Day 176: Labor Day, Creek Yoga

We did not celebrate Labor Day in the traditional sense - no friends gathering in someone's backyard to grill burgers and drink beer and converse about the Labor movement and it's role in shaping our daily lives and expectations as working people. Come to think of it, I don't think we've ever celebrated Labor Day that way, but now that we can't because of a pandemic, it makes me really want to. Next year, I'm going to plan a party, burn some meat, and talk about Mother Jones. 

I think I can characterize most of the day by saying we putzed around. Taiya and I made an apron and chef hat for Featherly the owl. William got out the magnatiles and built Mouse-sized cars. I folded laundry and did dishes and weeded and threw snacks at short people. 

The highlight of the day was when my new friend Tara and her boyfriend came over for some creek time. We tromped down to the water together, Taiya leading the way, Daisy close on her heels, William on my back after a spill in the driveway where he scraped his knee. We all waded into the cool water, which felt so good on a hot late afternoon. We found a spot that the kids liked playing in (The Ol' Curvo is the name Jeremy and his brother gave that particular length of the creek when they were kids). We adults spread apart on the flat rocks to do some yoga. Tara is the one who led the kids' online cooking class this summer, and she had asked me whether my kids would be interested in yoga classes too, to which I gave a resounding YES. She never was able to get it approved by the school to do it, but it gave me the idea to have her over for Creek Yoga. I've been thinking for years how great a spot it would be to have yoga classes, the flat rocks on either side of the flowing water just begging to have people do shavasana on them. So we gave it a trial run last night, and while we did spend most of our time together just playing in the water, it was nice to end the get-together with some of our favorite poses. 

Jeremy made a dinner of roasted cauliflower, pork steaks, and couscous, and the kids had eaten by the time I was done chatting with Tara so I ate on the porch with Jeremy while he smoked his pipe (those smoking cessation goals have stalled out, though it's still a conversation). It was a peaceful end to a relaxed, putzy day. I had such a fun time talking to a new friend, even if we had to awkwardly space ourselves apart a certain distance, and she kept her mask on most of the time since she works in the school. My vocal chords were actually tired when I was reading the kids their stories at the end of the day.