Yogadad Unmoored

If there was a theme to the weekend, it was "Rain." After the big deluge on Thursday, Friday was a beautiful autumn day. I walked and walked and walked and never saw a chance of rain. I was mildly concerned about Saturday and Sunday because weather.com was forecasting a significant chance of rain. Then the forecast changed on Saturday morning and with clear skies, I felt much better about the upcoming canal cruise. I got Amanda from the airport and after getting her settled, we found some food and spent a little time checking out shops on Elandsstraat in the Jordaan . A bit before 5:00, we meandered over to Cafe Wester where we were to meet our canal tour guide from Those Dam Boat Guys . As promised, Ben was waiting for us at the front door. He checked off our names and as soon as the other 10 passengers arrived, we were off to the boat dock. "Dock" is a rather misleading word, since the boat was tied up along the canal, along with myriad other boats. You certa...

 I spent the day wandering through the city on foot. I started out by heading north to Station Amsterdam Centraal, more commonly known as Centraal. It's the transportation hub for trains and buses coming and in out of Amsterdam as well as start and end points for many routes within the city. Centraal Station was built near the end of the 19th century and has been controversial from the beginning. Geert Maks says in his book about Amsterdam : "Almost all of Amsterdam's own experts and others involved thought this to be a catastrophic plan, 'the most disgusting possible attack on the beauty and glory of the capital'. Nevertheless, the building of the Central Station in front of the open harbour was forced through by the railway department of the Ministry of Transport in The Hague, and the Home Secretary, Thorbecke. Finally, the plan made its way through the Amsterdam municipal council by a narrow majority."* Coming at it on foot from the south as I did, y...

After the pre-flight Tuesday frenzy and jet lagged Wednesday, today started to feel like a real vacation day. I was asleep by 9:30 last night. That last beer at De zotte , a very nice bar with a great selection of Belgian beers, the bar around the corner really did me in. By the time, I got back it was all I could do to brush my teeth and pull the covers back before falling asleep. Except for a brief wake-up around 2:00, I slept through until nearly 10:00. That would be nearly 12 hours of sleep. Wow. But it started me feeling human again. After a shower, coffee, and breakfast, it was about time to start the day. First order of business was getting stocked up on essentials: coffee, cheese, chocolate, beer, and wine. I also picked up some other stuff like shampoo, pasta, tomato sauce, and fresh fruit. Just in case I needed to fill in any gaps of beer, wine, and chocolate. Fortunately I made it to the nearby Albert Heijn and back before the rain started. Albert Heijn is a miniature K...

The clock says it's been almost 24 hours since I wrote my first post but it sure doesn't feel that way. Rather yesterday seemed over into today and now it's all run together into one very, very long day. And it's still dragging on. I understand jet lag will do that to a person. Flights to and from Toronto were all good. We got to Schiphol Airport a bit early this morning but ended up waiting the gate to open up, follwed by a mechanical issue that delayed the cabin door opening so the upshot was we deplaned at just about the time we were supposed to arrive. Then the inevitable queuing for customs, waiting for luggage to arrive, and figuring out how to get the right bus (see previous post about patience) meant that I didn't get to the VRBO apartment until about 12:30, a good two hours after landing. It is unfortunate that flying is so unpleasant but once it's over, things get better fast. Mercifully. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting my bearings in m...

When you're on an overnight flight, it's hard to know when the day begins and when it ends. Did it begin when you wake up or when you get to the airport? Does it end when the flight lands at your final destination or do we go by clock time? I'm pondering. But it probably doesn't matter. Exhaustion is the order of the day, regardless of when you think it begins or ends. Sitting in the gate area waiting for the first leg of my flight to Amsterdam, I think about a couple universal airport experiences. First, patience. Flying seems designed to test the patience of everyone flying away, no matter where they're going or which cabin they're in. Checking in required standing in line for about 20 minutes until staff from the airline showed up at the desk. Then the line moved with some alacrity. Next up: security. I've been fortunate to have "TSA Pre" show up on my boarding passes the last few times I've flown. Still it's a wait to get through th...

When I started thinking about tonight's dinner, I leafed through a few cookbooks and found one that appealed to me in Jacques Pepin's Fast Food My Way . The main course was boneless chicken breasts with a side dish made with corn and peas. I jotted down the ingredients I needed and headed to the market. My first stop was Lansing's new City Market . It opened just after the new year, but the grand opening was held this past weekend. It was a zoo. All of the nearby parking lots were full and the building was claustrophobic. Still I had to get my chicken breasts and this was the place to get high quality meat at reasonable prices. I stopped at Otto's and got the breasts, then went in search of shallots and mushrooms and wondering if I could find frozen corn and peas there. On the way, I got a loaf of fresh bread and figured I'd see what was available at the fish market. One look at the case and I changed my mind about Sunday's dinner. He had the best looking tu...

Mishra, Pankaj. An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World. Picador, 422 p. Part travelogue, part autobiography, and part philosophical meditation, Mishra takes the reader on a spiritual journey into the heart of Buddhism. He wants to know whether Buddhism still speaks to the modern world. After years of wandering around India, visiting towns large and small, and seeking out western adherents as well, Mishra finds that Buddhism indeed is relevant. He finds the philosophy to be internally consistent and intellectually sound. Visiting Buddhist temples in California, he muses about the changes Buddhism has undergone as it becomes westernized. America has a way of transforming everything it touches and eastern religions are no exception. As one who has practiced yoga for many years, I can say it too has been transformed by its encounter with America. Most folks who say they study yoga refer only to the physical postures, with little, if any, awareness that there is a huge body of philoso...