Post midnight

I like to do my cooking late at night, which is why it is 1 am on Saturday and I am waiting for my cassava cake and oatmeal muffins to cool before I can join H, who is currently sleeping peacefully (with the occasional snortle!) and resting up before the weekend...

I think this week has been pretty productive. I turned in one freelance assignment, did a half day of volunteer work, read a lot. Most importantly, after much hemming and hawing I finally restarted my yoga practice, in the sense of actually attending a class again after a hiatus of about four months. I heard about the yoga studio just a stone's throw from where I do volunteer work on Thursdays, and so right after work on Thursday I went in and paid for a session before I could chicken out.

It was a lovely workout. The old bones are creaky but they didn't shame me too much at class. It was a mixed level class and while I have lost quite a bit of my flexibility muscle memory kicked in and made it possible for me to keep up with the instructions. Also, Bonsor Recreation Centre in Burnaby is so central as it's near Metrotown mall (which gets most of the shopping traffic in this part of town), and it's popular; the place was jammed with people -- I'd say about 70 percent of Asian descent -- that day H and I visited. But the yoga/Pilates studio is in the back of the building and completely quiet and peaceful, with huge windows affording glimpses of tree lined alleys.

As I lay quietly in the final few minutes of the Hatha session the sun started streaming in and warmed my limbs. It was like a benediction. I remembered the views of the Fraser River as H and I were driving past earlier in the day. Clouds, skies, mountains, water. My husband beside me. What a beautiful new life.