July Full Moon

I got this miniature moon and its stand to light up my indoor evenings, a companionable glow.

Something moves

Just beyond the mind's 

clumsy fingers.

It has to do with seeds.

The earth's insomnia.

The garden going on 

without us

needing no one

to watch it

not even the moon.

- Lorna Crozier

Moon is full July 23rd, 10:37 pm

Summer vacation

A month long sailing vacation!!!

I haven't had an entire month off work since I was 13 and enjoyed summer vacation. Ever since then it has been some form of work (or looking for work when unemployed). 

Right now I can hear the thunder from the safety of our dock in Cobourg. The sky is dramatically dark for a summer afternoon, but the rain hasn't started. Skies are heavy in anticipation. After this storm, clear skies ahead for several days. I'm hoping we get to the Thousand Islands for the last week of July, and that they aren't too crowded for the season.

Tonight will be the third night. We have a Yeti cooler stocked full, with what started as frozen meat but it's already semi-thawed. All of it vacuum packed. If we manage to replenish a couple of ice blocks every three days our meat should last at least a couple weeks. If not, we'll be cooking up a lot of barbecue for neighbouring boats.

The engine has cooperated so far, motoring first to Whitby (4 hours) and then on to Cobourg (5 hours). 

Ahhh - summer thunder showers! Such a coolness in the air, and the fresh ozone is such a stir. Snug in the cabin as the rain comes pounding down. The torrent is so loud you can barely hear the thunder.

1st night
Whitby - dinner with Caroline

on our way - I want a gennaker!

2nd night

at anchor in Cobourg

Cruise to Fifty Point

After a successful shake down sail, Rob and I were looking forward to the club cruise on the July long weekend. Fifty Point Yacht Club is situated in a picturesque conservation area. Nine nautical miles from BPYC.

Weather reports weren't entirely favourable but we figured if we timed it right, we could get there ahead of the storm.

The winds weren't with us, so we motored along with Corus (Alan and Tracey) at our side. About four hours into our trip, we looked behind to dark skies. That's about when the storm caught up to us and we were buffeted by strong winds and waves. At the height of the storm, our motor sputtered. Thankfully, it started again. Then it stopped. Then it started again. Then it stopped. 

And it would not start again. 

By this time we were almost at the mouth of the channel to FPYC, but there was no way to sail in safely. We raised our sails to keep us from drifting ashore and into the precarious rocks. We contacted Cruise Captain Mark Stone on the phone and he offered to come out to tow us in. Second Star to the rescue! Without a word of a lie, that's when the sun came out. 

Mark and crew towed us safely to a slip. After nine hours of our adventure on the lake, we slept soundly.

Saturday morning, Rob found and fixed the problem. and the engine purred again. That evening we enjoyed the company of our small gathering: Corus (Alan and Tracey); Second Star (Mark and Shelley with their guests Dino and Theresa); and Imagine (Wlodek and Halena).

Sunday morning we set out at 10 a.m. into dense fog, again with Corus nearby. Visibility was poor.  When a seagull flew close to our boat it took on the proportions of a dragon descending in the mist. Several hours later the fog had lifted and our motor was still going strong. By 4 pm we had Toronto's Eastern Gap in sight. That's when our motor gave out again and she refused to start.

We decided to sail. Winds were not favourable and the lake was bumpy. We called Wlodek and Helena on Imagine and they assured us they would sail close by. We also contacted Wendy and Raymond back at BPYC who offered their support and rounded up some recruits to greet us on the docks.

Slow going. Five hours later it was getting dark and we were still hours away from the club.  Wlodek  threw us a tow line and we tied it to our mast as we made our way over a lumpy lake into the Basin. A boat was tied to the Visitors dock, so there wasn't much room to maneuver, yet Wlodek managed to steer us close enough to our slip that Wendy, Raymond, Lynne and Mike B could guide us in.  Arrival time: 12:30 pm. A fourteen hour return trip.

I felt such relief once we were tied safely to our own dock.

Hopefully that will be the last tow Yondering will need this season!

Words can't really describe the gratitude Rob and I have for the support of everyone who came to our aid. It makes us realize how lucky we are to be part of BPYC, and how privileged to know such great people and sailors.

