Dancing in Cortina

As expected, I put on my worldly hat yesterday to take care of business that had piled up— registration for my summer teaching, dates for Fall workshops, my new book finally printed and the many next steps to get it out into the world, my next Podcast. It was 2:00 in the afternoon before I left the hotel, took off that hat and became again an anonymous two-legged-being wandering through the city on a blessedly sunny day.

This view outside my hotel window offered an enticing hillside and that’s where I started to ascend the road outside of town. Past some boys practicing scoring soccer goals without an adult in sight, past the Austrian-style houses that remind me of Salzburg, soaking in the warmth of the sun and arriving at two inviting benches. There I sat looking back at the view back to my hotel and writing in my journal. Nothing to achieve, nothing to resist, no one to convince, nothing in particular to do but just sit in the fullness of the moment and enjoy the privilege of being a living, moving being. 

 

Then winding back through town, excited about going to the little produce store we discovered last night to get some welcome Happy Hour snacks—cheese, crackers, tomatoes, red pepper, cucumber, mixed nuts. But las, for reasons unclear, it was closed! A little reminder to be open to outcome, but not attached to outcome.

 

Met up with the group and enjoyed the cherries and nuts two of them had bought last night and then began the decision about dinner. If I may mildly complain, most of the group has drunk the Kool Aid of finding everything on their phone and I suggested we simply wander in the town and peek in at different restaurants. They ended up agreeing and we found a lovely place with some choices other than pizza, treated ourselves to gelato and walking back, peeked into the lobby of a 5-star hotel. There was a grand piano there and I started to play some jazz. A hotel employee came over but instead of sternly telling me to stop, had a big smile on his face and started snapping his fingers and then grabbed Pam and they started jitterbug dancing together while I played Jeepers Creepers and gave me a high five at the end. Yeah! That’s the world as I want it to be. 

 

Back on the bikes tomorrow and hoping the rain will not accompany us.