Reading and Knitting Up a Storm...

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you're reading a couple of books concurrently and there's just a synchronicity about them? The books dovetail and you find more depth in the one book because you're reading the other. 

Well, that's going on with me. Remember, a blog post or so back, I was reading "The Cloister Walk" and then I said I was reading a book about congregations in conflict? Well - the more I get into each of them, the more parallels I find. It's like Kathleen Norris (Cloister) is helping me walk through the book on conflict. 

That's not something that happens often, and I'm really rather relishing it. Has that ever happened to you? If so, let me know - I want to know if I'm alone in this quirky thing.

Peace Rocks...

So today I planted another peace rock. This one was at Turtle Lake. I went from work today and drove out to the park. I needed a "piece of quiet" (to steal a phrase from Mary Engelbreit) and I sat on the bench, read a little of an old Time magazine and just kind of gazed. Meditated. Enjoyed the sounds of nature, and what the sky was doing. Then my phone beeped. Seems that funnel clouds were going to be developing. But, per the message, "nothing to worry about" --- because they didn't think they'd reach the ground. 

Illinois. August. Tornado season. Yeah. 

Thanks to global warming (or climate change - but I prefer global warming, thanks - it's more accurate), the weather this summer has been, shall we say, ODD. The month of August in Illinois is traditionally the hottest. 

Not this year. We haven't broken 80 degrees all month. That is not normal. As I was sitting on the bench, I remembered that I had the rock, so I grabbed it and stuck it near the bench. It's posted to Kindness Rocks Will County, so I hope someone finds it and then passes it along. 

Anyway, I then decided to take a small stroll around the area. The light was different, that's for sure. Not quite stormy, not quite bright. It was about 75 degrees but humid enough to feel like it was in the higher 80s - at least to me. 

Though my temperature sensor left the building a few years ago, so I have trouble with hot/cold. 

I took a bunch of shots, and I have to fiddle with them a bit. Turtle Lake is a nice place. We really should go back there to ride the trails. It's near a preserve area where part of it is shut off for certain segments of the year because the birds are breeding. Herons, cormorants, the odd pelican -- it's a beautiful spot. 

When we had decent winters, it was a great place for cross-country skis and snow shoes. 

Anyway, I came back home figuring that if funnel clouds were to appear, I should probably not be near water or an open area. I'm a little superstitious that way. 

Knitting Up a Storm...

After doing a couple of chores and waiting for the aforementioned non-existent funnel clouds, I set about putting a few more rows on the sock. 

I seriously thought about bringing out the scarf, or pulling out the sweater, but I want to get these off the needles and move on, so I figured this would be mindless enough so that I could watch TV, stroll around the internet and just kind of zone out. 

Knitting, for me, even with a complex-ish pattern, is meditation. And I figured if I was going to meditate, I may as well get socks out of it. I do a 7" leg, then I'll do the heel flap and finish it off. 

I should really try a new heel. On the next pair, maybe I'll attempt the Sweet Tomato heel. But when I'm doing a plain vanilla sock, I tend to keep it all fairly ... well, plain. I want to get to a point in my sock knitting where I truly can just whip up a pair without too much bother. I'm good with the cast-on, the ribbing, and the leg. Gotta work on the heel, the turn and then the toes. Everything else is pretty much gravy. 

Random Picture...

All I can say is "Thank goodness for yoga!" What, you say, does this picture have to do with yoga?

Well. Let me tell you. 

As I strolled along the bank of Turtle Lake, I was met by a plethora of grasshoppers. Quite a few dragonflies, too. Many of which were mating. 

Well, I'll leave you two alone, ya know... I didn't see a whole lot of different butterflies, which was kind of strange. The area is surrounded by milkweed, thistle, goldenrod, Queen Anne's Lace and any other number of wildflowers and native plants. I kind of thought I'd see at least one Monarch, or maybe a swallowtail. I saw lots of the white "cabbage" butterflies. And then I saw this little fellow. 

He didn't like me following him. But I managed to sneak up on him without casting a shadow (which was the part that freaked him out, I think). That's where the yoga comes in. 

I took a large step forward with my left foot, bending at the knee. I had my right leg behind me, about 4 feet back, with my foot turned out about 45 degrees. My weight was distributed along the legs, with my feet rooting into the ground, with my trunk over my hips. 

As I leaned forward to position the phone where I could take the picture, I laid my left ribs along my left thigh. I had my phone ahead of me and pointed downward toward the little butterfly. I took an inhale, held it, snapped the picture, and then exhaled. I rose up on the next inhale, hopped my feet together and proceeded to clamber back up onto the decking area where some guy was fishing. 

Photo in high lunge... Oh, and did I mention I was totally unprepared. I was wearing Dansko clogs at the time... 

Thank you, yoga training!