nefret

Last weekend. It was like the opposite of the feeling of a roller coaster—right when you were terrified the world was going to drop out from under you, it carried you instead, and you felt free.

Well, I almost accomplished this one last week. Almost.

My wonderful boyfriend signed me up for a private lesson (!!!!!!!) with Suhaila as a birthday present. I was SO excited. I have ALWAYS wanted to study with Suhaila—seeing a performance of hers is what made me first get interested in the dance, she’s an amazing dancer who’s done really cool things for the art form, plus I figured with her extensive muscle technique/dance knowledge, she could help me figure out how to dance safely after my back injury. We went to San Francisco for a mini-vacation just for that lesson.

And then…the day before I was scheduled, we got an e-mail. At the last minute, she couldn’t make it.

sigh

On the plus side, I did get to go to two group classes at her studio, which I’m counting as half fulfilling this—she didn’t teach them, but it’s HER studio, right? The class was really good, and cemented my decision to budget so I can sign up for her online classes to help me build my stamina back up.

Someday…

It does help to have a caring, creative and resourceful boyfriend.

When I first decided I needed (yes, needed) to ride an elephant (thanks to a burgeoning interest in the idea of totem animals, ones that we’re drawn to at specific points in time because of the lesson(s) they can teach us), I went on a Google-searching frenzy that led me to believe that this was only possible if I went to Thailand.

So I put this one on hold for a while, finding it useful for small talk on first dates (men find it a cute-yet-cool answer to “name one thing you want to do before you die”).

Fast forward two years. I’d mentioned it to my current boyfriend when we first met (see above paragraph), and never brought it up again. One year later, he plans a trip to Virginia for our anniversary, won’t tell me where we’re going.

I couldn’t guess, but at this point, you can.

It’s like riding a living boulder, a mountain with giant ears that engulf your legs and huge bones you can feel shifting underneath you supporting a back so wide you can barely straddle it. Petting it is a bit like giving a friendly pat to the planet earth. Being up so high, on top of such a huge animal with so much power and size…I’m totally selling my car and getting an elephant.