It's Only A Paper Rose

As I mentioned on Wednesday, it's been a pretty physically intense week; in addition to work picking up and getting back into the regular Sculpt swing, Brian and I both got flat bike tires on subsequent nights, so the time I planned to rest after class yesterday were instead spent walking back-and-forth between our house and the bike shop multiple times. (We were a little afraid it'd been vandalism; we'd discovered both flats when our bikes were parked in the same spot outside the yoga studio, around the same time of evening. Fortunately it turns out to just have been bad luck; mine was a pinch flat, probably from the local road construction tearing up the pavement, and in his case he'd run over a piece of broken glass. Chicago streets strike again!) Then in the evening I decided to hit a hot yoga class to unwind my muscles after Wednesday's Sculpt class, so by the time I woke up this morning I was feeling pretty wrecked.

Today, on the other hand, has been pleasantly quiet. It's cold and snowy outside (first snow of the season), but inside we have books, and Netflix, and a fireplace, and a couch with big fuzzy blankets to nap on. It's also, at least for me, been a day for reflecting on disconnections, and mortality, and how best to support people I care for. (Two friends are going through a messy breakup. Another friend may or may not have lung cancer, pending a biopsy. I got an email from Jim Rothfuss' daughter with information about his memorial service, which I actually could make it to - it's in Wisconsin, about a three-hour drive from here. But I'm genuinely not sure if I'd be welcome; the email was sent to everyone in his contact list, I'm unlikely to know anyone else there, and I don't know that 'random person no one else knows showing up to memorial service' is the best plan.) Somewhat entertainingly, Brian and I have date night plans to go see Fun Home, a musical based on Alison Bechdel's "family tragicomic" about growing up in a dysfunctional family that ran a funeral home; it seems an appropriate choice for the general tenor of the day - sometimes life is awful, but we find the opportunities for connection and support and humor and keep on trucking anyway.

I'm debating what to do about piano lessons. I was really looking forward to learning from my friend I'd worked out a trade with - he gave lessons for years, and is a patient teacher as well as an extremely skilled pianist. But we got through exactly one lesson and then his personal life started falling apart, and the last couple of times we've planned to get together he's had to cancel. (We were supposed to have tea today and assess whether this was a week-or-two delay or an "I can't take on another responsibility right now" situation, but given that he had to cancel this as well, I guess I have my answer.) I have another friend who offered to give lessons and would probably be happy to trade, although I don't know offhand what her experience is with teaching or what her schedule is like. I need someone who can be consistent; I do best with some kind of weekly accountability and the structure of a lesson plan, although of course I like to have my own input as well. Possibly the most promising option was suggested by a friend whose landlords are professional music teachers; she lives in the same building with them, says they're cool people, and apparently they're also marathon runners so they'd probably be down for a massage trade, heh. We'll see how it shakes out.