Tuesday

Slushy rain ice storm today did not make leaving home pleasant but I found myself heading for an early class and, once there, I forgot everything, including the weather. I was on top of things until I lost it at the end with a simple jump combination: temps leve chasse pas de bourre glissade over glissade under, sissonnes to the side, echappe pas de bourre to the other side. I was jumping one way and the rest of the class was going the other way. The simplest things are always the hardest.

The adagio was nice: waltz in line, pique arabesque faille, rotation to walk forward to grand port de bras. Then we did a developpe combination with arabesque promenade to pirouettes. The barre was the nice solid standard of this class, with rolling through the foot tendus and sweeping ronde jambes and stretches -- this barre is always so relaxing and makes me feel all loose and stretched out.

It was hard to leave and go outside but I finally arrived at the gym, grabbing a roast beef and cheddar cheese sandwich and a side of spinach, kale, and cooked greens topped with mashed sweet potatoes; and then practically fell asleep in the steam room after eating this while watching the overhead TV. Then I swam with the children, who were learning how to float sideways and put their heads in the water to blow bubbles. I felt strong in the water and almost didn't want to stop.

Then I got to the other gym near home for a Pilates class with a wonderful teacher who announced it was her last day teaching. Her classes are always about extension and flexibility, like using the magic circle to stretch our hamstrings, legs in the air, and doing the swan movements and side kicks; not like some other Pilates classes that are not as streamlining.

Walking home, the weather felt less nasty -- it felt much like January when I was a kid, walking around the neighborhood, making tracks in the snow, and feeling the cold air on my cheeks...