Anyway, couldn't get into it. Next, I picked up Interior Chinatown and Walking in Wonder: Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World but couldn't totally get into either one of those. I was thinking about reading Cleopatra and Frankenstein but nixed that idea. Hoping to find a book that I can get lost in soon...

Got invited to a yoga class at the Earth Day celebration today but turned it down. Told my friend that I was exhausted and knew that the grass needed to be cut because of all the rain and I wouldn't have the energy to do both.

Woke up at my usual going-to-work time but stayed in bed and watched another episode of Better Call Saul. Think that I must have watched about five or six episodes and it just felt right to stay close to home.

The grass was a struggle to cut because it was tall and also still wet so I mowed almost all of the backyard then took a break. One of the arms on the lawnmower is broken and then I took another break. Got an old sync chord to see if I could wrap it around the handle. I used duct tape the first time. The handle would stay put for awhile then not work so I had to keep stopping which was frustrating.

After dinner, planted zinnia seeds and put up caution tape because my uncle sometimes helps with yard work and I'm hoping that the visual cue will help him stay away from the flowers.

Like Circe, I feel that Better Call Saul has come into my life at just the right time. 

The Letter

Had a terrible day at work on Friday -- a hand-trembling kind of day. Got home and there was a letter from the state of Louisiana, at last.

At the beginning of the year, requested my grandmother's birth certificate but, no luck, it wasn't found. Still, it was a sign that my grandmother is with me and it made me straighten my spine. 

For a great deal of the pandemic, I have been watching movies with my aunt and mother. Decided to pick up A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and it was just the movie that I needed to see.

A meaningful part for me is when Mr. Rogers is talking about how no one likes to talk about death and he says, Anything human is mentionable. Anything mentionable is manageable.

And, honest to God, I'm not sure if that's entirely true but it resonated.

After we finished with the movie, went to YouTube because I wanted to show my aunt the Eddie Murphy SNL clip about Mr. Robinson's neighborhood.

Ruffled

Started teaching yoga at work again but, lately, I've been feeling so sour that I thought that it was unfair to do so.

Did self-talk and explored the reasons why one does yoga and, of course, one of the reasons is to recalibrate.

Passed one of my ruffled co-workers in the hall and she said, I wish this were a yoga day — an omen for me to continue but, alas, I will probably have to pause yoga due to a new person at work who also made my recent three day work week feel like a six day one…

The 'Fugee came and now has returned to her homeland. While the ‘Fugee was here, she typically spent time with me on Fridays and Sundays. On Fridays, I barely felt like I belonged to the human species. Can't say that I felt much better on Sundays as they tend to be long days too. At any rate, think I miss my Sunday time with the 'Fugee the most and also being in the same time zone.

One of my former co-workers from about 10 years ago, has been looking for a job off and on. I enjoy her Twitter posts about "sharing the salary" etc. Recently, after several interviews, she posted MITA. Had to go and look it up.

Sometimes people will having you believing MITA...

Last week was such a trash week that I strongly felt the need to go to my hometown and take a walk and connect with my ancestors. After that, went to visit my cousin and, without telling her what a crappy week that I'd had, she started telling me about Brittany Packnett Cunningham being on Cross Connection talking about microaggressions directed toward Black women. I'm never surprised by such aggression and brought up how no Black woman is immune. Remember that time Oprah was in Switzerland, asked to see a purse and was refused. Or, as a former colleague said, racism never takes a break. Looking at you, too, sexism and...

Took my mother for a walk today and, as we started off, she took my arm and hooked hers around mine; she's never done that before; she got that ritual from the 'Fugee. 

Without...Shaking

Saw my tulips that I planted in 2020 emerging from the ground and the ones that I planted next to them last October are also emerging. They are growing fast; it's wild. 

For some reason, I remember reading about the energy it takes for flowers to grow when I looked up information about tulips. Glad that they have enough. I was beginning to think that I should have bought bulbs from somewhere else... 

It was nice to wake up at my own pace this morning. I am reading Circe right now -- a book that someone gifted me. It's weird how something comes along when you need it. 

These lines on page 208 stopped me in my tracks. "Odysseus, son of Laertes, you have been hard-pressed. You are dry as leaves in winter. But there is harbor here."

And the word hard-pressed resonated with me. Someone posted this bible verse on social media and I don't remember the circumstances but it also stuck with me:

2 Corinthians 4:8-12

*8* We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; *9* persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

I have some harbor but not a lot. Join the club, I guess...

And, as soon as I wrote those words, I remembered the "grandma" in one of Anderson Cooper's podcast who said, about Russian soldiers, that she would shoot them without her hand even shaking.