Books and Ballet

I'm wondering if 2019 should be the year of the books, for me. I want a return to books ... not that I ever left them exactly. But Facebook (yeah, that other not-very-bookish-"book") is not only eating away at my time, it's corroding my peace of mind. I did remove nearly all of the politics in my news feed. But what's so disturbing now is the steady diet of tragic, violent news stories from everywhere. Young mother shot and killed in a parking lot somewhere. Young man killed by horrible one-pill overdose one night somewhere. And on and on. Am I obliged to know all the sorrows of the world and feel for all of it?

That sounds callous, but I don't think any of us was designed to carry all that sorrow at once. On Wednesday, I had to clear my mind of all I was reading on Facebook and snap the computer closed.

I'd like to turn to books. I'm reading about five right now, dipping in and out of them. A Trollope novel I'm not very engaged with. Still Touring Through Europe a bit with Mrs. Shackleton. Knock on a Star has been sitting on my reading table a long time too. Oh, and The Strangers Gaze also. Add to those, two more. I started this little gem yesterday:

It's a children's book written in the 1800s. See Caldecott, the illustrator? Yes, that's the Caldecott, for whom the award it named.
I also found this book today:

My mother loves this book and recommends or lends it to many young mothers she knows. I figured it was time I read it too. I bought each of these books for $1 at the thrift store. 

And ballet, did I say? Hmm. A friend (who is 47) mentioned lately that she's taking up ballet as a beginner, and I thought, "What a brave and wise decision!" Another friend (who's older than I) then mentioned that she watches Ann Smith each morning. Smith is an elderly ballet dancer and instructor who has videos on Amazon Prime. (She also has some on Youtube, but not as nice.) 
Her videos on Prime are so lovely -- Chopin and Beethoven as background music, and she teaches in a large, old room with tall windows. It's so calming. I like it much, much more than yoga, which always hurt my knees and feet. This is all standing, and she explains it well. Gentle, elegant movements. Solid work on the torso and core. Emphasis on breathing. I think I may be able to stick with this.

So I'm going to snap this laptop closed now, and open Bringing Up Bebe, and see what I think. Have a lovely evening, all!

Bright and Early

Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning this summer, at 8:30, you'll find me here:

This is the pool at the Minnesott Beach Country Club. No, we are not members :) However, they offer water aerobics classes to anybody. You just have to be willing to put on a bathing suit at 8:00 AM. That's where I have trouble!

Between ten and twenty ladies gather, slide into the water, make "brrrrr"ing sounds, start jogging, and are enjoying themselves within minutes.

Next to us, the men get an early start on their golfing. While we're panting, huffing, and burning our biceps, they're riding golf carts and smoking the occasional cigar.

When we're done we walk from the pool, and across the parking lot are new condos. Beyond them is the Neuse. We always have  b  i  g  sky, often have billowing clouds in various colors, and commonly have sprinkles of rain. We only leave the pool if there's thunder or lightning.
I've felt a big difference in my strength since doing aerobics here, especially in my legs. Adam's on a diet (as some of you know), and he's lost 30 lbs. now. I'm very proud of him. He walks each day and he's counting every single calorie. Since he's the cook, my food intake has also gone down some, and I've lost about 5 lbs. too, which is nice. One thing will never happen though. I'll never be a morning person, especially when it involves a bathing suit.

Oh ... Pinterest!

I have Pinterest friends who post little sayings like these:

I read them, and just shake my head. Ain't happenin'.
I more identify with these fun ditties:

Pinterest is fun this way. People post SERIOUS stuff, but in the privacy of your own computing, you may giggle at them. For the runners of the world, I'm sure they're meaningful. Runners make one large error: they assume everyone is a runner, or can be. It just ain't so.
My husband (you'd never know this now ...) went to college on a full cross-country scholarship. Yeah, that chubby fellow up there :) He was mighty thin when I met him! He loves to evaluate the strides of runners we see, sweating along the road. Some have beautiful, smooth forward momentum. Some simply pound the pavement -- all the movement is up-and-down. Sometimes we painfully watch runners and we agree, "He would go faster if he walked!" Sometimes we note, "She's running as if her knees hurt." You can tell.

I ran once, for nine months. I got down to a size 6. It was fun for about a week, being that thin. But NO, IT WAS NOT WORTH IT. Not to me :) Swimming? Yay! Biking? Yay! Running? Bleh!

(Now I'm gonna go look for a blog label for this post. I don't have a label called "exercise" or anything close to it. That should tell me something!)