Big Bolster

Back in February my yoga teacher was really into doing progressive heart opening laying supine on a yoga block. The heart opening felt good, but the block was uncomfortable. We lamented that the yoga studio doesn't have bolsters. Well, I finally bought my own. It is so much more comfortable than laying on a block. It was also nice to prop my legs up on when my knee was hurting. I haven't used it much lately, but I think I'll be doing a lot more yoga soon, seeing as I'll soon be unemployed.

Packing Bailey

I'm really bad about unpacking when I get back from a trip. I only opened my suitcase to get presents out for Ross. Bailey gave everything a good sniff, climbed in, then curled up. She's been using it as her bed this week.

I wish I could take her with me wherever I go, but she'd be miserable.

Road Block

We had to stop at a road block near Marathon, TX on our way to Del Rio. The Big Bend Open Road Race was having qualifying runs. We were told it would only take 20 minutes, but it actually took about 45. My mom and I got out of the car to take pictures of the cacti and the cars. Luckily it wasn't too hot outside--and there was a breeze.
Marfa, TX and Marathon, TX are kind of frou-frou now. They are full of artist galleries and fancy eateries. I don't know why someone would want to go out to the middle of nowhere for that. I must admit I've always wanted to see the Marfa lights. One of these days I'll go check 'em out. I just hope that if I drive out to the middle of nowhere I actually see them. It would suck to go all that way and sit out there in the middle of the night and not see anything.

Texas Blooms

I saw all kinds of blooms as we drove from El Paso to Del Rio last week. I managed to take a couple of photos.

These ocotillo plants were just dry twigs with flowers. These cacti actually grow leaves, but I guess there was only enough water to make flowers.
The prickly pears were also blooming.

We saw some burned out land and smoke on the horizon near Ft. Davis. The wildfires are currently burning over about 664k acres of Texas. That is nearly the size of Rhode Island (777k acres.) They were started by people--welding, tossing cigarettes. It is too sad for me to even think about.

New Billboard

The billboards on my commute are odd. Lots for HIV awareness. This billboard caught my eye on my way in this week. They make that rat look so evil. Oh boy, I just go the rat/her thing. I'm slow.

I don't do animal research. I know they do it in my building. A couple months ago I walked into the lab next to me to ask my office mate something, and there was a mouse laying on the counter, cut open. It was anesthetized. So odd. It doesn't bug me at all. I do love animals, so I just try not to think about all the animals that are part of the research here. This is a great billboard--just the way it is worded. I mean, who would pick an evil rat over a cute girl? Someone evil of course.

This Year's Choco-Matzoh

On Sunday night I made some chocolate matzoh. I really wanted to make sure the sugar was dissolved, so I boiled it for at least 3 minutes. I used brown sugar and when it cooled it was hard and tasted like toffee. I put half the batch into the fridge to cool and today when I headed into the kitchen Highway to the Danger Zone was playing in my head. That stuff is passover crack. It's so hard to stop eating it. I bought more brown sugar and chocolate chips today. I'll probably make another batch this weekend.

Cherry Blossom Yoga

I couldn't resist doing some yoga amongst the cherry blossoms and I had Valerie take the photos.
That's me doing tree in a tree. If I was barefoot I would have been a lot braver.
This is me doing dancer under one of the larger trees near the Jefferson Memorial. Not very impressive. I need to practice.

Cherry Blossoms

Last Sunday I headed down to see the cherry blossoms with Evelyn and the girls. The trees were beautiful and I think we walked about two miles while looking at them all.

Flowers

Outside:

Daffodils, tulips and perfume producing hyacinths.

Dogwood, cherry, names unknown.

Inside:

Her black abaya skims the floor,

but as she walks I see can see the

bright colorful flowers on her skirt.