The Yoga Retreat Begins

Our yoga retreat has begun. My neighbors flew down yesterday (and avoided a big New England snowstorm). Now 10 of us are living at an Italian villa here in Puerto Rico.

The top floor is our yoga room / balcony. The middle floor is a 3-bedroom condo, which sleeps six. And the bottom floor is a 2-bedroom condo, which sleeps 4.

We had our first yoga class at 9 this morning--a leisurely hour-and-a-half. What a great way to start the day. Actually, one neighbor and i meditated at 7. That's how we started our day.

Meditation. Yoga. Meals with friends. Relaxing in the warmth and grateful for this blessing of neighborly love.

Let Them Go

Yesterday i gave a Master Gardener talk at the library. I was prepared to talk about mulch and groundcovers, but after introductions, in which i asked people to say something about the vision for their garden, the subject turned out to be downsizing the garden. Oh, this is hard.

One friend, Dee, who sold her house and extensive gardens last year, moved to a downtown apartment where her gardening is confined to pots on her balcony.  Dee stopped by and saw my gardens for the first time. Tears came to her eyes. At the same time, her voice-of-reason said, "It takes a small army to maintain all these beautiful gardens." Touché!

That small army used to be me. Now it includes a 10-hour-a-week gardener.

We love our gardens. And then the awareness dawns on us: It's time to let them go.