Oh, What a Relief It Is #SOL

 Today, there is relief from the hot, humid days of summer.  Topping off at 77 degrees, a good 10 to 20 degrees cooler than the last several days, the day allowed me to do some things I avoid when the heat is oppressive, and I found myself sighing in relief.  

I took advantage of every minute of the day even though there were times I wanted to crawl back into bed, and I did not feel guilty about not being outside on such a pleasant day.  It was a perfect day to get things done inside the house.  

Done list:

• Skinny Taste chicken and broccoli casserole
• Laundry
• Cleaning and organizing my writing space 
• Grocery shopping
• Facebook Live class on back-to-school ideas
• Book Love author Zoom
• Grad class work

Tomorrow, it will be warmer, and I will spend the day in the shade by the pool.  The school dreams are back, and school is just around the corner.  This is when I usually feel the need to take advantage of those carefree days outside using the pool to stay cool, but today, I relished the relief of lower temps, a light breeze, and dry air.  

Harmony in Water

I have never been a lover of exercise.  I can usually find a good excuse to not do it.  It’s too hot.  I need to cook dinner.  I’m too tired.  All reasonable reasons to avoid the sweating and pain of exerting my body.

Well, now I find that I crave it.  There is nothing more exhilarating than jumping into the pool for a 42-minute circuit of water aerobics.  Surprisingly, I now would rather do exercises in the pool than cook, nap, or watch television.  

As long as I am in the pool, I can do any of the exercises for two minutes, even jump squats.

I don’t sweat.  Instead, the water keeps me cool and refreshed.  The hotter the weather the better.  My core body temperature stays cool.

Working out in the water saves my joints from pounding and pain.  Instead, I feel wonderful exhaustion overtake my limbs and joints and maybe a bit of cramping, but I can work that out.

Since I am continuously moving to stay afloat or to the next station, I am working all parts of my body without even knowing it.  

I do love the water, and putting a need (exercise) and a want (time in the pool) together makes for an exercise experience that flies by.  42 minutes fly by as I move my body through the glistening water of the pool. 

Hitting Two Birds with One Stone #SOL

It's been a while.  Summer is here, and I am slowly finding my way back to my joys.  I have two writing goals on my list for this summer, writing Slices of Life and poetry.  Today, I am bringing them together.  

Last night, I was honored to be a part of a poetry writing session with Kate Moore, author of Alphapoetica, hosted by the Teach Write Academy.  She took me on a journey through my childhood, and I found so much joy in writing poetry last night.  It had been a while since I got lost in my writing.  

First, we picked an item from Kate's bag of artifacts.  One caught my eye, and it lead me to a memory from elementary school. I wrote two haiku poems.

Mica Mining

On hands and knees, I 
searched for sparkles and then
picked paper-thin sheets

off of rocks scattered
on the ground, mica,
treasures of my youth.

After writing three different poems, she had us do a quilt poem.  This poem required us to pull lines from our three poems to create a new poem.  This one became more of a list poem as I recognized that all of my poems had to do with different times in my life.

Treasures of my youth
a tower of books,
picked paper-thin sheets,
the first and only spirit next to me,
mucking in the ponds
for polliwogs and salamanders.
I crossed the threshold 
to that space
that held many familiar
memories.

It was a wonderful night of poetry with a trip through time for me, and tonight, I can share it as a joyful slice of my life.