Vinyasa

The Island, Day 1 (written on the road)


Remind me to *never* again waste my money on a low-end rental car company. I didn't save very much money in the end. In the wee hours of the morning, I cycled 45 minutes to a remote north-west corner of the city, where I waited forlornly in a dusty lot, fearing for my life (bad neighbourhood). And I waited. And waited.

And finally, I called the company number, borrowing a phone from a nearby auto garage (the mechanic looked unsurprised, and sympathetic). Another 45 minutes passed before the guy arrived, growling about a worker who didn't show up and resplendent in his ratty t-shirt and cutoffs. He invited me into a dirty, trash-filled trailer to fill out the contract.

The car he offered was a filthy junker: an aging Pontiac Grand Am with squeaky brakes, shaky alignment and a cigarette-burned dashboard. It was the best car on the lot (I dubbed this sad, obviously abused automobile, 'Dirty Harry').

For a mere $4 more per day, I could have rented a new, pristine automobile from my favourite Corporate Rental Company, signed my contract in a bright, clean office, staffed by handsome young university students decked out in cheap, but well-pressed suits. I could have picked up and dropped off the car at a downtown garage, 10 minutes from my apartment.

Live and learn, folks, live and learn.

Due to a variety of delays, we didn't even leave town until close to 11. Part of this was my fault - I was so certain that this whole trip would never happen (I won't get into the Family Drama, but SHEESH!) that I didn't bother to do laundry, pack or shop for groceries. We missed our 2:00 boat, but we phoned ahead and rescheduled for 3:00. By 3:05, dazed and more than a bit gobsmacked, I was gliding across the water in a small powerboat, skimming through an obstacle course of rocky islands in Georgian Bay.

By 4:00, I was swimming in the cool water and by 5:00, I was doing the yoga on a flat rock overlooking Split Rock Bay.

I did a vinyasa practice from Yogadownload.com (Yoga for Runners #1, 60 minutes with Dawnelle). The audio quality is really bad on this recording, but I *love* the sequence. It's destined to become one of my favourites.

I didn't have the visual guide, so I had to puzzle through parts of it. There's one section that's unclear and I ended up completely turned around the other direction (and repeating poses on one side, which I know isn't quite right). I have a feeling there's a cueing error in that flow. But there are no inversions in this practice, so it was perfect for the rock (I wasn't willing to risk a fall here). When I finished, I went for another swim :-)

So, the million dollar question: was it all worth it?

Yes, it was.