Carrying the Tea Cup

It's been a day of surprises. The first occurred when Frances and I unintentionally disturbed a Great Blue Heron who floated on the river next to the road where we walked. We didn't know it was there; it was hidden from view by tall grasses. Once it took flight, though, it was wonderful to watch as it straightened its body, extended its wings, and circled above us.

Later in the day we went to the movie "The Last Airbender" by M. Night Shyamalan. It contained numerous references to Chi along with a variety of martial arts. As we watched the airbenders and waterbenders go through the process of manipulating these elements their movements looked amazingly similar to t'ai chi ch'uan. It was beautiful and inspiring to watch.

This evening I received an email notifying me that Joe Apt, one of the Twin Cities' T'ai Chi Chih teachers, died on Sunday. Joe was an early TCC teacher in this area and was often present at TCC trainings since he contributed a number of his students to teacher certification classes.

I'll never forget Joe's description of Working the Pulley. After you press forward and open your palm up, imagine that you are carrying a cup and saucer on that upturned palm as you pull the palm back toward you. You'll have to drop it eventually, of course, as your hand passes your side and begins to rise and ready itself to press forward once again. Joe helped me remember to keep my hand parallel to the earth and to hold it soft and steady as I pulled back.

Tonight's practice was performed in new tennis shoes that are intended to help me deal with a recently diagnosed case of Morton's neuroma on the ball of my right foot. The shoes are sturdy, stable, and larger than previous shoes which allows my foot plenty of room to be.

It was dark outside while I moved ... and cool ... and quiet. I sunk into the quietness and slowly flowed through the movements. Now as the clock ticks toward midnight it's either publish or perish....