Washing Away Stress

It's been a rough couple of days. Yesterday afternoon Lucy, our goose, was taken by a fox or some other wild creature as she and Ander, her mate, swam around in a small pond near the house. I heard Ander honk loudly as he ran by the house and immediately knew that something was wrong with Lucy. Without a moment's hesitation I dashed to the edge of the pond.

I could see movement in the tall grasses on the other side of the water. Hoping to startle and scare off the intruder I clapped my hands and yelled as I ran into the woods. Frances heard the commotion and raced out of the house to join me. Eventually we found Lucy sitting quietly some distance into the woods with blood running from two puncture wounds and a raspy sound to her breathing. We located a vet in the area who works with birds and rushed Lucy to her office. Now we're tending to an injured goose in the hope that she'll be able to swallow as her swelling subsides.

I'm exhausted. On my way home from the grocery store this evening Namaste and I stopped at the beach at Friendly Valley Road (how's that for a name?). I planned to walk Namaste but it felt so wonderful to walk along the shoreline that by the time we reached a sandbar extending into the lake I stopped and did my T'ai Chi Chih practice.

It's been many months since I've practiced along the water and it is always a challenge to stay rooted in the shifting sands of the lakeshore. Since I no longer practice barefooted due to knee and foot issues I spent almost half of the practice establishing my balance and stability.

There are many other aspects to a lake practice as well. In addition to the surface of ever-changing sand, there is the sound and feeling of waves breaking on shore, and the almost-constant wind. Tonight I felt that I was faced off against the power of the greatest of all Great Lakes. It was a bit--just a bit--intimidating.

I smiled broadly through much of the form because it felt so wonderful to be there in that spot by Lake Superior, breathing in the sky, interacting with the waves, and listening to the sounds of water washing in and out. By the second half of the form I felt more stable and secure. And, interestingly, the sideways movements (from the Taffys on) were quite easy to do as compared to the forward and back movements earlier in the form.

At practice end I stood in Resting Position and let the sound of the waves wash over me. Ahhhh. W-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.