Birthday!

Friday, October 9 2015, was my 59th birthday.  I took the day off from work, and spent it well.

I checked the indoor garden after breakfast, then watched some YouTube videos about gardening things - when and how to transplant seedlings and how to top pepper  and tomato plants.  Then I moved some peppers up to a larger size container, and planted four grape tomato seeds.

After finishing with the garden, I took a chair out on the back deck to read.  On the way, I stopped to watch the shadows playing on the window shades - a favorite thing for me. The morning was perfect, just the right temperature, sunlight filtering through the trees, and just a hint of breeze.  Occasionally, a leaf would tumble down from the tall tulip poplars.  I watch them all the way down, as a mindfulness exercise.  Some tumble, some spin, some flutter - every leaf a unique shape - and that uniqueness expresses itself in a few seconds of motion - leaf pulled down through air by gravity.

My reading was about the yoga concept of vairagya, or letting go.  Letting go may mean not dwelling on past events, playing unproductive mental games of "if only.." or "I should have.."  It could also mean letting go of a future result, realizing that whether or not my actions lead to the desired result, I will be OK.  Anxiety about results is wasted time, energy, life.

Then it was time to hop on my bike and ride to Takoma Park for Francesca's noon yoga class.  I often go there from work, often after a bit of a hurry, and I was much more settled and calm, arriving after a morning spent doing just a few things that I really wanted to.

After lunch, I rested a while, then read some more before dinner.   Dinner was a bit of an adventure.  We drove to Takoma Park to eat at Busboys and Poets, parking a few blocks away on the street.  It was a little cool in the shade, but we sat outside for dinner.  Just as we were talking about dessert, the sky became ominously black, a dark, gray-fronted cloud moving in quickly from the west.  Lightning began to flash up in the cloud, and the diners along the street began moving inside.  Then the rain began - a full downpour.  We stood with a crowd inside, while we waited for our dessert to arrive - to go - and then waited 20 minutes more until the storm passed, the sky grew lighter, and the rain slowed to a light shower.  We were a little wet by the time we got to the car, and then drove home to eat the chocolate cake.