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Herold, you didn’t need my monolog last night but I had this one for you.

I grew up in the home town of Vans. Now I find out they are still the trend. In those days Vans were the cheap shoe. We went every year to the corner of Pine and Palm with Mom to accommodate our growing feet. Then they came out with cool fabrics: zig zags, orange, patterns we could not believe, my sister and I.

“Those will never go with anything!”

Mom put the kabosh on any Vans besides black or blue.

I coulda been a trendsetter, mom.

Last Sunday I had a bizarre and harrowing experience. I used to live in a house at the very edge of Shell Creek. There, while gardening and taming the Creek, I heard a snap and saw the whole half of a tree fall straight down like a knife into the mud where always after it looked like a dead tree straight up and bleak as it was, and I could have been under that.

Last Sunday, I walked to the beach on my Carkeek Park (Shell Creek on steroids) walk/hike and coming home I heard firecrackers from the neighborhood. Then I realized it was not firecrackers. I looked for the falling tree to ID my location in relation to it, and witnessed a 30 ft alder fall 10 paces in front of me across the path. It happens very fast. Crack crack snap crack shift snap shift fall whoosh - maybe 1 minute. I climbed over it once I regained composure and a little boy came along with his father going the other way, still wondering if it was bringing any more deadly timber branches and trees with it. I climbed over it and its live branches and got moss and lichen on my pants from its trunk. It was decades old. I left the park still thinking it could have repercussions. So I know life happens fast.

I was never a jock sporto girl in school and I remember it was a rule that you had to go in the shower at least once during the school year. I just never broke a sweat.

So, I took up swimming at a gym about a year ago and thanks to the therapy of a women’s Turkish bath, I thought I’d overcome the fear and trepidation of being naked in the locker room.

The other day I was early on my routine of changing back to street clothes after a swim when I looked up and saw the president of our Board standing next to me.

“Uh, hi D-.” I said. (motions of skimpy towel to get covered) There I was as nature intended. D- cordially insisted on having a civil conversation for several minutes…

(motion,motion) Me: “yes, how about that strategic plan…” (motion,motion)

–

Thoughts Herold gave me later…

Warm ups:

Freeze Tag (via Ahsan)

Passing Focus

Superhero

Timed static walk (4 min.): everyone states 3 things others said