Experiencing yoga with Prashant Iyengar

This was my second class with Prashant Iyengar; held over a four day period, three hours at a time, back in June. He was teaching from RUMYI  in Pune to 400 students internationally. I'm just catching up on my notes now, although it has definitely influenced my morning practice this past month!

Again and again he made the point that some things cannot be taught but must be experienced first hand to be learned.  Yoga is a heuristic subject that enables someone to discover or learn something for themselves.

"It is a mockery to be teaching this subject in a four day class but I will give you something to work with."

The first day we were asked to hold out our arms for an extended period and observe how different cells are activated the longer we held the pose. We were also asked to 'do' janu sirsana in both 'martial culture' and 'supplicant manner' and observe how body/mind/breath work together to create different states of being. 

The second day we returned again and again to trikonasana as the anchor pose, to see how our experiences of the pose changed depending on the pose that preceded. "Trikonasana should work on you, not the other way around... you are the benefactor." 

Think carefully about the intention of your practise on the day. Is it to relax, to energize, to cool? Think about breathing with that intention; use three exhales to ignite the asana. 

Breath is not ours, it is ageless... body and mind grow old. I like this idea. Breath is an element we have available to us but we do not inhabit it like we do our body or mind.

The third day we considered how to commence, depending on external conditions: the weather, our age, our physical condition. Using exhalation to deepen experience. Considering our body/breath/mind as we activate; are activating; are activated. Being aware on these levels does change the experience. 

The way you commence practice can expel torpor or negative states. Consider sirsana, viparita dandasana, supta bodakonasana & select which is most suitable. Light on Yoga can help with regard to selecting poses suited to certain conditions, but remember that even supta virasana can be done in different ways, it does not always need to be done in a restorative manner. 

Day four, we considered chitta. Asanas condition different parts of the body, but observe how they also benefit the mind or psychology. While asana have temporary effects on the body; breath conditions the mind; pranayama works for transformation. Explore these effects. Don't drive out positive conditions when expelling the negative! Don't overdo or you may undo. Spend as much attention on how you are coming into and out of the pose as you do on alignment while in the pose.

----

experiment 

- in forward bends, try breathing from the back

- in pranayama, try: breathing below the lungs

- lying supine, take a brick wrapped in towel or foam brick, and place it under sacrum; then under lumbar; then under dorsal... observe the different effects on breath 

- lying in prone position with bolster horizontal under chest / under pelvis...don't obstruct nose (especially good after backbending)

- try using the different sounds of gods' names during pranayama....Rama on inhale / Krishna exhale (other gods names can also be substituted (Gavinda, Hare), point is that the different names have different effects; try without saying a name and making just a sound... different effects) 

"300 years ago people didn't believe in bacteria but that did not mean they didn't exist"

Pandemic walks and garden inspiration

Returning from one of my afternoon walks, I started up the front path when a voice behind me asked, "is this your garden? It is my absolute favourite garden on my walks!" I found out the owner of the voice and his husband live a few blocks away on a street with gardens I've long admired. I happily accepted his flattery and then invited him around the back to see the ravine garden. 

I'm certain his hyperbole was due to his springtime walks, when the front garden bursts with early crocus and tulips, and then the peonies and poppies that celebrate May. That party is over by May 31.

Another neighbour on another walk thanked me and said my garden looked so natural and whimsical.

As I've been enjoying my pandemic neighbourhood walks and getting garden inspiration as I pass by, I'm delighted to know others are finding some pleasure in mine.

Motivated by all this positivity, I went in search of more colour to replenish the area where the peony blooms had been. So went looking for dahlia, which had already sold out in most places. Much less for sale this year at the nurseries; staff at one of them said that due to the pandemic growers have had difficulty finding workers. What is on sale seems more expensive and in short supply. 

By late June the front garden had sage in bloom and the willow shrub with its variegated green and pink polkadots. Lamium, sweet woodruff, and daphne in flower. Eventually found some dahlia and calla lilies for the front, just as the sage was beginning to fade.

With more time and knowing eyes are on the front garden, I want to welcome more pollinators but may need to wait another year to find the plants (Canadian anemone, more bergamot, snake root).

In back, in June, in bloom: iris, clematis, Beauty Bush, lilac, rodgersia, buttercup and coleus, predominantly blushing pinks and purples with spots of sunny yellow.

Daphne is loving the sun in the front garden, offering flowers June through July

showy plumes of Rodgersia

The pansies we picked up in March are still frothing in July