Favorite Things

Per Mrs. G. of Derfwad Manor, today is Favorite Things Friday. I'll post later because I'm off to one of my favorite things: a Watsu session!


This is the pool where I go for Watsu.
















Watsu is heaven on earth if you like water and human touch. The name is a combination of "water" and "shiatsu" massage, so Watsu is massage done in a warm water pool. The therapist uses floats (various sizes, depending on size and body composition. My feet sink, my midsection does not, so I wear floats just below my knees) to get you to a pretty neutral balance. Then they swirl you around in the water and listen to signals from your body on what needs to be stretched or moved. It's great for releasing physical knots and often some emotional or physical ones, too. The water is warm. Today we had the pool at 97 degrees because I had said I thought I probably needed more of a stretching session. Sometimes I start moving a lot both face above the water and face below -- your therapist is prepared for this and makes sure you get your head above water when you need to breathe.

In some ways Watsu is more intimate than massage because the therapist may need to hold you close to her body in order to be able to stretch you without you floating away.

Watsu just lets me let go of a lot of the (self-imposed) tension I feel daily. I set the way the session runs -- if I want to be quiet and relax, great. If I want to thrash about and pretend I'm a dolphin leaping out of the water and back under, great. I love, love, love it!


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I also love knitting. My mom tried numerous unsuccessful times to teach me while I was growing up, but a woman I worked with shortly after grad school was the one who finally taught me. My first project was a Lopi sweater similar to this:





They're easier than they look because they are knit in the round so you don't have to purl much. Also, traditional ones never have more than 2 colors per round, so keeping other colors from peeking through is easier.











My current project is this:


This will be my first experience felting something. Okay, my first time deliberately felting something. I have the first one knit up, except for the cuff. I have to knit the second one and see how much yarn I have left before I can figure out what color the cuffs will be, or even if they will be the same color. The felting idea is scary. It feels, now before the deed, like I will be deliberately ruining something because of decades of trying to avoid felting my sweaters into too-small, semi-rigid blocks of wool. On the other hand, it's something I haven't tried, so it's exciting, too!





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Stumptown coffee. Go see, order some for yourself.

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I love and need natural light indoors. I live in a 50-year old house because it had more windows and fewer CC&Rs than comparably priced current houses. And it has a basement! And only one bathroom to clean! In my last cube-factory job I bullied my way into a cube by the windows by informing my officemates: "I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. You want me to have the seat by the window!"

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Four books (of many) I love:





Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape

Isn't the title awesome for a work of nonfiction? I love Barry Lopez's writing.




Bones Would Rain From the Sky by Suzanne Clothier. I told one of my sisters if she wanted to understand what I want my relationship with my dogs to be, she should read this book. I don't think she's read it, but I have, many times. When I grow up I want to be Suzanne. Failing that, I want the bed next to hers at the "Home for Little Old Dog Ladies" when we're retired.






Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. A mystical story of New York City in the early 20th century. What can I say, other than one of the main characters is a (non-talking) horse?












King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett. I love Dorothy's work and am sorry there will be no more of it. This is a fictional account of the life of the real MacBeth and a touching love story.