Bamboo Forest

Insanity ensued yesterday once I dropped my son off at daycare, and continued through the day. It has been a stressful week. I had planned to take my son down to the Labyrinth Friday after school, and then walk on the beach some afterward. That didn't work out, but I wish it had.

The labyrinth is a paved pattern at the Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE). Also known as the Edgar Cayce Foundation. I use it as a form of meditation/prayer. Sometimes in yoga you have some "intent" that you dwell on while you move through the poses. The labyrinth is kind of like that. Click HERE to see it.

When he woke up we went to one of our favorite breakfast places, Pocahontas Pancake House. It is a very dreary day, cold, drizzly, and everything is some sort of shade of gray. ARE is across the street from the beach proper, and on a hill, so there was a constant breeze lightly laced with moisture. It is so nice to smell the ocean, though the Atlantic has a different smell than the Pacific. Brandon started first and I started soon after. There is something about doing simple mechanics whilst trying to put things in your universe back into perspective. That is probably why I love hiking so much. I miss the mountains, the Blue Ridge, the Rockies, and the Sierras. I miss Yosemite and wish I lived closer to it. I miss the turquoise and azure waters of the Caribbean. I miss the tide pools, the swell of the Pacific, the sea otters, seals, and sea lions of Monterey. I miss a lot of things and a lot of people, but I'm also happy right now here in Va Beach. I am where I need to be right now and I am looking forward to the adventures that yet await me here. :-)

I have been trying to tell my son that we cannot get really upset just because things don't turn out the way we wanted. Sometimes, if we give it a chance we may find that where we ended up was far better than what we wanted initially. If we get too upset we may lose what we wanted and lose everything else too. All too often are attitude is what makes things bad, not the situation itself. If we cling too tightly to what we have or what we had, we lose the opportunities that are in front of us as well. It has been said that life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it.

After our independent walks, we explored the area there around ARE. :-) There is a reflexology path there for your feet. This is a path of differing stones that you walk on in bare feet (socks or soft soled shoes). The stones will hit various pressure points and should help to relieve stress, toxins, etc. There is a small winding pond with a series of small bridges over it. There are trees around it and a lot of benches. Serene. They also have a bamboo forest. Brandon loved this. I did too. Lots of thick bamboo. Standing very tall, straight, green. Sometimes so close together that they are like a wall. The wind did not make it far into this place. We took turns hiding in bamboo pockets, acting like asian statues or like we were in jail. It seemed that if you stood very still, you almost couldn't be seen. Brandon discovered that some bamboo is rough if you rub up, but smooth if you rub down. The wind made the tops of the stalks bang together like a natural and relaxing wind chime.

We also saw some small rock gardens, but those we just looked at and did not touch.

We thought about heading to the beach, but we were a little cold by this point!

Now Brandon is working on his Element project, and is probably not too happy about picking the largest naturally occurring element that there is. Making 238 dots isn't as much fun as he imagined.

We are also waiting for snow.....

Have a great weekend!!!!

~Mike