Saturday, December 1, 2001

home // The sky is blue. Clouds are white. Grass is green.

Or not.

As I was leaving California and entering Arizona I was treated to a world of colors that don't match expectations. The sky was heavily covered with dark grey clouds with just a couple fingers widths of green sky peeking out on the far horizon. The soft brown asphalt was bleeding red tar and the shrubbery along the side of the interstate was sparsely covered with burgundy leaves. It was like looking through a photographic filter that took away all the blues and yellows. I couldn't tell if I was leaving a world of different colors or entering one but the sense of things not being the same was strong and tantalizing.

I am home now. I had planned on taking a leisurely drive and doing some sightseeing but momentum took over and I drove three twelve hour days to arrive back in the A-T-L Wednesday night at 11:30. I'm feeling a little disoriented but also elated. As much as I'm sorry to have completely missed Fall, the holiday season is a good time for a homecoming. I am overwhelmed with desire to cook and eat quiet dinners with family and friends. This leg of my yoga journey is complete and I am grateful and excited to begin the next phase which will be as an apprentice of sorts to my home school teachers. To that end I am happy to announce that I've just come back from teaching my first class!

I attended my first home class yesterday afternoon. After three days in the car my body was cranky but surprisingly cooperative. I went back to the studio this morning to take the 11:30 class and Christina surprised me by announcing to the arriving students that I would be teaching. I don't think she planned it ahead of time but it was a brilliant decision. I had told her yesterday that I wanted to take a few days to prepare myself but had I done so I'm sure my first class would not have gone so well. I made a lot of the expected mistakes but I wasn't as nervous as I would have been had I spent the morning in anticipation. I was fortunate to have Christina there as well as a class consisting mostly of advanced students. They were all understanding and supportive. The amount that I have still to learn is enormous but I did well enough to have walked out with confidence.

I had planned on sharing some deep philosophical observations during this final transmission as well as fleshing out some of my notes about some humorous occurences which transpired during the last several weeks but, in the end, I find myself only wanting to sign off and say good-bye. I've got much to do to get back into my life here, much of it mundane, but I also need to take some time to just relax and absorb.

Thank you for your attention and your support. I am honored for it.

In closing, I'd like to share a quote from the only guru who has what it takes to enlist a cynical, sarcastic, wise-acre like myself to his path of pain and self-realization...

"'Eat shit and die.' I love that. That is poetry." -- Bikram Choudhury, 2001


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