incognito flamingos

A flat white for me and a short black for my friend.

el fresco coffee

I walked along the usual way to my office today. I found a friend along the way. An ibis accompanied me throughout my walk under the cloisters. I imagine that we looked an odd couple, the ibis and me. He being rather small,  and I somewhat taller.  We walked side by side for some 100 meters or so. It was time enough to offer good morning greetings, but no long enough to exchange life stories. We probably looked as though we were heading off together for an early morning coffee at the el fresco coffee shop attached to my workplace. He left me, without a second thought, as I left the cover of the cloisters. He had his own path to follow…

ibis went to the left and I went to the right

No guilt computing coming to an office near you, shortly. Maybe.

As is want lately the work computer system shut me out again this morning. Our servers are dying and we are waiting on new ones to arrive, so we have been having constant issues. Anyway the system went down and IT got it running again and everyone logged in – except me. I must be on the except to the rule server because this is the first time it has happened. Everyone gets the ok except for me. Of course IT  man had run out the door as soon as he applied the glue and tape to the server. He was long gone by the time I went through the motions of shutting my computer down and restarting it several times, because I knew that is the first thing they always tell you to do when you say your computer isn’t working… I had to track IT man down by mobile and he was already caught in traffic 2 suburbs away. He promises to return immediately to rescue me.

Two and a half hours later, I am embarking on my third newspaper when he arrives, clicks the mouse a couple of times, chants an incantation, sacrifices a chicken and gets me back onto the system. I refuse to feel guilty when I can not work due to IT problems. I arrived on time, I even gave up a coffee date with ibis to make sure I was on time. If the system doesn’t work, not my fault. My entire role is dependent on a computer so I refuse to feel guilt when I can’t do my work. Yeah, I feel guilty.  But next time, next time I swear I wont….

Switching off the auto pilot.

Last night our Mindfulness workshop concentrated on mindful walking. We had to stand and synchronize walking in a circle. Sounds easy doesn’t it? The problem was that there it was a very small room filled with chairs and very little space to walk. We also had to walk in extremely slow motion so that we really centered on the physical sensation of  our own walking process. Naturally I had some issues.

I have a great deal of trouble walking extremely slowly, especially if one leg is off the ground. I tend to wobble. I have even been known to fall over. So, that was one issue for me. The second was that my right ankle clicked very loudly every time it came into play. In the mindful silence of the room, I was extremely mindful of the amount of noise my errant ankle was making. It thundered.   So I wobbled and clicked around the room. Luckily we only did two circuits and they released me from their misery.

I went for a little mindful walk today at lunch. I  told my usual companions that I must walk alone today. I had to concentrate. Walking and breathing is about the most multi tasking I can handle I fear.  I didn’t head for the bridge and crossing of the river as I sometimes do and I walked faster than last night though. I didn’t want anyone to think I was performing some new art house performance piece after all. Or to wobble over and fall into the river. Typhoid is not on my list this weekend!

lake walk

 I tried to concentrate more on my feet and my body sensations than on the people about me or the view.  I failed. I made the mistake of walking around the lake next to the river and there were so many birds, ibis and swamp hens,  ducks, wrens, plovers and all sorts of birds that I have never had an introduction to, that I completely lost the plot and sat down on a bench and watched them play, eat and live for some minutes. So I guess my first effort at mindful walking didn’t go exactly to plan, but then again, I am of the opinion that the bird watching probably reduced my anxiety levels just as much, if not more.  I think it is good to be flexible on whatever path you choose. One never knows what unexpected moment awaits.

lake

water hen

Solitude and reflection are necessary to give to wishes the force of passions, and to enable the imagination to enlarge the object, and make it the most desirable.

Mary Wollstonecraft. “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” ch 4.

Or how flamingo dancers go howling at the moon.

As part of the grandest 50^th birthday celebration of the century, daughters and I are off to sit on the beach and to contemplate absolutely nothing for the next 4 days. Our unit, I have been promised after a series of harassing emails from me,  is absolutely beach front. In fact the information from their site on the web declares that there are no roads to cross to access the 16km of pristine beach . This is a bit of a specialty for Queensland as we normally like to place a 4 lane highway between our multi storey holiday apartment blocks and the beach. We are staying in a nice secluded resort – no multi storeys for us! I intend doing two things, sitting on the deck and watching the ocean, and walking on the beach looking at the ocean. Mindfully walking!  Oh and falling asleep listening to the ocean. So make that three things. Eating. Four. And having a massage and a facial. Five. Reading. Six. That is it! Four days of  female self-indulgence.  Sheer bliss for an introvert such as I.

A bevy of flamingo dancers dancing beneath the moon

So please excuse my silence between now and Tuesday. I am incognito. I am recharging my body and switching off the energiser bunny in my head. I do however advise that you all take a few vitamins while I am away and getting plenty of sleep as I am taking my camera, so you will be subjected to 72 photographs of a wave rolling onto the beach. And maybe one of an artfully posed seagull.