Getting salty in my old age

What a fabulous weekend for my 51st Solar Return. The weather was perfect. The company grand. The food delicious. Friday evening my dear friend, "Boo" ,from work stopped by. We enjoyed a home cooked meal of sausage and garden grown leeks while getting in a long over due catch up. She gifted me with the perfect thing for those Blue Dream moments: jumbo rolling cones and a way to fill 6 at once!

Sat. Morning I was up bright and early ready to hit the pavement. I met my dear friend from high school, Aimee, in Keene. Her presence sets my soul free as if it were drifting on a brisk afternoon mountain breeze scented with sagebrush and pine . How amazing it is to have had this beautiful person in my life for 35 or so years. We met at a place called Float On.

This buisness has 3 sensory deprivation chambers. You enter your pod for an hour and just float... in complete darkness (if you choose) and silence (unless you opt for music). However with ear plugs in the music is faint. It was just enough to keep me present and focused on the experience rather than completely surrendering to it and allowing my mind to float as freely as my physical form. Neither of us had done anything like it and we were both very curious.

The pod is filled with 10 inches of super epsom salt saturated water set at body temperature. The biggest surprise was the slimy nature of the salt water.

Did it make me go crazy? No. If anything it helped with my sanity. It was a more peaceful relaxing experience than getting a massage. The salt is detoxifying and great for pain management. It was better than yoga or a chiropractic appt. The boancy let me stretch naturally and to my surprise, I actually popped my own neck doing nothing but letting the water suport me. I left with a skip in my step and salt in my hair. I was as refreshed as any surf session ever left me but without getting chilled to the bone or coming down from the adrenaline rush or passing out after from the extreme expenditure of energy. I highly recommend the experience.

After that Aimee and I strolled around downtown, visited the farmers market and settled in for a long visit over pad thia.

It was a perfect way to celebrate. But eventually it was time to say our goodbyes. The journey there and back was gorgous. The colors of fall in full display. My eyeful of the rusty folliage was pure pleasure.

I returned home to a wonderful meal made by the hubby (featuring chateaubriand) and then settled in with a movie.

Sunday the fun continued with a little apple picking adventure with Suzanna. She is rather house bound and needed the outing badly. Although apple orchards are not necessarily the best place to be for someone who needs a walker to get around with. Greg ended up gathering up the goods while I listened to the ongoing and repetative tales of her turmoils and troubles. Then we sat and enjoyed the sun and some apple cider with donuts. We lingered as long as possible before needing to get out of the fresh air.

I crashed that night at 6pm. Allergies are exhausting. It wont be long though before things go dormant. We have not had our first frost yet but its looming close with night temps dipping into the mid 30s and the days are ranging around 60. Im looking forward to scheduling in some hiking soon.

51 - Here I Am!