I finished “Deep Compassion,” my thirtieth story in thirty consecutive weeks and mailed it to Dean early this morning.

At its simplest level, the story is about Yrsa, who wakes  up and must bring her children to school. But Yrsa is a Karhu, a race of intelligent polar bears living in Thule. Morning is the beginning of Arctic spring after hibernation. School is a long trek to the shore. Things happen. Adventure ensues. Magic powers the plot. It ends happily, as a proper Carolyn story should. It was a fun story to write.

My friends know that me finishing and sending it to Dean early Sunday morning is a kind of miracle. Finishing a story whilst traveling is yet another type of miracle. Finishing a story while socializing at the same time is another. So despite the fact that I see no rainbows in Denver this morning, there is a triple rainbow in my heart proclaiming that a great miracle happened here.

Speaking of Denver, yesterday was another jam-packed day of activity.

It started with Lorie’s yoga class: Stretch and Strengthen. I was honestly amazed by it. She is a phenomenal yoga teacher. Any stress that I see within her drops away when the class begins. Her voice is kind, her directions precise, and her asana structure both familiar and innovative. She brings a vast knowledge of physical therapy to the practice, tweaking familiar standbys like trikonasana to reach other parts of the body. Lorie uses PT bands to good effect for strengthening critical musculature. I learned a trick for boat pose from her that I plan to take home. It was not a difficult class for me, which I feared it might be with the word ‘strengthen’ in it. At the end I felt soft, relaxed, and my muscles tired. This combination of Yin yoga and physical therapy is a wonderful approach.

Later on we met up with Paul and Suzanne for a great Indian buffet lunch. There is nothing so wonderful as making contact again with people you like but don’t see enough. The food was good but the company better. Also Sammy brought a party game with questions for the table that structured the conversation in fun ways. Just in case you were wondering what ridiculous pet I might want, an elephant or a hippo tops my list. (Sammy assured me I wouldn’t have to clean the poop.)

This is a long enough post today, so I’m breaking off here without speaking of our discoveries and adventures in my mother’s condo.

May you have a wonderful day, filled with adventures that end happily for all.