Chapter 133
Well hello Fall. It seems like five minutes ago we were just emerging from the frozen hiatus of last winter and here we are looking down the barrel of the next. I do enjoy our winters as you probably know. I may not be leaping mountains and slithering down slopes, but hiking and watching the world go through its endless transformations always appeals. Finding the newness that is just around the corner keeps things fresh and vibrant, like stumbling across a buffalo herd & sitting to watch their activities for a while. I’m discovering and exploring almost every time I step outside the door.
Although these past few weeks have been mainly obscured by smoke, a couple of beautiful lung-inspiring clear days had me on horseback revelling in the blue sky that makes this place so stunning. I am blessed once more with opportunities to share and enjoy aspects of our fabulous Foothills. As the weather finally begins to cool down we can appreciate how fortunate we are not to suffer the prolonged extreme heat that has been blistering other places. The lack of water, however, is going to cause numerous knock-on effects that will be felt over the coming months by everyone. There are always challenges and opportunities to pull together.
Monday August 16th… late evening I’m sitting on my deck with the gentle sussuration of mist becoming drizzle, soon to be rain. I can feel such a swell of electric excitement in the earth and plants surrounding me, it feels as though the land is on the verge of an explosion; the pent-up thirst is palpable, an ache of desire that reaches up through each limb, each trunk, each leaf that’s seeking out the promise of rain. Then it arrives in fullness. I sit in my house listening to it gulp the life-giving force as it cascades off the roof, into the gutters, overflowing onto the ground which swallows up the welcome libation with gusto. What joy to greet rainfall this way.
Meanwhile, back on the Yoga track:
Plans to play on the mat with folk again are moving ahead. Priddis, Red Deer Lake and Square Butte Community Halls are the targets of our Yoga advance. Dragging ourselves out of our comfort zones (otherwise known as couches and homes) into a community space, a safe space where we can learn a little, laugh a little and do something positive for our selves and each other is something we can all aspire to.
All you need is the desire to change. No experience needed, no level of fitness for entry. Please, if you are considering this, drop me a line – bodymudra@gmail.com.
I resurrected my website after spending quite some time building other people’s. Check out www.kat-dancer.com and let me know what you think. If there’s something missing you’d like to see, please, tell me about it. I am hoping as time passes I will be able to review all these old articles and re-post through the website along with the other writings and musings I will be adding as I go along.
What were you doing 9 years ago?
I thought I’d have a cruise back through the archives to see what’s changed:
“Now we are in England. I am in a great old house of thick wooden beams and dangerously low ceilings surrounded by red brick walls about small sun-trap gardens and wide sweeping yards, a small hen coop by the black barn… the next-door building is an oast house. We are somewhere in East Sussex. We had a gathering today; people from all around this location came together to sit around a fire in the soft English air and mellow late summer evening, sharing songs, dance, friendship… and some good food too.
I have been sleeping long nights since we arrived, but now I am awake when I should be asleep. Ideas and messages running through my head. I’ve been talking to my friends back here in England and hearing the question “how long are you going to do this? Forever?” Who knows? As long as it continues I guess.
… I am drawing a slender thread of a web hither and yon, hoping that the strands will remain strong and provide me with a framework to dance upon for a long time yet. The shape of the dance may change dramatically though. Anything is possible.
Tonight the circle of friends included Scottish, Lancashire, Brummie, Londoners, Sussex, Essex and others… all coming together from diverse origins, drawn to this location by the energy of our host who provides a sanctuary-like retreat in an out-of-the-way home. Always I am finding things I did not know exist. We may think we have a broad perspective on life, but we are so puny. There is more out there than a tiny human brain can accommodate in several lifetimes, let alone one.”
Always new people to meet, new experiences to live through, new energies to bounce off. We have much to be thankful for. I must remind myself on a daily basis, that no matter how bad it looks, somewhere, there is a light that is not the oncoming train!
With gratitude and love,
Kat Dancer
bodymudra@gmail.com
403.931.3866 (h), 415.525.2630 (c)
