Poppies and Dreamy Slow Downs

I am a planner. I like to have my calendar filled with activities, hikes and camping plans, dinners with friends, cultural events, and retreats. I love my old fashioned paper calendar. I love scribbling in it, highlighting words, names, times. I love using different colored pens to denote my workouts. A big red heart next to a planned bike ride gives me great satisfaction.

A sign in front of a neighbor’s house. Be the one!…..

There are no social events on my calendar, other than a few Zoom gatherings. Instead, my calendar is filled with teaching online yoga. Most of my yoga events have been postponed to next year. I am trying to figure out how to anticipate what comes next.  For example, will there be a spike in COVID-19 cases come September and October 2020 as predicted by scientists and medical experts? My head hurts from trying to figure it out. My head hurts from arming myself with whatever information I can glean, from coming up against the same wall again and again. Each time, I come up empty of answers.

How I love Seattle!

On the other hand, I am finding that I like this slower paced lifestyle.  Every morning, I wake up early, shower, set up my yoga studio, teach my online classes. Then there’s breakfast and a few media tasks, followed by a quick walk around Green Lake, followed by chores.  The days flow with less stress in my life than ever. No public transportation to navigate, no quick pick me up coffees (with a little scone to go with that lovely cup of coffee), no rushing from one end of town to another, no pressure to make plans with friends.  No eating on the go. No more eating fast because I’m so darned hungry, I can’t slow down!!  To my surprise, I like this slow-paced, quieter life.  I enjoy eating dinner at an earlier time. I enjoy savoring the delicious slow cooked meals. This slowing down works better for my digestion. I have discovered just how much I love our condo and realize that before March, I hadn’t spent much time here. It’s a nice place for a quarantine. While many people talk about COVID-15, referring to the 15 lbs they have gained during this time, I am 10 lbs lighter. No more tight feeling when I wear my jeans.

Keep it Moving!

Yesterday, we went over to West Seattle and did another social experiment under the new norms of socializing.  It was wonderful to see Sal and Kathleen. They had set up tables in their back yard so we could sit more than 10 feet apart from each other. We brought our own lunch and water. When we weren’t eating, we wore our groovy masks.  After lunch we took a 3 mile walk, keeping the 6 foot physical distancing between us.  It was so nice to see our friends and I left feeling very happy.  We CAN do this.  It does take discipline to follow the rules, but we have to do this and we are!

The new way of hugging.

All of the photos in this blog post are from our walk in West Seattle yesterday.

Poppies en masse

Closer view of the poppies

Spent red poppy

freshly popped poppy, still all wrinkled!

so delicate

And then you have garden art…

…fanciful fence posts

The best attention sign!

West Seattle, where many streets are closed so people can walk widely apart and enjoy the neighborhoods…food and other deliveries can drive through.

Yoga Pose at the top of the hill in the High Point neighborhood park! High Point is a novel neighborhood, a mixed-income community designed with an emphasis on Green Living. The neighborhood of High Point has an inspiring healthy design which includes this park, a community center, a bee garden. For more information: LINK

Tags: a green community, awareness, Cool Signs, High Point in West Seattle, novel neighborhoods, poppies, slowing down, Social distancig, the new social norm, west seattle