Extended Amazing in Albuquerque
I pretty much made another beeline today. My motivation had more grounding in reality today compared to yesterday's gut feeling. Today I knew exactly why I wanted not to dilly-dally. I had an afternoon class to teach in the next state, four to five hours drive away.
I didn't know if I'd hit traffic, road construction, detours, accidents, breakdowns, bad directions, etc. so I always like to give myself lots and lots of extra time when I have a long commute to a class. This meant not stopping much to do Route 66 things.
I got on I-40 and drove west.
I did pull off at one point when I saw a marker on the highway telling me to get off here to follow the route, just as I needed to fill up with gas. So I followed the "Mother Road" through a town the name of which I remember from California. To wit, Santa Rosa. And it was in this town that I learned the nickname for Route 66 that I just used.
I got back on the Interstate and drove through a whole bunch of desert and nothing between Amarillo and Albuquerque.
When I was about 20 miles from my destination, I pulled off the Interstate to again follow the Mother Road for a while. I think the town was called Tijeras. And that was a lot more interesting than the Interstate, of course, but much of the same I've come to expect from whatever street is passing for Route 66. But two things excited the Route 66 nerd in me:
One-- I was able to catch a picture of, and it was this unique signage.
In New Mexico, they refer to it as Old Highway 66. Most other places called it Historic Route 66, except for Missouri which called it Historic Route 66 Byway.
Two-- There were painted Route 66 icons in the street. Again, I wasn't quick or deft enough to capture them safely, but in the process, I did capture this from the shorts I was wearing.
So thanks to no road construction, no traffic, no detours, no bridges out, not even hardly any turns, I made great time to Albuquerque and headed straight for Sway Studio. And also thanks to passing from Central Time Zone to Mountain Time Zone, I had LOTS of time to hang around the shopping complex under the covered parking.
It was hot in Albuquerque, but at 91º a lot cooler than it had been a few days ago when it was well over 100 degrees. It was an open air parking area and it was windy, so it was actually pleasant when in the shade of the shelter.
No one was around, so I put River on his long leash and let him run around. This is (was) a full two story shopping center ever since I've known it, and this is my fourth year back. But this time, Sway Studio and a Celtic Brewpub are the only tenants on the whole bottom floor. And I guess there are only two on the top that aren't vacant. It was so weird. And it's not like they're intentionally running people out of there, because there are For Lease signs on all the windows. But something is up. Anyway, River and I enjoyed having the whole place to ourselves for about an hour until people started showing up for class.
They asked me to do an extended FloorPlay section added to the Amazing routine, so I pulled out some old JAG hits with the FloorPlay songs from Rockin and Goldfinger.
The gang at Sway love to make noise. They're a whoop and hollar crowd, so they really got into the Texas song. They gave me a "YeeHaw" on the turn before I even asked for it. Another example of this phenomenon that Nia is expressing herself through the Amazing routine as it is touched by so many different people.
Before class, one of the students approached me and wanted me to know that she's having hip problems and can't really move but she's doing what she can. I thanked her for taking care of her body. After class she approached me again, teary eyed. She told me she'd been struggling with movement lately, but when I opened my mouth she was dancing. I was so incredibly touched and grateful that she could facilitate that for herself while taking my class. And I wouldn't even have known about it if she didn't tell me.
I am still traveling with the crystal and since May, it has been touched by people filled with post Nia juju all the way across the country and almost back again. Once we do reach the west again, we'll turn it around and continue to gather and transmit head east to loop back again, this time taking the northern route for the second half of the summer, into the fall.
After class some students from class and my producer, Diane, and her husband and two toddlers and River and I went to the Celtic Pub. We sat on the deck and I got a double cheese burger with green chili. Oh my god it was so good. I didn't take a picture of it, but it was also beautiful. The bun wasn't just a bun but an artisan bread roll or something.
River hung out below the table and did really good with one of the husbands and with our waiter, who both happened to already be there when we arrived. But he sounded the alarm when the owner came by our table to thank us for coming by, and he also exploded at my friend Erin's partner joined us at the table, River didn't sit still for that. I have finally gotten River to the point, though, where even an emotional explosion like that can be quickly ameliorated with love. I basically hug him, giving him a little squeeze with my arms as I reassure him that "I see the guy and it's OK and I got this" and then I've started adding "give me a kiss" and he licks my face or bops my face with his nose and that seems to snap him out of it. Then I scratch his neck and praise and thank him and he lies down. It's so much more graceful than what we used to do.
During our Nia class, it rained a little bit and the students were cheering. It smelled good when we got outside afterward and there were still some puddles on the ground. While we ate, some thunder boomed a few times and I saw lightning flash once. River doesn't care about thunder, or lighting. Or fireworks. Or sirens. He doesn't even flinch, but he's terrified of guys patting his head.
