Monday, May 27, 2024

 Monday, May 27, 2024

     When darkness came, so did the sound of that chirping coqui frog sitting in the shrub by my bedroom sliding door.  Several attempts to kill it with baking soda and citric acid have failed. The critter proved to be alive and well to chirp another night. In all fairness, while the sound is piercing, it doesn't last all night long. There are long periods of silence,  at least without coqui sounds. I may resort to cutting back the shrub,  dowsing the branches in a citric acid bath, and throwing the branches into the trash barrel.  These cuttings won't go to Darby. The coqui is sitting in a bougainvillea shrub. She has given strict orders I'm not to deposit anything with thorns at her door. These thorns can pierce a truck tire. One pierced right through my skin to a vein. I bled impressively,

  I set my alarm to 5 am.  When it went off, I was still tired. I tried to hit the off button but hit the snooze. I finally got it to stop.  I assumed the sunlight would wake me. I woke up a couple of times during the night to pee. I was surprised it was still dark.  Despite my sleepy state, I figured out I had set one of the am alarms for tomorrow at p.m. I checked my alarm in the morning. It went off at 10:50 pm.  I went to bed around 10 pm. No wonder I was still tired when the alarm went off. 

   I didn't do my morning yoga in anticipation of the Chi Qigong class on the beach. Only two other people showed up today, both leaders of the Chi Qigong, Clyde and Denise. The repetitive movements of the exercise are relaxing.  The view of the tide pools and the bay at 8 am is soul healing. I go for the view as much as the class.  Today, I could smell the ocean.  This smell bears a faint resemblance to the beautiful sea smell of the Atlantic on the East Coast. I miss that smell as I do the seagulls. Yep, there are no seagulls in Hawaii.

   My computer lagged again. Every half an hour, I have to execute force quit and restart. I wanted to take it into Bailey at Jack Be Click again. There has to be something wrong with the computer itself.  The computer repair shop only opened at 9:30.  The Chi Qigong class was over shortly after 8:30. I set my alarm for a few minutes before 9 and watched the water.  What a treat!

   My first stop was at Bike Works. I discovered yesterday the pepper spray I carried to protect Elsa and me from dog attacks had expired. Someone told me the Bike Works carried it. They didn't. The clerk looked it up online: Target and Walmart carried it.  I had to go to Target anyway for more raspberry jam.  While there, I picked up several cans of lentil soup. I eat at least one can a week.  Who knew I would be a fan of lentil soup?  While Target carried pepper spray, the brand they carried was on recall. Someone said to try Walmart.  I didn't have time. I needed to head over to Jack Be Click for my computer. The shop was locked. Bailey was out for Memorial Day. I headed home to make my appointment with twenty-six-year-old S.  There was no response when I sent the Zoom invitation. Then I saw she had sent me one. She and her family were spending the day at the beach. That was a downer after I rushed home to work with her. I wish people would tell me before the session. Eh. I'm usually home. It usually doesn't make a difference.

   I had a second cancellation later in the day Third grade M was too involved with a basketball tournament to do a session today. I did meet with Adolescent D. I had him continue instructing me where to divide the words into syllables and phonemic units. 

  Lutz commented on my improved walking pace. I didn't feel draggy the whole walk. I think it's because I've returned to abdominal breathing instead of chest breathing. Gokhale recommends 'chest' breathing because she thinks abdominal breathing defeats the rib anchor. If the abdomen is extended with each breath, the rib anchor has to be released.  The rib anchor is core to good posture. I suspect she's right about the rib anchor.   I think the solution is to suck the belly in when inhaling and relax it when exhaling. Sucking it in when inhaling strengthens the rib anchor. It draws the whole abdominal wall up into the solar plexus. I showed it to Lutz. He argued that the abdominal wall should project outward when breathing. All martial arts teachers teach that. So that's why all martial arts teachers have distended abdomens!