The Awkward Pose

It’s My Party – Come Any Way You LIke

Posted on 06/02/2014 by paulefallon

Longstanding social customs allow hosts to recommend appropriate dress for an occasion: casual for garden parties; business attire for cocktail events; black tie for society weddings. Announcing parameters around dress enable the host to establish a tone. If you arrive at an evening wedding in blue jeans you deserve the persnickety frowns and Garth Brooks renegade lyrics that might be tossed in your direction.

A recent article, “Black Tie? How About Black Mouse Ears?”, describes the increasing specificity of social dress guidelines. The article leads with LeslieAnn Dunn’s wedding request for guests to wear “summer black and white with a splash of yellow.” One guest, who showed up in a cherry red dress, felt so out of place that she made a pit stop on the way to the reception and bought a black and white number to fit with the rest of the party. Mrs. Dunn said, “Now, that’s what I call a friend.” Making someone I care about so uncomfortable they feel compelled to do a quick shop and change is not my idea of friendship.

04VowsSide-1398960993794-articleLarge Since when did guests become the props of their host’s fantasies?

I am a big fan of creative dress – on other people. I marvel at the outrageous outfits women, and some men, don at Artist for Humanity’s Greatest Party on Earth. I appreciate the fun these folks have in dressing up and how it lights up the atmosphere, although not so much that I waver from my penchant for jeans and black turtlenecks. When I danced in Le Grand Continental, there was no dress code for the 100+ street dancers. Most went for colorful garb. Actually, everyone did except for me. Several people mentioned how easy I was to find. With so much colorful creativity spinning across Copley Square, basic black became eye catching. At both of these events the term “creative dress” was the full description of the dress code. The results were varied, eclectic, and fun. Each person got to strut their stuff to whatever degree they chose. Their dress was about them.

But there’s a line between suggesting dress to spice the occasion and dictating to your guests. Asking everyone to wear a hat might be fine for some, too much for others. Asking people to dress in “Lord of the Rings” pageantry turns your guests into extras.

I lean on the old adage, “Play is what we chose to do, work is what we have to do.” When a host’s dress requirements become so arduous they become a chore, the line between play and work has been crossed.

The next time I have a party, dress any way you like, Whether an impromptu brunch or elaborate celebration, you can be sure that I invited you because I want to see you, rather than have you bring my personal fantasy to life.

Posted in Personal | Tagged creative dress, dress codes, formal dress, weddings | 3 Comments

My Chakras / My Asanas

Posted on 05/30/2014 by paulefallon

Specific yoga poses draw from, and contribute to, how the seven chakras exist within each of us. In theory, chakras strength and asana strength correlate. I decided to investigate that in terms of my own practice.

Consider the seven Chakras and their related asanas:

1. Muladhara – Tailbone / earth / basic needs – mountain, chair, tree, sitting cross-legged

2. Swadisthana – Sacrum / water / emotion – seated forward fold, splits, hero, fixed firm

3. Manipura – Belly / fire – ego – twists

4. Anahata – Heart / air / selflessness – camel, bridge, wheel, dancer

5. Vishudda – Throat / ether / communication – shoulder stand, plow, fish

6. Ajna – Third eye / transcendence / intuition– child’s pose, kapalabhadi breathing

7. Sahasrara – Crown of head / soul / unity – twisting poses, headstands

If I organize these according to the strengths of my practice, I would order them as follows:

Steady asana: mountain; chair; tree; sitting cross-legged; seated forward fold; hero; fixed firm; camel; bridge; wheel; dancer; shoulder stand; plow; fish; child’s pose; kapalabhadi breath

Wavering asana: splits; twists; headstands

This implies that my basic needs are met, my emotions are often – not always – steady, and my selflessness, communication, and intuition are sound. Meanwhile, my ego is undeveloped and my soul is still seeking its place in this world. At a first pass, that is a pretty accurate description of the connection between my physical capabilities and mental/emotional condition.

So, are bottled up chakras holding me back from more fully realized poses, or are my physical constraints cramping my poses and restricting my chakras? It’s a chicken and egg thing. It would have been nice if the correlation led to a deeper understanding. But I’m torn. I feel good about energy and poses that align, and frustrated by those that are blocked.

Try it yourself and see where you land.

Posted in Yoga | Tagged asana, chakras, seven chakras, yoga | 1 Comment

ICA’s World of Glass

Posted on 05/27/2014 by paulefallon

There isn’t much in this world as variable in terms of quality and meaning as contemporary art. Some pieces are sublime; others provoke no response at all. I visit Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (free on Thursday evenings) several times a year and for all of their major shows. If the work doesn’t resonate, I can be in and out in half and hour. If it’s profound, the ICA can be a great place to view interesting art.

