Peru – La Magica Andes

In 2017, I went on a yoga retreat with my studio, Beaches Hot Yoga. Initially, I had no inkling to until my then yoga buddy, Jonelle, suggested it. It was a fantastic week. It was full of yoga, but also a time where new friendships formed and good times were had. And the location was to die for; a retreat that took one hour by boat to get to. Mexican Paradise, also known as Xinalani. Fast forward to February 2019. This year’s trip was Peru. I was not thinking of going until two of the gals from the Mexico trip booked. I thought about it, then looked at the photo of the yoga studio in the Sacred Valley and was sold. It completely surrounded by The Andes. I put down my deposit down that week and then the months went by without me thinking too much of it until a week or so before we left.

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Road Tripping

Featured Pic: Dre and the Goose look towards sunset, Wawa

It’s been way too long since I did a post here. I think I’ve lost the routine I had some years ago when I was posting nearly every week. Since I ended my neighbourhood stories AND have a dog that prefers the same parks to walking the streets, that clearly results in less new material! But, this past Summer, Dre and I did a few road trips that are definitely share-worthy. In 2013, I decided to make Canada my bucket list, versus travelling to other parts of the world. Funny how we seem to leave touring the places/country we grew up in when we’re younger and tend to stay closer to home later on in life. Well, that’s how it was for me anyway.

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Go Raptors!

It’s the day of the 5th game in the NBA Final. I had no interest in basketball until a week ago, but something that ties the city/province/country together like this is worth celebrating. The second most talked about thing after the Raptors? The weather. I was going to say Doug Ford, but let’s keep this civil!

So, on the day of the big game, let’s look back on the weather we’ve seen in the last month. Pretty crazy, unpredictable, wild and a bit scary. As Greta Thunberg says, it’s not climate change, it’s a climate crisis. Without going down that rabbit hole and feeling depressed about the state of Mother Earth, we can at least celebrate some of the beauty these crazy weather patterns are showing us. In Toronto, we haven’t had to endure the wrath of serious floods (except Toronto Island) or fires, or drought. But one thing people are talking about is their sleep patterns being disrupted, yours truly included. The full moon, sun flares, the planet tossing and turning? Who knows. Until then, or hopefully never, let’s do our part to help/save our beautiful planet and ourselves before it’s too late. Enjoy.

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This is for you, Dave

Sometimes you can tell life has thrown you a few curve balls when your friend Dave says ‘Hey, haven’t seen a post for a while’. I saw him at a party last night – our very dear friend Trish’s 60th birthday. He had to leave a little early and when I was driving home much later last night, thought about what he said and realized, ‘Yeah, I haven’t posted recently or done many of my usual ‘routine’ things of late.’

When life is a bit of a routine, it signals things are actually good and nothing has disrupted the status quo. The word routine can signal dull and boring, but I find as I get older, it’s a sign that things are on an even keel, and that’s a not a bad thing.

So yeah, there’s been some disruption to the routine. But every day, I still take my dog, Dre, out for a walk; morning and afternoon and the nightly midnight pee walk to the corner and back. So despite the curve balls, some things MUST remain the same. And she is one.

And no matter what pops up in life, nothing interrupts me walking Dre and photographing our walks. Some days, that routine can be the only good thing that happens in a day, and one good thing is all we need.

Here are some snapshots of our March walks. The weather in March was much like our lives this past month – all over the map! I think we had Spring for about 4 hours, and the sunrise/wind/rains/snow/crazy skies invited a lot of unexpected joy into what has been a challenging month. Hail to the furry friends who keep us on our path. Enjoy!

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