Bis

I woke up listening to some of my favorite cold weather sounds: the combination cacophony of the steam heat coming up…the gurgling and hissing along with the pipes clanging, and Doucette the cat purring loudly in my ear. Lately I have taken to directing myself in bed when I wake up in the morning. I am becoming a real Alexander Technique junkie! In my defense…I feel so good…both mentally and physically. Big smile here!

It’s snowy, cold and windy!

So it’s the New Year. Let’s hear it for auspicious, new beginnings. I am shortly going to restart my Alexander Technique teacher training. I will be, again, often walking across West 38th Street to make it over to ATCPD. 

West 38th Street falls within the old Garment District. It’s a jumble of tacky old-fashioned, louche…along with upscale, gentrified. Fascinating place indeed. It is homey. It is captivating. I am charmed by this street. The shops and the energy provoke wonderful memories in me of when I was a kid hanging out in my grandparents’ taylor shop. Very proustien. I kind of love walking along the street, especially in the nice weather when I can photograph to my heart’s content.

Jumble of stuff in a shop

But right now it is winter and it is pretty cold. Ça gèle. I have noticed lately, that when walking in the cold, I don’t crunch down and hunch over like I used to. I used to do this I think to protect myself from the cold…and I am totally susceptible to the cold. I found out that this stuff doesn’t keep me warmer. Not being able to walk around lots for a New Yorker is kind of torture. It’s what we do…as I was so reminded by un ami when he was voicing concern about the state of my knee hampering my ability to scurry around town. So now that my knee is permitting me to walk a lot, and quickly, and it’s cold, well, directing myself to lengthen, widen, un-grip, free up that neck of mine, seem to be in place as I go along. Even in the cold. Well maybe especially in the cold. So I let Monsieur know that all is kind of terrific right now.

Hey, I guess this blog of mine will actually be turning into my Alexander Technique teacher training journal after all! Imagine that!

Gimme a pretzel box