The Burrow

It was heavenly. Cell phones - off. Messages - not returned. On the schedule - nothing but what felt good to us. Amster and Beautiful Annie and I, no kids, no responsibilities, no worries. Did I say it was heavenly? We were at Canyon Ranch , a plan hatched when I tried to figure out how to thank Beautiful Annie for all the pro bono legal wrangling she and her staff did for GRIN . We are now officially a  501(c)(3) entity, although the story of how this came about will make for another post where I rant about the IRS. The process was, in theory, very simple. In actuality, it was frustrating and time consuming and didn't cost me a dime. Canyon Ranch was the least I could do. Amster and I arrived first, valet parking The Schnozz and changed into our weight lifting attire forty minutes after I picked her up. Why don't the rest of you live here?  Look what's right at my doorstep: cnn.com Amster and I began our friendship as weight lifting buddies.  I had the expertise...

Every journey begins with a single step. Robert Maurer, physician and faculty member at UCLA, told me that I would never look at that saying the same way again.  I listened to him for an hour.  He was right. I had to love a man who acknowledged, right at the beginning, that change is scary.    Apparently, small steps can disarm the brain's fear response.   Once free from fright, the brain is able to create. It was a new concept for me, the notion of moving beyond the fear.  I rarely get past the change is scary  part.  Just ask anyone who's told me that I should write a book.  The look of horror on my face has caused more than one loving friend to step back a pace or two. One of the blessings of lying on Douglas as my hip healed was the opportunity to think without having to act.  There were no expectations of me beyond growing bone.  There was little enough I could do to speed that process along, and there was noth...

My e-cation was a blessed relief from the superpac ads which bombarded our airwaves in the days leading up to our special election on the 12th.  I had hoped for substance; what I got were slogans.  I absented myself from the television except for bits and pieces of the occasional basketball game.  Commercials were muted, but the visuals were still there..... like these two items, following one after the other...with big bold letters linking Ron Barber to Barack Obama and then... with nary a pause... came Cannibal's Girlftriend Speaks/Live at 10. I went back to my novel. ***** I understand why Little Cuter refused to leave the womb, necessitating knives and surgery and many interesting drugs that morning in May.  Watsu , an acquatic massage experience which takes place, at Canyon Ranch, in a domed and decorated space created to provide as relaxing an experience as I have ever known. At first, it was a little up-close-and-personal for me.  My inner-New-Yorke...

This Week at Canyon Ranch said it best.  Last Wednesday, I learned how to coax a hot coal from hand-hewn sticks with this most exciting of outdoors skills.  It really is a true Aha! moment as you connect with the primal thrill of creating fire. No, one of the sticks was not a match. Yes, it would have been just as easy to carry a lighter. But neither a match nor a lighter would have been as much fun.  My face was in a permanent state of grin for the rest of the day.... and the class began at 7am. Yes, I set the alarm on my e-cation.  I set the alarm for 6am, to be precise.  Our room, a fantasy suite with room for a family of 6, was at the top of the property and the lobby meeting place was decidedly downhill.  I was fine, navigating the paths with my hiking poles, as long as I paid attention.  I wanted to be sure that I was fully alert before I ventured forth.  I was the only participant.  I have no idea why anyone w...

TBG and I are back from a week of bliss.  Mel and Enid Zuckerman, founders of Canyon Ranch, treated us to a week of healthy living here in Tucson.  The offer was extended to all of us who were there on January 8th and, eighteen months later, I felt as if I were up to the challenge.  It's a beautiful property - a very big and hilly beautiful property, if the truth be told.  I took my hiking poles and a positive attitude as well as every bit of exercise clothing I owned.  We didn't need anything dressy.  According to Kendal, the lovely lady with the lilting laugh, there were three dining areas; guests are asked not to wear their bathrobes in the main dining room.  Beyond that, it's very relaxed . Relaxed is an understatement.  You have to love a place where the gate keeper tells you to turn right at the shadow... not the stop sign to its right, but the shadow.  From the beginning, we were using a different frame of reference.  It fel...