Last Thursday was the first time I visited the ICA while a major show was being installed. Only half the galleries were open. I figured it would be a short visit. I revisited my favorites from the permanent collection. Nothing much caught my attention until I came to the last gallery and happened upon Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg’s A World of Glass. Everything I love and loathe about contemporary art filled that one gallery, cheek by jowl.

The room is planted black, In the middle are four large black tables littered with fascinating pieces of glass. I thought the artists had raided my grandmother’s sideboard, stolen all of her candy dishes, and absconded with her decanters. Upon closer inspection, each piece was misshapen, sagging, or otherwise imperfect. But the imperfections actually drew me consider each object more intimately. Collectively, the assorted pieces created a dazzling ensemble of frosted and clear glass, distinct shimmers in the black space.

One each of the four walls Claymation style animated videos played in rotation. The glass objects were included the videos, as well as crude animals, coarse people, and acts of violence and sexuality that necessitated a parental advisory outside the gallery door.

I loved the glass pieces. I abhorred the videos. I couldn’t imagine what they had to do with each other. After watching a clay donkey decapitate a clay woman (or something like that) I took a few conscious breaths and realized that I could stand at certain angles and avoid the videos glare. In those spots the glass was amazing. When I allowed the videos to enter into my field of vision, or consciousness, I lost my concentration on the sculptures. Every other person in the gallery was watching the videos. Interest in actual objects is a minority position.

Go see A World of Glass. Just ignore the images on the wall and concentrate on the real things.

Posted in Personal | Tagged A World of Glass, Boston ICA, contemporary art, ICA | 1 Comment

Maslow and the Chakras

Posted on 05/22/2014 by paulefallon

Human nature strives for structure and understanding. In studying the seven chakras, which are thousands of years old, I’m struck by how Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need aligns with this ancient tradition.

First, consider the seven Chakras:

1. Muladhara – Tailbone / earth / smell/ fundamental needs to stay alive 2. Swadisthana – Sacrum / water / taste / emotions, dreams, sexuality 3. Manipura – Belly / fire / sight / ego identity 4. Anahata – Heart / air / touch / selflessness 5. Vishudda – Throat / ether / hearing / communication and truth 6. Ajna – Third eye / transcendence / intuition / higher self 7. Sahasrara – Crown of head / soul / unconditional love / direct link to divine

Now, consider Maslow’s original Hierarchy of Needs (1943):

1. Physiological – air / drink / food / sleep / shelter 2. Safety – security / order / stability / freedom from fear 3. Social – belonging / affection / love 4. Esteem – mastery / independence / status / dominance / self-respect 5. Self-actualization – realizing potential / self-fulfillment / personal growth / peak experiences

There are direct correlations between Muladhara and our physiological needs, Manipura and safety, Anahata and social, Vishudda and esteem, and Ajna with self-actualization. One could argue that Swadisthana and Sahasrara also fit into the ladder but I think they possess less clear correlations, which makes sense given the culture Maslow represents – an early twentieth century discomfort with sensuality at the base end and the Sahasrara notion of an individual unified with the whole as the apex chakra. After all, Maslow was dealing with personal psychology, not spirituality.

Posted in Yoga | Tagged chakras, hierarchy of needs, Maslow, seven chakras | 2 Comments

Le Grand Continental-Boston…in the Rear View Mirror

Posted on 05/20/2014 by paulefallon

Three times this weekend I stood on a blue circle in Copley Square and danced for thirty minutes with 111 other Bostonians in Le Grand Continental. It was an incredible experience in dance and community. Like many other peak experiences, it uncovered unexpected life-lessons:

1. My best dancing is total stillness. Friday night, after torrential downpours, we took our places on the square. We were wet, our steps were splashy, but the energy of the dedicated crowd was infectious. Midway through the show the choreography includes a crossover that results in us lying on the pavement for the subsequent children’s number. My position was smack center; the youngsters gyrate within a foot of my head.

I realized my crossover destination was more than a puddle. It was a pool. The crowd gasped as we fell onto the granite. The water saturated my jeans. It wicked up my shirt through my chest. My socks, my wallet, my stomach, my iPhone, everything drifted in the chilly water. The children began stomping. Water splashed over my every pore.

On cue, we adults began to move; horizontal jitters in the water. Finally, I got up and continued to dance. That night, and at every performance thereafter, people came up and exclaimed at my complete stillness during drenching. No one commented on the 28 minutes when I moved – only the two minutes when I was a soggy corpse.

