Frost

Much frost this morning.  Several people were scraping their windscreens as I passed with the dogs first thing, so I had several fleeting conversations on the theme of ‘Chilly enough for you this morning?’ The grass was grey green and silvered, and crocuses which are just beginning to bristle the lawns in the park showed the worry dark green of frost damage. and yet, it’s a light, winter-bright day today, which, through window panes, is uplifting; everything seems easier, particularly joy.

Yoga practice was particularly pleasing: morning practice with plenty of time – a combination which always bodes exceptionally well.  Once again I was struck by the way I become aware of my body as simultaneously both a whole and separate parts; and of incremental changes in strength and suppleness.  My current preference is for open poses – poses which require balance and strength and which I find hard.  

It's over a year since I last posted on this blog, and reading my last posts, I'm disappointed to find that little seems to have changed. The tooth I chipped whilst grappling with icy pavements last year required attention again this morning. I still crave silence and more time. Surely something has changed? Or does my life just cycle slowly through the year, changing with the seasons (or semesters)?

It is a relief to be writing though. For a while I seemed able only to read. The usual post-semester slump, albeit a slump that that's been a little longer than most. But then last semester was tougher than most and I was more, and more deeply, exhausted. The next stage: to read, write and think.