Travelin' Light

[http://www.dowethics.com/r/dow_news/feature/2002/10_24_02/images/swingset.jpg]It turns out all I really needed was a barbeque. You see, it has lately come to my attention that I am mildly neurotic in that super-uptight-weirdly-stressed-out-for-no-apparent-reason kind of way. This is an embarrassing affront to the laid-back-super-cool image of myself that I try to sustain within the realm of my imagination. But more importantly, it affects my skeleton. I had a massage on Friday and my therapist suggested that I try yoga. She claimed that extreme muscle tension and bad posture are shifting the very bones within me. She said yoga would help me learn to breathe and relax, two things I found surprisingly difficult under a concentrated attempt.

But I guess I'm just a sounthern girl at heart. After a garbage pile of a Monday, I came home for a smoke before going to my first yoga class. My roommate met me at the door with a smile. "So," she said, "we're having a barbeque at Linden Park tonight. There's going to be beer and wine and sausage." In my mind, I visualized a yoga mat being rolled up and tucked into a closet. Then after a little rummaging, the imaginary hand exracted a bong. And a badminton racket*.

And after an evening spent outdoors with old friends from New Orleans, I have forgotten the uncooperative lady at the water company and Mrs. Grayson's surliness. The night is cool, our moon is bright. It is October in Arkansas and great brown leaves struggle like crabs in tides of shade at the edges of the soccer field. The rich, sooty fragrance of charcoal and chicken rides the breeze to the monkey bars where I'm balanced with a glass of wine. I inhale deeply; I've remembered to breathe.



*In the interest of honesty, I feel compelled to point out that I don't actually have badminton set. I would like to have badminton set someday, because I enjoy both playing the game and having and excuse to overuse the word shuttlecock.