Oh! One more thing…

I forgot to tell you one more thing that has been big in my life for the past two or three weeks. Beatrix has been reading The Obesity Code, which focuses on insulin control, and thus deal with weight gain and loss. She began reading and practicing as a way of managing her weight, which is, apparently, very difficult to manage. She loses weight ever so slowly, or not at all, no matter how she diets.

Part of this practise involves periodic fasting - liquids only, no sugars or solids, for up to 36 hours. She is doing this two days weekly, Mondays and Thursdays. I have not fasted since the days of my running, some thirty years ion the past. I decided to join her. I wanted to lose 7 or 8 lbs. living on liquids alone for a day.

This has been going quite well. What started as a physical practise is turning out to be a much more profound experience. For one thing, living on liquids alone for a day sharpens the mind. It also frees up time and energy - which surprised me. For example, on fast days, I swim  more easily and with less fatigue than on days  when I eat solids! This has been a great surprise to m.

Another learning is that I am able to live quite comfortably on five days food each week. I don't overeat after a day of fasting, and I sleep better. Although I wouldn't call it a spiritual practise yet, there is no doubt that fasting has an impact on me that is far deeper than mere physical "doing without." I will keep you posted on this situation over time.

April

It has been a fantastically warm month - a record for this part of the world. The snow has been gone for weeks, and it has been 20° C more than once, a temperature unheard of in this region. It has been  great month for me, so far. My daily swim has been exciting, since the grade school kids have been taking lessons in the pool tight next to my swimming lane. This has made the pool sound like a day at the beach, with shrieking kids having a ball learning to swim. Some of them actually notice me! One little girl, after watching me swim for 30 minutes, came up to me with an amazed look, and said, "You do really good out there!" I guess she marvelled at such an aged person swimming back and forth, back and forth. Another grade two tyke (7 years old) looked at me intensely and asked, "How old are you?" Like perhaps someone so ancient shouldn't be in the pool. I told her I was very, very old.

The Red Cross swimming instructors, all of them my lifeguards, are terrific with kids. They give lots of themselves to the wee ones. I bring them treats once or twice a week to show them my appreciation. This program will go on until mid-May. I love it! I am swimming more front crawl lengths than earlier, and getting stronger at it. Thirty minutes a day, seven days a week. I do miss walking, but I'm not prepared to give up the pool to walk.

Another bit of excitement for me is my dream life! I haven't dreamt so often and so consistently for years. And the dreams are bazaar and highly symbolic. I tell them to Beatrix as soon as we're up, because they fade from memory very quickly. Sometimes I spend half the day interpreting them for myself. I wish there was a dream group I could join, like in the old days in Winnipeg, when we met every week to share dreams and work on them. My dreams have involved my children horses, people of Turkish extraction, small towns nearby, and road trips. So far, no erotic dreams.( Sorry)

I am looking forward to Jennifer and Balou's visit this August. He and I are cooking up a prank to pull on my conservative and racist coffee mates. Balou being brown, will be my ace! I have missed visiting Caley and Joe and kids this winter. Surgery in February screwed up my normal travel schedule this year. Looking forward to doing better in the coming months, after summer. With Beatrix retiring in June, we are making no vacation plans yet, although we'd both like to visit Lethbridge, since I have only been there for meetings, and Beatrix spent part of her childhood there. On this subject, "more anon", as Grandma Black used to say.

That's about all I have to add at the moment, so I'll stop until the muse hits again.