Sunday, May 08, 2005

The message is the massage

I received a call from Alla at 8:59 AM. She wanted to confirm our getting together. My voice had that just woke up fuzziness which Alla immediately detected. "Were you just sleeping? Sorry if I woke you"

Sleepily I reply, "No problem, I was just getting up."

We talk some more and I push back our start time to 11. I reset my cell's alarm and then drift in the ethyr in between sleep and awake trying to recover a dream I hazily remember.

I manage to practice yoga for an hour, organize my laptop and other gear. Then I am on my CBR 900 to meet up with Alla at the house she's sitting. As I reach the apex of a hill I see her, she has a hoola hoop spinning over her head, tight blue sweat pants and a clear smile to match her clear eyes. The place has a gate and a view over Meiners Oaks. The sun shares the sky with dark clouds that are breathing together to try and make some more rain for tomorrow. But on this day, it will not rain and the sun will shine in between the thick bunches of clouds which are mostly hung up on the surrounding mountains.

Before I begin my tai chi lesson, Alla gives me a tour of the house. At her request I spin the hoola hoop around my hips for a minute or 2 and then I balance on a device whose name escapes me now but involves a skateboard deck with a groove that fits onto a cylander type object. The trick is to keep your balance while rolling the deck back and forth.

The lesson begins and it goes well. I first teach standing meditation which basically involves alligning the head, shoulders, hips and feet. Next I teach her one of Dr Hyatt's methods in his awesome book: "Undoing Yourself With Energized Meditation". It's kind of a Kundalini Yoga technique that was quite effective for me. Finally, I end the lesson by teaching the first moving posture in the form I know and have practiced for 9.6 years now.

We're doing an exchange. After the tai chi she gives me an amazing massage. My body's been pleading with me in various nonverbal ways for this kind of attention (as most of you know by now). So then for the next 60 mins I am in heaven. Before I know it my hour's up and we say our good byes. Thank you Alla is all I can say.

This day is unplanned. I decide to ride my 900 to Libby Park to check some drumming after my salad at Farmer and the Cook. The music sounds nice. I listen for a while and then I stop in Rainbow Bridge for some snacks. While staniding outside, talking with John Hemp, Randal, Danny M and Steve Right, Guy and Julia drive by in Guy's big black Toyota Pick up. It turns out that they are heading to a tamale Mother's Day party. They invite me to hop in the truck and go. I end up going there on My CBR.

The party turns out to be super chill-cool. Many old school Ojai folks are present and the tamales are great. I sit outside on a slab of concrete checking the view down to the river with mountains behind it. A hawk glides in the air 30 feet away. It moves slowly, stalling, its head darts from side to side as it scans for prey. A feather moves and it is gone.

The spin of the earth has brought the sun to the horizon and I leave the party with Johnny, Thereasa, Tyler and Michael. We go across the street to Steve's where we soak in the hot tub before ending this day recharged and already talking about this year's Burning Man.