Sylvia's Journal

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find (or make?) the time to write. I have slid from every day writing to every other day to letting several days pass. It is not because there was nothing to write about, and more because of the energy that goes into other things. The weekend invasion, the early commute, the long days, the clunky orthopedic boot, the recovering hand – they all seem to conspire against writing, somehow. I hope it is a temporary dip because I do find something in writing that I can’t find elsewhere.

The trip to Washington was followed by a whirlwind weekend with a house full of guests. Sita’s old babysitter from Staten Island trained into South Station about the same time I landed at Logan. I was picked up by a limo while Goldie was picked up by Axel. We drove, unknowingly, in convoy and arrived home at the same time. Sita, Jim and baby Faro arrived a few hours later. Goldie was of course beside herself to see her baby’s baby. Faro was constantly in someone’s arms, smothered in kisses and not the least bothered by all the fuss. He just kept smiling. The next day we had a procession of grandparents and Faro had private time with each of his opa’s and oma’s and grampies and grannies, all 6 of them.

Saturday was also a food fest, as we entertained one set of grandparents at lunch and another during dinner. Except those looking after Faro, everyone got into the kitchen, responsible for dishes, cocktails and what not. The evening meal was an enormous spread of things to put in or on tacos: fish, meat, TVP, pork, vegetables, beans, sauces. One of the gramps had never eaten a taco in his life. He will be disappointed with lesser endowed tables.

Friday night, triggered by the new Ayurveda cookbook we got for Christmas, we tried to determine our doshas, using the checklist from the Ayurveda Institute. It created some hilarity around body or other characteristics that we could only imagine were literal translations from Sanskrit

Sunday everyone left, one by one, and then we left to joining old friends who had come up from Virginia for a funeral. Faro made a cameo appearance and then calm returned.

Monday started a fast and furious workweek that has continued until now, with only night time and a visit to the acupuncturist for total relaxation. Acupuncture is intense, I believe, when you have a treatment only once every few years. The last time was during a Kabul break, also intense.  I can’t convince Axel to go back, exactly because of the intensity he so well remembers; why torture yourself?

It is a good question but I have many good experiences with acupuncture and the discomforts come with the territory and are worth the effort. The focus of attention was of course my troubled extremities. I also learned some things that are quite in line what we learned from our Ayurveda book, such as avoiding ginger for a while and eat more cooling foods. I signed up for 5 sessions and paid for them up front.