what a fine day!

today, saurday, is a fine february day. sunny, breezy, currently 76 degrees.

rode over to castle hill fitness for a yoga class this morning. my friend marco schneider has spoken highly of gioconda's healing in yoga class, patterned after murti's class at casa de luz, which is no longer offered. good class, with two spotters to help people adjust postures, for which i am grateful.

we did some flows. worked with a partner assisting. used wall and ropes for hanging down dog, then for inversions. ended with savasana.

i liked gioconda. she read "the invitation" by oriah mountain dreamer at the end and was moved during her reading. i liked that. the class was crowded, though. i was the last person in, and there was not room for another person.

i'm on a venture to check out various saturday yoga classes in austin. i'd like to add a class to the two iyengar/hatha flow classes i do with eleanor harris each week. i've done mostly iyengar since 1998. i appreciate what it's done for me--and there's a lot more out there i'd like to try: anusara, ashtanga, bikram, svaroopa, kripalu, integral, and others.

i found the shoal creek trail at 12th just east of lamar and followed it down to town lake. nice trail, not crowded at all. goes below street level, so it's a fast way to go south,avoiding lamar, avoiding having to cross 6th, 5th, and cesar chavez. it wound through the new condo high rises south of 5th, through the city power plant. nice bike trail. it nearly hooks up to the pease park trail that starts about 12th and lamar.

then i pedaled to bicycle sport shop for a new helmet. mine was 8 years old and not fitting well. donated the old helmet to their bike rental program.

stopped back by the wonderful new coliseum park to watch the fountain. that fountain is so playful, i started laughing out loud! it's plumb goofy. someone had a blast designing its dance.

i've been biking a lot lately. commuted to work via bike 3 days last week. i'm getting used to riding on downtown streets. trinity and san jacinto have well-marked bike lanes for most of their lengths. 4th is an east-west bikeway. once i got a bike map i could ride on bike lanes.

i did decide to wear a helmet on the streets, even though i don't really like to. it's just that riding a bike amidst traffic is a very vulnerable position to be in. i don't plan to have any accidents, but if i cannot avoid one, at least i can minimize any possible injuries by wearing a helmet and gloves.

i'm enjoying the hell out of riding my bike! the interval training of riding up hills is great. i can feel my quadriceps and my cardiovascular system getting stronger each day. i like pushing my breath and heart to work harder for short times. it helps me feel really really good.

watched hannah while lela went to a yoga class at yoga yoga, for which bruce joined her. hannah and i drove lela's car to the barton creek trail off barton hills drive. h climbed rocks and was happy. she's a real nature girl, rarely fearful and comfortable in her body, also comfortable leading.

tonight i'm going to my friend stephanie ruloph's 39th birthday celebration at stubb's to dance to g. love and special sauce. haven't been out dancing in ages!