Balance With Friends and Family

It was another hot, sunny, muggy morning when I headed out for this week's yoga class. You can tell we're getting close to the end of the summer - the class was full for the first time in weeks. That didn't leave us a lot of room to work on standing poses and inversions. I did pretty good on a variation on the "legs up the wall" that we did last week. I'm not very good at splits, though. I just can't get down that far.

Headed right for the Collingswood Library afterwards. Once again, there wasn't much to do. I organized the DVDs and shelved two books upstairs. Ended up spending an hour paging through coffee table books on movie musicals.

Jody, the sweet older woman I shared a cup of tea with in March, had finally gotten back to me after being busy with work and trips for the past few months. She was going on another trip, but would have time for some more tea with me this afternoon. At least, we could have had more time if I hadn't gotten lost looking for her house! I completely forgot to bring the address with me. Had to go back to the library to get it! It did mean I was late, but we had a nice little chat over cups of herbal tea anyway, mainly about our families and my inability to sit down and start writing. I borrowed a book about writing characters and a book on writing for children.

The Pretzel Factory is down the street from Jody's house. I stopped there for a snack on the way home, since my lunch was going to be late. When I finally got in, I made fruit salad with lime-honey dressing for lunch and finished the Babar set. Of the remaining three episodes, my favorite was "The Phantom," a rather sweet take on Phantom of the Opera set during Babar's stay with Madame in the city. Babar hears a beautiful melody coming from an abandoned music hall. He discovers a former concert pianist who has been forgotten and now refuses to leave the stage where he was once a hit.

I got bored later in the afternoon and decided to go for a swim. I'm glad I did. Uncle Ken just came back from a stay at the hospital. My cousin Samantha, her husband David, and their children Ethan, Matt, and Faith were staying with him while he recovers. Dad and Jodie had an old friend, Gary, over. I swam with Matt and Ethan in the pool, laughing as they chased after a glittering, translucent ball. (I think Ethan won, 19-11 the last I'd heard.) After I got tired of swimming, I went inside to say "hi" to everyone else. Uncle Ken, Dave, Sam, and Faith were watching a special on dinosaurs on Nat Geo Wild; a neighbor came over to chat with them while I was there.

When I got home, I made Italian summer veggies and salmon while finishing Thor. The last of the three Marvel Comics movies that lead up to this year's Avengers is a bit more comic book-ish than Captain America. Cocky Thor, God of Thunder (Chris Helmsforth) is banished from his home Asgarth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) when he starts a war with the Frost Giants. He's hurled to Earth without his powers or his might hammer. He's discovered by a pack of scientists, including the lovely Jane (Natalie Portman) who want to know more about him. They're not the only ones; the government's after him, too, as is his scheming half-brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Thor is determined to prove himself worthy of his beloved hammer and his place in Asgarth, even as he learns about earthly love from Jane...

Strange stuff. Very, very strange. I still liked Captain America better, but this wasn't bad, either. More sweeping than the goofier Iron Man movies, and more comic book-ish than the Captain's slightly gritty World War II tale. Great for mythology nuts, science fiction fans, and those who saw or are planning to see The Avengers, which, like Captain America, this leads up to.