Just Another Day in The Sunflower Patch

 "Good Morning Honey. Where is everybody. It's shaping up to be a sunny day out here. It's time to get going."

"Are the kids even up yet?" 

"Honestly Fred.....

They may come from the sunflower family but let's get real here. They're teenagers! How often are they up with the sun and raring to go?"

"Harry, hurry up - you're dad's ready. Get over here and make sure your sister is awake and ready too."

 "Ya, ya. Whatever!" (Why am I always the one having to get her anyway?)

"Samantha....never mind the hair. Get over here before mom and dad have a turnip!"

"Well, thank goodness it's a good hair day at least. One never knows who'll be out there. Maybe the new kid on the block."

:Grandma - are you coming?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Makes my day to put a smile on people's faces."

Shaking Off The Cobwebs

It's almost 1 in the morning and I'm still up. Not at all unusual. In fact, more often the norm than not lately.

Tonight it doesn't really feel that late. Maybe because it took me forever to shake off last night's, or should I say, early morning dream, and it threw me off my game for part of the day.

I walked around in a stupor for a good portion of the morning unable to stay focused on or commit to any one thing.

It's a dream that periodically and unexpectedly shows up and has a reoccurring theme.

I am in a dangerous situation, usually being chased, or silenced.

I feel the rage and fear rise in my belly and I open my mouth to scream, to let others know I am in trouble. but no sound comes out. Nothing.

Usually it's a human being I am running from, last night it was a couple of weird type of animals chasing me. Closing in on me. I try hitting one on the nose thinking it will incapacitate it.

It doesn't work. I try to scream again. Still no sound except for my pounding heart.

Useless.

No one will come to my rescue. I am on my own.

Dreams are symbolic. This I know.

In my case it could be related to a past life experience or it could have to do with my constant battle and need to make writing a bigger part of my life, and how I feel silenced, without voice when I don't write.  

On Thursday, when a client cancelled, I took advantage of my time and sat by the river with my feet in the water and wrote in my journal. I have to do more of that. I have to make a plan.

This and That

"Happy Birthday son. I brought you a couple of flowers. You always loved flowers and you always brought me some flower or other you found outside or in the field. Now I am the one bringing you flowers, kind of, in the only way I know how.  The rock your sister left you, for which she has the other matching half, is still there. Your monument inscriptions however are fading away. It's been a long time. I suppose that's why. I still feel your presence though, no matter how long it's been."

It was a busy weekend starting from early last Thursday until late Sunday. A fun one mind you. And no - that's not our motor home in the back yard. It belongs to my sister and brother-in-law. Our place turned into an overnight campground. We had a dozen or so people for supper on Thursday evening, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all busy days too with a campfire burning almost from morning to night. We did everything except sleep outside. Busy and a lot of commotion but a great time shared by all. S;pending all that time outside was right up my alley.

My sunflowers which I planted really late and I thought might not get a chance to bloom suddenly exploded into an abundance of  bright little smiley faces. Now they greet me each morning until the darkness of the evening sets in.

The bumble bees and hornets are loving them just as much as I do. They keep busy in that flower patch. That means they leave us alone which is always a good thing.

The sunset was beautiful when I was out for my evening walk last night. I got so caught up in it that I didn't even think of taking a picture until it was almost over and done with.

When I was travelling to Cochraine for my bike ride, we spotted a motor home with this licence plate. Made me laugh but also made me think about how that's pretty close to the truth sometimes. Maybe even a lot of times.

  

This is my truth. When I hunker down into some writing (which isn't nearly enough lately), time slips away like water running through my fingers, and pretty soon, an hour, two, or three, quickly disappears. 

Would You Like a Float?

So, when I planed this bike trip with my girls they took it upon themselves to contribute to the planning of our time together by setting up a date with a spa facility. I think their idea was to incorporate a little relaxation time to what they feared could end up being a grueling and taxing experience.

The spa, which normally closes at 5 pm on Saturdays, agreed to remain open until 8 pm to accommodate our group of 4. In other words they offered us our own private spa time. What they they proposed was, use of the sauna, two massages, a facial treatment and a salt water flotation experience. It was up to us to chose which one of us would do what.

Karen and Brenda chose to have a massage. Jody chose to have a facial and I chose to try the flotation experience, and what an experience it was!

Even though I love water, it's never effortless for me to stay afloat and I must admit I was a little skeptical about the whole idea of lying in water for an hour long not to mention doing so in a dark chamber type of place.

The spa owner, who's last name happened to be Erickson, brought me into the flotation room and explained how to proceed. First I had to take a cool 3 minute shower and scrub down with a special soap to make sure all body oils, etc. were removed. When getting out of the flotation tank, I would have to take another shower and use a different soap and shampoo designed to remove all the salt solution.

After my scrub down shower, I was to step into the flotation bath and shut the glass door which would create a sound proof room. Then I was to push a button which would turn out the light and create total darkness. Next I was told to lay on my back with my arms above my head and to allow myself to completely relax and let go.

She explained how the body would relax fairly quickly but that it would likely take 10 to 15 minutes for the mind to completely let go.