Nothing ever really came of that impending storm. I checked into a familiar Motel 6 three minutes from Sway and took River for a walk in the park next door and fed him his dinner on the grass. His itch seems mostly gone.
I didn't know if I'd hit traffic, road construction, detours, accidents, breakdowns, bad directions, etc. so I always like to give myself lots and lots of extra time when I have a long commute to a class. This meant not stopping much to do Route 66 things.
I got on I-40 and drove west.
I did pull off at one point when I saw a marker on the highway telling me to get off here to follow the route, just as I needed to fill up with gas. So I followed the "Mother Road" through a town the name of which I remember from California. To wit, Santa Rosa. And it was in this town that I learned the nickname for Route 66 that I just used.
I got back on the Interstate and drove through a whole bunch of desert and nothing between Amarillo and Albuquerque.
When I was about 20 miles from my destination, I pulled off the Interstate to again follow the Mother Road for a while. I think the town was called Tijeras. And that was a lot more interesting than the Interstate, of course, but much of the same I've come to expect from whatever street is passing for Route 66. But two things excited the Route 66 nerd in me:
One-- I was able to catch a picture of, and it was this unique signage.
Two-- There were painted Route 66 icons in the street. Again, I wasn't quick or deft enough to capture them safely, but in the process, I did capture this from the shorts I was wearing.
So thanks to no road construction, no traffic, no detours, no bridges out, not even hardly any turns, I made great time to Albuquerque and headed straight for Sway Studio. And also thanks to passing from Central Time Zone to Mountain Time Zone, I had LOTS of time to hang around the shopping complex under the covered parking.
It was hot in Albuquerque, but at 91º a lot cooler than it had been a few days ago when it was well over 100 degrees. It was an open air parking area and it was windy, so it was actually pleasant when in the shade of the shelter.
No one was around, so I put River on his long leash and let him run around. This is (was) a full two story shopping center ever since I've known it, and this is my fourth year back. But this time, Sway Studio and a Celtic Brewpub are the only tenants on the whole bottom floor. And I guess there are only two on the top that aren't vacant. It was so weird. And it's not like they're intentionally running people out of there, because there are For Lease signs on all the windows. But something is up. Anyway, River and I enjoyed having the whole place to ourselves for about an hour until people started showing up for class.
They asked me to do an extended FloorPlay section added to the Amazing routine, so I pulled out some old JAG hits with the FloorPlay songs from Rockin and Goldfinger.
The gang at Sway love to make noise. They're a whoop and hollar crowd, so they really got into the Texas song. They gave me a "YeeHaw" on the turn before I even asked for it. Another example of this phenomenon that Nia is expressing herself through the Amazing routine as it is touched by so many different people.
Before class, one of the students approached me and wanted me to know that she's having hip problems and can't really move but she's doing what she can. I thanked her for taking care of her body. After class she approached me again, teary eyed. She told me she'd been struggling with movement lately, but when I opened my mouth she was dancing. I was so incredibly touched and grateful that she could facilitate that for herself while taking my class. And I wouldn't even have known about it if she didn't tell me.
I am still traveling with the crystal and since May, it has been touched by people filled with post Nia juju all the way across the country and almost back again. Once we do reach the west again, we'll turn it around and continue to gather and transmit head east to loop back again, this time taking the northern route for the second half of the summer, into the fall.
After class some students from class and my producer, Diane, and her husband and two toddlers and River and I went to the Celtic Pub. We sat on the deck and I got a double cheese burger with green chili. Oh my god it was so good. I didn't take a picture of it, but it was also beautiful. The bun wasn't just a bun but an artisan bread roll or something.
River hung out below the table and did really good with one of the husbands and with our waiter, who both happened to already be there when we arrived. But he sounded the alarm when the owner came by our table to thank us for coming by, and he also exploded at my friend Erin's partner joined us at the table, River didn't sit still for that. I have finally gotten River to the point, though, where even an emotional explosion like that can be quickly ameliorated with love. I basically hug him, giving him a little squeeze with my arms as I reassure him that "I see the guy and it's OK and I got this" and then I've started adding "give me a kiss" and he licks my face or bops my face with his nose and that seems to snap him out of it. Then I scratch his neck and praise and thank him and he lies down. It's so much more graceful than what we used to do.
During our Nia class, it rained a little bit and the students were cheering. It smelled good when we got outside afterward and there were still some puddles on the ground. While we ate, some thunder boomed a few times and I saw lightning flash once. River doesn't care about thunder, or lighting. Or fireworks. Or sirens. He doesn't even flinch, but he's terrified of guys patting his head.
Nothing ever really came of that impending storm. I checked into a familiar Motel 6 three minutes from Sway and took River for a walk in the park next door and fed him his dinner on the grass. His itch seems mostly gone.
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