Backyard Yoga Upgrade

In Phoenix, I used to do yoga in the back yard, next to the pool, when it was not over 100F in the summer time, get a dose of vitamin D, and try and focus on the pool as a source of tranquility and calm.  The backyard was surrounded by 6 foot high, gray cinder block border fences, and 2 story homes that blocked out the sunset, and kept neighbors from seeing into our backyard.  It was making the most of a not-so-great situation. I'd get to see many hummingbirds, and the occasional road runner or hawk, but there were still the ubiquitous yapping dogs from 4 of the 5 neighbors' lots, the stench of industrial dairy farm feces when the wind blew from the south, the revving of Harley engines or '26 Ford hotrod engines, and the whine of fan jet engines from planes landing from West-to-East into Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport combined with the persistent rooftop pigeon copulations to make it a less than desirable location.

So last weekend, when Dr Desert Flower and I walked down the beach at Salt Creek, just north of Dana Point on the Pacific Ocean, and I spotted a large grassy picnic area about 10 feet elevation above the beach sand, I thought to myself "I want to do yoga there".  The crashing of the waves into the shore, the ocean breeze, seagulls and pelicans and cormorants and spoonbills and egrets (instead of pigeons), seals and otters bobbing in kelp beds off shore (instead of yappin dogs), and a clear view of the sunset not occluded by under-valued neighboring homes made this spot a clearly better choice.

After DDF and I rode the Diamondback mountain bikes that we got each other for Christmas through Aliso Canyon Park in the morning, we headed over to Salt Creek in the afternoon in Celeste witht he top down, and did couples yoga together, on the grassy picnic area over-looking the beach, from 230 to 330pm.  It was a little cool at about 60F - but it IS January, and even Phoenix was colder than that yesterday, and much of the midwest and northeast is blanketed in snow, so I have heard.  The grassy overlook proved to be an excellent location to practice yoga.   I will be re-visiting that location again in the future.

And after dinner we drove up the PCH to Laguna Beach, where we walked along the board walk at sunset - along with people from most of the countries of the United Nations it seemed, tourists visiting the CA beach before the January 6th Orthodox and Latin American tradition Christmas (feast of the 3 kings), then had drinks and appetizers and lobster bisque on the terrace at C'est La Vie as the sun set west of Catalina Island and eventually under-lit the cloud cover in a spectacular dark red-pink-purple .  It was a very enjoyable day.