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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Reporting In

Still here in Austin. Working hard. Going to teacher-training classes all day and taking some yoga classes at night and on weekends...when I don't have too much homework.

My husband came this past weekend, I abandoned class thoughts, and we had a great time. We saw the bats (estimated 1.5 million bats in the colony) come out from under Congress Street Bridge--fantastic!

Austin Bats from Daniel and Rose SaltysilkGo on Vimeo.



A friend from class took me to see Mt. Benel and to a wonderful macrobiotic restaurant, Casa de Luz.
Now reading The Bhagavad Gita (re-reading, actually--but the first time was too many years ago in a college class).



Fee brought me 2 new ARCs that came after I left. The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal by Sean Dixon and Hot House Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin. Both of them sound really interesting, but doubt that I'll have time to read them (or the others I brought with me) as by the time I've gotten back to the room, there is still homework or preparation, studying for the exam, and eating and showering, etc.

Just a week and a half left, things are drawing to a close. Leaving will be difficult after the intensity of this experience. Such great teachers and classmates...I'm sad at the prospect of leaving, even if sometimes missing the security of home.

9 comments:

  1. I hadn't realised you were involved with yoga, Jenclare. I discovered it about seven years ago and it wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to say that it saved my sanity. If I miss practice for even a day I know all about it! You must be having a wonderful time.

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  2. Ah, the bats! Very cool and creepy at the same time. We saw a bunch of bats flying around madly in the Omaha zoo not too long ago and it was a marvelous thing to watch while still making a shiver go up my spine.

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  3. I got to see the Austin bats once. They're amazing! Looks like you're having a wonderful time!

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  4. Ah, I must add Casa de Luz to my restaurants to check out. I'm so glad to hear you are having a wonderful experience. I just can't believe I won't get a chance to see you while you are here... well, I guess you'll have to come back to do another yoga retreat :)

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  5. Ann - It is amazing what yoga can do for you, isn't it? Physically, emotionally, spiritually - the changes can be dramatic. So many in our class are going through some difficult periods and are finding so much more here than just teaching the asanas. Thirty days of intense yoga practice and study is providing so much balance. It is a marvelous experience!

    Carl - Yes, the bats are pretty remarkable! I've always had an affinity for bats and love Roethke's line, "For something is amiss or out of place/ When mice with wings can wear a human face." Awesome, and a bit creepy, as you say.

    Amy - How quickly 1.5 million bats can emerge and disperse! They really are amazing! I am having a wonderful time. :)

    Iliana - If you like vegetarian, you really should try Casa de Luz. There is also a yoga and meditation center tucked away inside the gates. It also functions as a kind of community center and has a wonderful ambiance!

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  6. A adore bats and I love your video. That is amazing. I am assuming that lots of different species live under the bridge and not just one? I really must read The Bhagavad Gita too.

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  7. Rhinoa - The bats are all Mexican free tail bats, and it is an awesome sight to see theme emerge from under the bridge and blanket the sky!

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  8. I once saw a colony of bats (albiet a smaller colony) come flying out of an old abandoned building across the street from a park one time in Salisbury, NC. It was completely unexpected and I was so surprised I must have jumped five feet in the air! I don't like bats- they creep me out, although I will watch them on a nature program. I just don't want to be in nature around them, lol. I guess my appreciation for them has a line, lol.

    I read The Bhagavad Gita in college as well. That was my senior year, so in 2005. I did not get into it as much as I have other religious texts but it could also be because I did not understand the culture of the people who wrote it and use it daily. I studied under this very arrogant professor who thought he knew everything about the religion because he studied it in India. Turns out his ego was larger than his knowledge. I will probably pick it up in the future and give it another go.

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  9. I was standing outside with a friend last night looking at a rather enormous spider on a web outside our house when what I'm sure was a small bat when flitting by. I felt like a portal had been opened straight into Halloween!

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