Smithers, BC • July 14, 2011 • Grounded

It's taken two weeks but I was able to acknowledge to myself today that I feel settled. I descended into the black hole of a few days' illness and, now feeling much better, I've emerged into my clean and organized cabin, set up beautifully and with creativity in mind. Having previously felt a certain trepidation about getting rolling in my creative work, I had a joyful little jam today on a few different instruments (berimbau, bodhran, didgeridoo, hand drums) and now I'm excited to proceed. I had a satisfying breakthrough with my very sporadic berimbau playing. I removed the gourd from the original bow and attached it to an easier to play bow. I'm so much more excited to play the instrument now that my fingers don't hurt after five minutes! (For those wondering what the heck a berimbau is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berimbau)

I have agreed to play bass for a local group called Los Gringos for their set at the Kispiox Festival.(http://www.kispiox.com/kvmf/) While it would be very easy (I've had four offers in a week), I really don't want to get busy playing in various projects while I'm here. But I wanted to attend this festival anyway and now I don't have to pay and I'll get to enjoy all the perks of being a performer! So learning a set of Gringos material is on the slab for today and tomorrow. Tonight I'll be improvising some cello, flute and kamel n'goni for a BBQ dinner attended by a few dozen BC judges. Sharon's band had to pull out at the last minute and I have agreed to be their replacement. It's at a lodge not far from where I live.

I come out onto my little deck to have my ears caressed by the symphony of natural sounds. At certain times, hours can go by without a human-made sound. I have begun meditating here, sitting on a blanket I've placed on the giant chopping log facing the mountain. There are several spectacular ranges on my drive from here to town. I've yet to know all their names. Names are useful for conversation, but I've never been very concerned with what humans decide to call natural entities. They just are. They don't need names. Even while feeling sheepish about interfering with Nature in any way, I can't say I'm upset that the poplar stand between my deck and the snowy peaks has been thinned!

The deck also provides a dreamy place for yoga, which I've begun doing about every other day. My body is thankful. For one who generally works out 3-4x/wk and just came out of yoga teacher training, I've had a terrible dearth of exercise in the last month. I joined the local gym yesterday and hope to get there roughly 3x/wk. It's right around the corner from the yoga studio where I plan to bring my fine letters of reference and schmooze the owner to see if she could use someone to cover for her at times. It seems to be a very small operation and I'm doubtful she'd offer me my own class.

I bought a bird feeder and seeds along with a hummingbird feeder. These gorgeous and playful little birds deliver great entertainment. They will come individually and survey me quite closely, dropping or rising to various vantage points, their wings buzzing as they chirp their chipper hellos. They will suck back some sugar and sudden rumbles will often ensue where that bird will chase away a gang of marauders who were coming to check out the scene. They can be surprisingly vicious for such cute and elegant little critters. But more typically they seem to be playing — little buzzing blurry balls that will chase each other right past my face or suddenly draw my eyes up, up, up and away.