Planning

Dan comes from a family of planners. Around Christmas, they start planning the summer vacation. Around breakfast, they start planning for supper. Given that he also comes from a very large family, perhaps this makes sense. Yet, I suspect that they sometimes enjoy the planning more than the actual event. My family never really went anywhere or did very much as a group, so I didn't inherit the planning gene. Ever the optimist, my philosophy is that things will generally work out just fine and, as a result, my plans are usually pretty sketchy.

The calendar (if not the weather) tells me that spring is not so far off and that means I have some planning to do. Fortunately, I have had plenty of time to ruminate over our plans as I have shoveled the snow that has fallen almost daily since mid-January. My neighbors have taken to saying things like, "Happy now?" with a bitter laugh.



Ok, it is true that many of the snowbanks are taller than me and there is a growing sense of watch-what-you-wish-for, but I still get a thrill from the crisp sound of walking on frozen snow and the delicious feeling of coming in from the cold to a warm house and feeling my cheeks burn. Even as I watch our supply of dry wood grow alarmingly low, I still love it. It is a precious time and I feel the clock ticking now louder and louder.

Spring is coming! Spring is coming!

At the end of this very month, I will trade in the snow tires, which I have come to love dearly, for regular tires and head south. First stop will be a conference in Sackville, New Brunswick, called Handmade Assembly. It is a conference on art and DIY culture. I am very excited to be participating - giving a talk about my work and maybe a workshop on April 1st and I will be participating in the roundtable discussion on the opening night. It sounds very fun and you should come if you can. Plus, Sackville is a cool place with a strong art community and, perhaps, the best diner in Atlantic Canada.

From there, it is back to NYC. I have signed up to take Sharath's ashtanga primary series classes the second week of April in New York. Sharath is the grandson of Sri Pattabhi Jois, the guru behind ashtanga yoga and his heir in keeping this yoga practice alive. When I read that he was teaching in New York that week, I knew I had to take advantage of this opportunity. Later, in May, I will have another amazing yogic opportunity to study with T.K.V. Desikachar, the son of Sri Krishnamacharya. I am still pinching myself over that one!

See? Without any deliberate plans, things have taken shape already. But please do not ask what is for supper. I have no idea.