Day 4 - plus 2, then minus 1

Annual Chair Photo

Dave and I left the house about the same time this morning – me for yoga, him for the walk into town. I had an excellent class, he had an excellent walk, and we met up outside the yoga studio with only a short and very pleasant wait for me. The wind and waves have both kicked up since last evening and it’s a beautiful sunny day at the beach.

When we got back to the house the kids were up, and not long after it was time for them to go to yoga.  I had set up a private lesson for Dave with Christen, and Josh and Jen went to. It gave them a chance to be beginners together and not worry about not knowing what to do. Jen had done yoga with Christen before, and Josh did yoga with Tabor as part of swimming dryland, but Dave had never yoga’d. They all really enjoyed it, and Dave might come to class with me on Friday. I parked in midtown since Josh and I were thinking about beach bikes after lunch, and walked in to town to return my shoes and meet the yogis when they came out. They were pretty blissed out. We went to Pig’n for lunch which seems pretty perfect to me – bliss out, then pig out. Since we had no beer with lunch, we went to Osborne's for ice cream afterwards.

After lunch we decided not to bike. Instead we split up into couples and wandered through town. Dave and I walked back to midtown and on the way stopped at the Greaver gallery, which we’ve passed forever but never gone into. The dad popped out and said, “all the art is done by my family. We’re all working in the back. Call if you need us” and disappeared, which was much nicer than when you’re the only people in a gallery and the salesperson stares at you the whole time. They had many really enjoyable pictures of cats and moons and Cannon Beach scenes.

Before lunch I watched part of a TED talk about Joy, which they defined as a burst of feeling good. It said that certain things – circles, bright colors, an abundance of small objects – make us feel joyful. So while we walked through town I was testing that theory and in my limited testing I would say it’s true. Especially big daisies, which are brightly colored, round, and have a multitude of petals. Check it out in your area.

We all got back to the house at the same time and did our various pursuits. Mine is knitting a shawl.

I hope to be done with it by the time we go on our cruise in 2020. Dave was determined to nap but with the wind it was cold on the deck. He ended up in a down jacket, hand-knit wool hat, and blanket. After a while he gave up and came in. Josh challenged Jen and me to Carcassonne, no farmer version, and proved that he could make it so neither he or I would win.

While we were playing Tabetha and Tristan arrived, so all the kids went down to the beach. Dave practiced recorder and I read “Misty of Chincoteague” and took a shower. What a heartwarming book! We hit Castaways  for dinner and enjoyed ourselves very much. After dinner Josh had to head back to Medford, which is sad. The rest of us played games and looked for Mercury and enjoyed the sunset and the fire in the fireplace.

Here’s a food note: at Castaways, get the special(s). They are reliably a cut above. The flambéed dessert is pure sugar, do not get it.