When I entered the chamber I stretched out in this approximately 8 feet long and 4 feet wide marble type bath of body temperature water which contains a thousand pounds of (dissolved) salt to create an effect similar to the Dead Sea. The flotation room is lightproof chamber is completely free of noise and other distractions.

The result is that it's like a deep meditation. Your body and mind achieve calmness, entering into a theta brain wave state and when combined with the zero-gravity water environment, the flotation allows your body and mind to enter into its deepest state of relaxation.

At first I could hear my inner voice chattering away, "Oh, this is weird. Eyes open or eyes closed, there's no difference. It's dark either way. I better not get any of that salt water in my eyes, that would really burn. I'll never be able to stay in here for an hour." But the spa lady was right, then my mind did like she said it would. It slowly shut up and went quiet.

It was like being in an altered state of mind or likely like returning to the womb. At first I felt like I was lying on a very comfortable bed and after a while it felt like I had no body. In fact I reached down several times to make sure my body was still there and that I wasn't freezing cold. My body was there and I was not cold at all. So once more, I let go of all thoughts and felt myself drift in and out of sleep.

I was sure I was only dozing on and off in short spurts but apparently I was doing more than that because at the end of the hour when she turned the lights in the flotation room back on, I never noticed until about 15 minutes later. When I finally did notice the lights, I slowly stepped out of the chamber feeling totally relaxed and went for a hot scrub down shower.

It was quite the experience. It is said that in addition to Flotation Therapy being good for neurological, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, muscular, and skeletal disorders, that one hour of this is the equivalent of four hours of  restorative sleep. Now that I've had the experience, I believe it to be true.

What do you think - would you like a float?

Back At It

My last nature stop at Pembina River Provincial Park about half way home.

I always find it tough getting back in the saddle after a time away on holidays. Not the bike saddle but the work saddle. The first morning is never a smooth transition into work mode. Even though I love my work getting back in the swing of things is always a bit of a challenge and this morning was no exception.

I felt a little resentful with having to once again be regulated by the clock in order to meet commitments, and not surprisingly, when starting off with that kind of frame of mind, is when things start to go wrong, and they did.

I needed to print forms for new clients and the printer kept refusing to respond to my computer's commands, I misplaced my car keys, I realized I hadn't gassed up and had to decide if I was going to chance driving the 70 km to work without making a side trip in the other direction in order to get gas, and through it all, I was trying to wrap my head around everything I needed to bring for my day's work in Peace River.

But, I finally got out the door. I took a chance and didn't run out of gas, all my clients showed up on time, and of course once I sat in my chair, I was able to get grounded and be fully present in the way I needed to be.

Tomorrow is another day.

Day Two Bike Trip

 This morning we drove to Canmore to get on the Legacy Trail and begin our ride to Banff.

 It's beautiful travelling through the mountains on bikes. A person gets a chance to really see the mountains.

There was a posted sign of a live bear in the area but the biggest furry thing we saw was a dead mouse on our path.

Here we are arriving into Banff and the first thing we're going to do is find a place to eat!

 Hmm....a delicious thin crust pizza and salad along with a few jugs of ice water.

That was good! With a full belly and many shared laughs, it's time to make our way back to Canmore.

It's a challenge just to stay hydrated on these kind of rides. A lot of the weight we pack around is extra bottles of water.

WOOHOO! Crossing the finish line. We made it to Banff and back!

Jody and I coming in right behind with Karen having been in the lead and taking photos.

Karen's finishing picture having already unloaded her saddle bags and tossed her helmet aside.

A panoramic view of the mountains before we head back to our hotel.

And a double rainbow to end our evening as we relax and tend to our sore muscles in our room.

One awesome holiday with my three beautiful daughters. Although, I'm not too sure they will still love me in the morning.

Time will tell.

Building Memories With My Girls

1. Our first real Cycling day in Cochrane Alberta. Karen and I did a short ride last night and today it was a longer ride with all four of us. Perfect weather for our mini holiday together.

Karen and I heading out last night.

Jody deciding to sit it out last night.

Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Calgary region. The majority of the park is located on the north bank of the Bow River. Here we are about to head out.

Heading down to the river

Lunch and cool down by the river

Climbing back up

Ohh....my back!

My face is burning up!

What else can I take off!

Yup! It's a challenging ride back up!

While cycling in the trail was a whiz. Making our way back up the trail, on the other hand, was mighty different and a little exhausting.

Are We There Yet?

As I was driving to Edmonton today to join up with Karen, and tomorrow with Jody and Brenda, I was thinking about times when I traveled with all four children. It was inevitable that at one point or another, each one in turn, would pipe in with the question, "Are we there yet?"

I wouldn't be surprised if I hear the same question when we're out bike riding this weekend.

I'm glad I got to Edmonton early though. I got to see my two grandchildren who I have not seen this summer. I figure I did pretty good being that I managed to convince these two teenagers to unplug from their electronics long enough to go for a walk with grandma.

We made our way to "The Carrot." That's the place where I did my very first book launch. I love the ambiance at this community arts coffee shop that's run by volunteers. I really enjoyed my time with Cole and Sadie. It was fun to have the opportunity to chat over a treat and a cold drink. I gotta tell you though, I feel like a midget beside them now. When did they get so big?