Beach Time is the Best Time!

We are on our third week of hanging at the beach in Siesta Key, FL  We were scheduled to leave on March 1 but decided to add one more week.  We had to change units but the move was easy and we get another week away from the cold weather predicted again for Eastern Tennessee.

While we are here we have met up with Judy and Fred Metz, old high school friends of Mara’s for a nice meal and a walk on the beach. They recently relocated to the area from Washington DC and live in a lovely home on Sarasota Bay.

We have also joined up several times with Joel Gordon and his wife Rabbi Melissa Wenig whom we first met at the Kripalau Wellness Retreat last October. They came down from Cambridge, MA in January and are staying until May. It has been a great opportunity to discuss how Parkinson’s has impacted our lives with another PwP.  One of our outings was to the Venice Rookery, a small island on a small lake in Venice where hundreds of Egrets, Herons and other birds roost at night.  We went at sunset and watched the flocks fly in from where ever and take up residence in the bushes on the island.  This picture gives you an idea but doesn’t do justice to the whole experience.

After the Rookery, we paid a visit to Olaf’s ice cream shop in SiestaKey Village. Yum!

The warm weather has been  great, allowing us to get out more and we have upped our exercise to at least 1.5 hours a day, primarily walking along the beach and doing Tai Chi which we both enjoy, in fact we ordered the next DVD so we can expand our practice.  We have been averaging 4 – 5 miles per day walking on the beach, plus walking to our favorite restaurant, Captain Curt’s, for a spot of their world famous clam chowder for lunch!  I have definitely noticed improvement in my walking and balance with the warm weather and increased exercise.

We also have started doing Yoga using Introduction to Yoga and Meditation, a DVD by one of our instructors from Kripalu, Megha-Nancy Buttenheim.  The meditation instruction is great and the yoga practice is challenging for my stiff limbs 🙂

In between all of the exercising, I’ve found time to complete more of my genetics course, enjoy many a beautiful sunset, catch up on my magazines, read a few books, and enjoy the beach.  We have rented a cabana chair for the week and we spend a few hours each day out on the beach reading, soaking up the Vitamin D and people watching. Oh and I finally found time to complete a blog post!!

We head home Saturday and hope that spring arrives at the same time 🙂

Until next time, I end with one of my favorite quotes by Virginia Satir- “Life is not the way it’s supposed to be.. It’s the way it is.. The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference.”