Given San is still on the restricted ankle regimen and wanted to go somewhere, anywhere.. we went to the easiest accessible beach, at Lovers point park in Monterey.
It is a 90 minute drive from here, but totally worth the drive. The weather was perfect there, a good 15 degrees cooler. We parked right next to the park, walked around the park and went down to the beach and got our feet wet..
My photographer is getting better every day!
There is a carpet of pink flowers everywhere, which makes for great pictures!
we had to dry our feet before wearing shoes again.. so we just sat on a bench and watched the waves and seagulls and the incredibly human friendly gophers that were everywhere! they even beg for food on two legs and that was scary to watch!
I also got to climb on the rocks here and there and try yoga poses. Not recommending this to others as it was a risky move.. was in the moment and shocked my wife by trying to do this on top of the rock.. by the time she started to protest in terror, was out of the pose..
Long exposure trick on the waves..
slowly getting the hang of this.. have to go wider as the long exposure adjustment crops the picture!
Some pictures from the park and beach!
and what is a blog post without a short video?
Had a lot of fun in two hours and drove back! Definitely recommend it for a short walk in a scenic setting!
Last weekend I was given a surprisingly low estimate for an afternoon hike to a place called Dry creek.. the name was not a best seller. Was also told it was past Fremont and an hours ride away. No shade and mostly dry hills but with a nice view of the bay.
Was even given an option to bail out of this at first.. San then did what she usually does.. bat her eyelids and make a face about me being sore company and I thought, what the hell! We are going on a Sunday evening so it is not going to be hot by the time we start and we will come down watching the sunset!
It ended up being one of the best hikes in recent memory, thanks to a surprising bloom of yellow and orange flowers everywhere on the first hillside. Then we ended up crossing the place where all the local Afghanis fly kites and run a flea market of sorts from their suitcases... (we had read about it in Khalid Hosseni's book Kite Runner, but got to see it first hand!)
It didn't end there. We managed to go up all the way to the rim, catch a view of the rolling green hills, see all the way to SFO and Oakland and crossed a creek to get to a little lake that was beautiful.
The photo below is my attempt at some artistry, trying to catch a shadow of the four of us walking on the rim of a hill that was cast all the way on the other hill..
Then we walk down watching the sunset, while taking pictures!
Only downside was that the sun was on our face the entire time and my face became a bright orange the next day.. and as luck would have it, made it into the hot room the next day and flushed myself inside out with sweat. The Aloe Vera lotion was no longer required!
a shot of our friends as they came up the hill..
Green never looked this good..the sunset made everything so vibrant!
This was taken at a place called Gossip rock..
kept clicking every 5 minutes as we raced down.. we wanted to get at least close to the parking lot before it got dark. Sunset was 7:30! We had to make it down by 8. Used iPhone flashlights to practically run down the last mile and a half.
and my favorite shot for the evening..
Even for March this was not easy in the heat. We hiked form 5-8 in the evening and were way more tired than any of the previous hikes. So definitely wouldn't go again during the day unless it is in winter and on a cloudy day. The area is pretty barren. So no chance for shade anywhere! We didn't see any kids on the trail either. It was a pretty steep climb that reminded us of the climb to Mission peak.
Breathtaking views of the bay at sunset. On a cloudy day, it would be even more spectacular.
We keep finding these interesting places within an hour from our place, after living here for more than 2 decades! It took a pandemic for us to explore home!
The yoga practice has continued at home for the most part over the last two weeks, even though the studio is open again with limited capacity.
The first few days I was simply not fast enough to get on the waitlist and then given my zen place, decided to do yoga alone at home to recorded classes.
The last few zoom classes my teacher has been trying to give me very precise instructions on one pose.
The balancing stick pose (Tuladandasana) which is a short and sweet pose. . . no I am kidding. We are talking Bikram hot yoga. There is nothing sweet about it. It is a time lapse trip to hell and back in 10 seconds, and that is my PG version.
The idea is to stand on one leg and stretch the hands and legs like you are the rope in a tug of war competition. The number one thing that puts anyone on guard in a hot yoga class is "lock the knee" which sometimes is also refered to as "lock the damn knee" etc. So whenever the teacher mentions locking the knee, or using your inner thighs etc. the brain automatically thinks "standing leg" or the "balancing leg" that is usually unlocked.
Turns out my teacher was talking about the stretching leg. She even told me in two classes back to back "use the inner thighs on the left leg and lift it". I heard it and processed it as "Sarah has got the legs mixed up again. I am standing on my right leg and lifting up my thighs all I can but nothing is moving!"
Then in an act of coincidence, when I was in zombie autopilot mode for a fraction of a second, I let the brain process what had just been heard and accidentally realized that she was indeed talking about my left leg!
She had practically given me a "paint by numbers" type instruction and I had still managed to $#% it up two days in a row!
Funny thing is that the correction made me balance easier and I was not killing my ankles and feet trying to lift from the bottom part of the leg.
The fact that she literally has to beat it into me, on zoom, three days in a row is a testament to the perseverence of the teachers!
Today I was part of a livestream class where you watch the people in the hot room and join the class. The teacher cannot see me on video as they are in the room. Sarah knew I was in the zoom version of the class and she gave me the exact same correction, even though she couldn't see me! This time I was ready and doing it right. Had even practiced it a few times yesterday.
Here is a video showing a before and after.
Normally you take the step everytime you go down but I planted my front foot down in the video for a reason. That way I can superimpose the two versions in photoshop easily..
The other interesting thing is that this concept works well in two of the four poses in the spine strengthening series where you have to lift your leg and push it towards the back!
Some of you might be thinking "hasn't this guy been doing this 2000+ times over 10 years? he must be the worlds dumbest student". Well, I think that sometimes too but then realize that it has nothing to do with the effort or dedication or what type of intelligence you have.
It all has to do with registering certain things. Watching someone end up in a pose just tells you the end result. Which muscles they used to get there is not obvious. They might explain the body mechanics and practially give you very specific instructions but we are inherently biased. We put filters between what we hear and what we actually process in our heads!
I am happy to have realized this. This is not the first time there has been a lightbulb moment and this surely won't be the last.
Just cannot wait for going into the studio and embrace the heat and humidity!
When I am teaching something to my kids, by the third time my voice or body language shows my frustration as a teacher and my kids pick up on it!
A big thanks to my teacher for being soo persistent and patient, even when she could see that I simply was not getting it, days at a time!
