Bare branches and slippery sidewalks

Autumns most fabulous show of color seems to be over. I LOVE the first step, the leaves changing colors. My favorite color palate is definitely the Autumn colors. The rich oranges and reds, Yellows and browns, So nice! The second stage is when the leaves begin to fall, with every breeze it begins to rain dried colorful leaves. Now it is the third phase, the last one. The bare branches. It is quite lovely to see the tree skeletons crooked little fingers reaching for the gray Pacific Northwest sky. Reaching to scrape away the thick gray film that covers the glorious blue. Now as I walk through my town on the sidewalks I can hear the crunching of these discarded leaves below my feet. Kick them around just to hear them rustle against each other. I love this too, the smell of their decay is the scent of autumn. Soon it will be winter and the scent of winter comes in the form of clean crisp frost. Soon it will begin to rain and the leaves will soak up every drop, making the sidewalk slick with their bodies. I will miss Autumn...


Yesterday I went to yoga. It was really nice and I sweated so much. This is the fundamentals class, the easy class. It is such a struggle for me. I have never been an athletic gal. I am on the thin side, people assume I am active because of that, but I am very much the couch potato. I am seeing results though, small results, but results.
*I have said this before, My breathing is deeper now. My first class we were asked to take deep breaths in to a count of 3-4 or more, I was at a two. My breath reached just past my throat. Very shallow. Now I breathe to a count of 5 and my resting normal breath is now in my middle chest. This helps with my anxiety SO much!
*I am able to reach and stretch deeper into certain poses now, not much, but a little tiny bit.
*I have done this twice now, it may seem small, but to me it is quite big. When in plank pose (like a push up) I have never been able to lower myself down slowly without my belly hitting the floor first, and never slowly. Ha! I did it the last two times at Yoga, I went down to the mat somewhat slowly keeping the plank straight! That means my squishy arms have more purpose than holding coffee! I only could do it once in each class though, the second time was much more challenging. BUT! I am keeping hold of the small victories.

After yoga I had the BIGGEST sweet tooth EVER!!! I never crave sweets, but I have had a few sleepless nights and was very tired, and I worked out pretty hard. So my body was screaming for refined sugar deliciousness. When outside of the yoga studio I can see the Donut store, and the cupcake store, down the block is the bakery (cant see it there are buildings in the way.) I decided the donut store would be sold out of what I wanted, and the cupcake frosting is SOOOO sweet that it sometimes gives me a headache. I decided on the bakery. I have been going to this bakery since I was a kid. In high school I would get a grilled cheese and a bakers dozen of cookies for lunch (it is that close to the school). I went in and bought myself a raised donut with chocolate frosting, and a maple bar, oh and two no bake cookies. I ate the chocolate covered donut when I got home with some coffee, SOOOO hit the spot. It was awesome.
Then there was a ring at my doorbell. It was the teenaged niece in hysterics, a friend of hers was stabbed at school and she did not know how he was. She hung out for a few hours and I tried my best to keep her mind off of it until a friend texted her to say he has three stitches and is Okay. Phew! But still! He was STABBED at school! WTF! There are metal detectors, security all over, it is the three large parking lots where kids keep their weapons. In the cars. I have always thought that the kids should be forced to ride the bus, we tax payers pay for those buses to pick up 7 kids to bring to school. We also are the victems of these kids stupid decisions while out on the road. I lived across the street from the school for a while and every single day there would be an accident there on that corner. EVERY day!
sigh.... My point is that, well, I guess I don't have a point. hmmm...
After the girl left I ate the maple bar and started to clean the kitchen for dinner preparations.
That be my day. Today seems much slower.