Day 671: Happy

It’s been a week and I’ve been meaning to tell you about so many things: the Bo Selecta bird, which I have never seen, but every day I hear it making a call just like the Bo-Selecta-Michael-Jackson weoo-hooee noise. It makes me smile every time. I like to think of it in a rubber mask.

There are flashy yellow-tailed weaver birds who make some noise or other (I never see them do it) and weave cocoon-like, waspy nests that hang from tall trees. There are the little fat pheasanty things that hang out in crowds and make a raucous, rattly shouting sound.  There was a little red-headed screecher up a tree today and then there are the condors who really do soar, in twos or threes, circling the huge dip of the valley against a backdrop of clouds and tall, green jungle-coated mountains, with occasional white-capped grandfather mountains appearing behind.

There’s a cat that runs sideways - it starts forwards and then its back legs go all aflail out to the side as it keeps running away. I’m sure it’s a terrible affliction and I should be sorry for it but it REALLY makes me laugh. And it’s relentlessly scared of me, so it does it every time I see it. Result!

There’s a pretty, loafy girldog who follows foreigners up here from town. She followed me one day, and then a French couple who were camping. The night after, she scared the life out of me by appearing out of the dark when I went to the toilet. She was approaching all sumbissive, but she’s big and any creature that size coming towards you in the dark when you don’t know what it is gives you a fright.

There are storms where it rains so hard it’s like being underneath a train as it goes over, washing away the electricity for the whole town and days (less than 5 hours later) that are hot like a Magaluf heatwave and give you crispy pork scratching skin if you don’t take precautions.

There are days where not much happens and others where I do a yoga class and five massages (yesterday). That also involved one massage somewhere else. To fit it in, I ran there and ran back, and got to my next one about a minute and a half late. I was impressed and I really enjoyed the exercise.

And because I teach a yoga class every day, I now have a daily practice - sometimes before the class and sometimes just in the class, but my body loves it, and the massage is physical too... more of a tai chi pushing hands kind of exercise than a yogaly thing. My body feels stronger, though, and my arms are starting to have tone from all the talking  to a roomful of people in downward dog.

There’s a fantastic Swiss woman who comes to yoga pretty much every day, and has massages too. She is so willing to laugh, creative and playful and up for anything, including roaring, doing Ghengis Khan yoga moves and doing ugly first date chewing to warm up the jaw (vital for a good yoga class). She delights me.

And to top it off, despite a reliably shoddy internet service up here, I have manage to speak to two of my favourite people over the last 24 hours, though I missed out on a go on both Ruths, which I intend to rectify in the next 24.

So here I am, and I’m content. Do I want to stay here for the rest of my days? Very unlikely. Am I changing the world? Not exactly, unless you count stretching a few backs, releasing a few sets of shoulders, and changing my own world by doing yoga every day, doing work that is filled with ease and nurture and laughing enough to make things worthwhile. But I’m surrounded by beauty and I get to choose what I do and where I am and I am so deeply grateful for that.

And I’d love to be able to show you how beautiful it is here, but the internet (see above) says no to most uploads, so maybe you don’t need to see the mountains, the animals, the clouds or the testicle tree (that’s the one that breaks my heart!). Just know that I am here and I am happy, and that I am bathing in thankfulness for that simple fact, never to be taken for granted.

Love