I live in a beautiful place

Trail in misty woods

It was only last Thursday when I was hiking in the High Country in cool wet weather, enjoying scenes like this one. And yesterday I sweltered in unusually warm and sunny heat here in Bellingham. Even that area pictured above is thirty degrees warmer than it was three days ago! Springtime usually brings us wild swings in weather conditions, but it seems awfully early to me for us to be having temperatures in the 80s (26C). I'm fine with cooler temperatures since I can always add a sweater, but you can only take off so much.

That said, I am so grateful that I live in such a beautiful place as the Pacific Northwest. Even with the heat, it's not oppressive like much of the western United States is experiencing today, since the humidity and dew point stay pretty low. And the weather will change again by midweek, back to our usual temperatures. Some people love the heat, but I'm not one of them.

Last night I had a lucid dream. Or at least one where I remembered it and woke during the night, realizing that I wasn't done with the dream so I went back to it. It involved skydiving, as many of my dreams do. I was attempting a skydive with an attached wing, and I had to hold it tightly in my hand so as not to lose it. When I woke, my hand was still curled around the handle of that imaginary wing. I stayed with the dream until it was successfully completed.

I've recently been interested in lucid dreaming and ordered a couple of books from the library. I'd forgotten about one I requested and was pleased when it showed up ready for me to check out last week. It's called A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming and is fascinating. I don't get to keep it long enough to practice the exercises that are suggested, so I ordered it on Amazon for my Kindle. Now I can read it and practice at my own pace. Last night got me excited about what's possible.

I was also visited last night in my dreams by a departed husband. He lingers around in my consciousness this morning, although I hadn't thought of him in years. It makes me realize that there is a pantheon of lost loved ones who are still alive in my heart, and this whole idea of lucid dreaming might give me a chance to spend some time with them in a manner that is more directed than usually happens in a dream. I've got a lot to learn; I'll keep you informed as to my success with it. I'm just in the second chapter of the book.

Sunday is the only day in my self-imposed schedule that doesn't have exercise built in. The app that comes with my iPhone that shows how many steps I take every day has informed me that even if I stayed in bed all day, I would still be considered highly active for the week, with a daily average of more than 15,000 steps. Sometimes I forget why I am so tired when I fall into bed at the end of the day, but the app reminds me that I have every reason to feel well used and ready for sleep. And now when I sleep, I've got plans for that time, too!

There is no doubt that I am addicted to both exercise and structure. Whenever we have a holiday, as we did last week, it throws off my schedule for days. I kept thinking it was Monday when it was Tuesday. This week everything goes back to normal. And speaking of normal, I was mightily pleased to find that my knee is healed and will not be keeping me from my usual activities. I still carry a brace with me when hiking or walking, but I haven't had to use it and am thinking that I am whole again. Is it because I am fit that I've healed so quickly? Or was it just not that injured? Whatever, I am very happy to be running and hiking again. (I almost put "jumping again" but realize that skydiving is in my past, not my future.)

You would think that an activity that consumed me for a quarter of a century would not fall away as easily as skydiving did for me. Since it has, that tells me it was time. It's been almost exactly a year since I sold my skydiving gear, and I don't miss it at all. It helps to see Lauren, the young woman who bought my gear, on Facebook every now and then keeping the gear well used. It makes me smile every time I see her. It also helps to realize that the many hours I've spent in freefall are still a part of me and tucked away somewhere in the chambers of my mind. I may have found the key that will allow me to fly whenever I want. A lovely aspect about keeping blogs is that I can return to times when I've discussed the same topic before: I wrote this post on my other blog about flying dreams way back in 2010, when I was still an active skydiver.

Some people write in journals, but I write in my blogs and can go back and visit my posts whenever I want. I am especially fond of the search engine that I have on both blogs, because it gives me the ability to sort by topic. Since most of my readers are also bloggers, I wonder how different people use theirs. Am I missing out on some techniques? Sometimes I think I could go back to the beginning of each one and just start reading if I don't have anything else to do. Since I am so fond of schedules, I could just work in some time during the week to do just that.

And I'll be signing up for my third semester of yoga next week, too! Between my volunteer work on Mondays, taking a yoga class on Wednesdays and Fridays, hiking every Thursday, and my usual gym activity four days a week, I'm not sure just where I'd find that time. Oh, yes, I just remembered: during this time of year I've also got my garden to tend to, which doesn't do well if I forget to water it when it's so hot. This is the best time to get out there and water: before the sun reaches it in the morning. That time is fast approaching, so I'd better hop out of bed and get started with my day.

So, on that note, I wish you, my dear readers, a very wonderful week ahead. You are all an essential part of my life and I cherish every one of you. Be well until we meet again next week.