IF NOT NOW, WHEN?

When we last left our heroine, she was floating down the frozen river on an ice floe, headed straight for the not-so-frozen falls. (Way Down East, not Perils of Pauline.)

Oh wait. That was just me having to drive down the Taconic from Albany today. And it was a lot easier than driving up on Friday night. What a little sunlight will do for you.

Being from California, and a Western girl in my head and heart, I can never get over the wonders of the East. The Berkshires! The Adirondacks! The Hudson River. Trees. Water everywhere! Trees that have leaves that really change color. Farms with cows! Deer hunting! Real colonial houses. Markers for the War for Independence. Honestly, I am still fascinated by almost every country road and apple orchard I see.

So, I did take a longer route, opting not to take the NY State Thruway. This time I managed to navigate over to Route 9 at Renssalear and head down to Hudson. And as I drove I saw lots and lots of cool buildings and monuments. I mean, who wouldn't want to tour Kinderhook and visit Martin Van Buren's home if you happened to be in the neighborhood.

And, even though I had no appointments or actual deadlines, I felt I couldn't stop. I had to keep going.

And I keep thinking "Some other time."

Some other time? "Some other time" I will probably be working and not be able to natter about the countryside contemplating blogging and listening to Aretha Franklin with the fullest measure of my finest OCD attention.

And that brought me to "If not now, when" and how much time we all spend in our bodies being somewhere else, with other people, worried about other things. And there isn't much attention or thought or consideration being paid to NOW.

Just like yoga, before you settle in, and are still thinking about what you have to do after class, why can't you actually get your palms on the floor, why are you such a wreck, how much money IS in my checking acount, etc. Instead of yummmm, that hamstring stretch is delicious. And ohmygod, getting the pressure off my lower back is heaven. And my neck is looser than it has been for weeks. And, I AM SO GLAD I AM HERE.

Um... what was it that Baba Rum Raisin said to us in the 1970s, Be Here Now. Because if not now, when?

(I did not stop to visit Martin van Buren's house, but I did stop at two of my favorite thrift stores outside of Hudson, and at the very excellent JoJo's Pizza, just before you get on the Taconic.)