Dancing in the Water Friday Night

2. Even in celebration, some people cannot be happy. On Saturday, a beautiful spring night with crisp air and full moon, the troupe was enthused about performing, dry, before a capacity crowd. A few minutes before performance, the befeathered woman who was my leaning partner during the Ima section, pulled me aside and said, “Your article offended many in the Hispanic community.” I made a politically correct apology and scanned my memory to figure what I possibly wrote in The Boston Globe that could be offensive.

After an exhilarating show, I got home and reviewed the passage: “There’s a precocious 8-year-old boy, a group of giggly Hispanic girls, an immense black women who moves so smooth she appears weightless, several mother/daughter teams, a preponderance of middle-aged women who, like me, forget our gray hair and gravity’s sag when our feet flow, and a handful of elderly ladies whose frail bodies are long past flexible, but whose steps are firm.”

I feel sorry for any human whose defenses are so tight that the adverb ‘giggly’ causes offense.

3. Everything has a positive spin. By sunny Sunday afternoon, we were all in our groove. For the first half of the show I danced in a line facing the audience. I abandoned the theatrical pretense of the fourth wall. I laughed as I danced and smiled when the audience took my picture. An elderly woman in a wheelchair sat directly in front of me. I danced right up to her, spun around and winked upon my return. She had a great smile of her own. We both enjoyed our flirtation.

I ran into Betty at the after party – she’s the mother of another dancer. I told her how much I appreciated her enthusiasm and admired the bicycle gloves she wore, dressier than mine. Betty demonstrated how they helped her grip her big wheels. Then she said, “You’ve got a great ass, and since I spend so much time at this height,” she gestured to her permanent sitting state, “I am an expert on asses.”

I thanked her for the nicest compliment I’d received in some time and wondered how many other people could find a benefit in being wheelchair bound.

Me on Sunday afternoon (in black T-shirt) – sorry my butt shots.

Posted in Personal | Tagged Celebrity Series, Copley Square, dance, Le Grand Continental, Le Grand Continental Boston, wheelchair | Leave a comment

Another Dancer’s Story from Le Grand Continental

Posted on 05/12/2014 by paulefallon

Thanks to all the people who responded to my article in The Boston Globe and shared their own stories of neophyte dancers with dreams of ballet and Broadway. One of the most inspiring was from Lill, whom I featured in my article, and her chorus line turn at a Big Ten football game 25 years ago in honor of Gene Kelly. Lill gave me permission to share her story:

“One summer, the University of Iowa had an article in the summer newspaper announcing open auditions – with a need for 100 “hoofers” to dance in a tribute to Gene Kelly at the half-time of a football game! Now this was Big 10 Football when the Big 10 really had 10 schools and the stadium seated 67,000 rabid fans! Gene Kelly was going to be at Iowa for a week as Artist in Residence in their Dance Department. I’d taken dance from age 4 to 17 and especially loved tap dancing! I can still do the “time steps”! So I didn’t tell anyone and went to the auditions. They slapped a number on my front and back – and there were hundreds of young folks auditioning – many many from Iowa’s dance department, sitting warming up by stretching in the splits, literally wrapping their legs around their head! Oh well — it would be fun. Similar to LGC we did learn a short routine — but we also, for example, had to do “tap flap turns” across the entire dance floor. I told the young girl in front of me to just reach out her arm at the end so I could grab it because I hadn’t “spotted” turns in years and years! To make a long story short, I got in! I was the oldest person there – and one of the few from the community rather than from the University – remember the prize so to speak was dancing at a Big 10 football game!

“We wore black tights, black ballet slippers and yellow rain slickers – had black and yellow striped umbrellas we actually used in the routine – and if you haven’t guessed it by now, our routine was to Singin’ in the Rain and at the end we actually formed an umbrella formation and Gene Kelly came out and danced with us! Fabulous to meet him! So when I saw the audition notice for LGC, it was my second chance to do something like this.”

I believe there is a performer in all of us. If you have any doubts, come to Le Grand Continental this Friday or Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. or Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in Copley Square. This is a free performance for our community from the folks at Celebrity Series.

Posted in Personal | Tagged Celebrity Series, Copley Square, dance, Gene Kelly, Le Grand Continental, the Boston Globe, University of Iowa | 1 Comment

Learn to Love Something By Doing It

Posted on 05/11/2014 by paulefallon

This essay was originally published in The Arts Fuse, May 11, 2014.

When I auditioned to be a member of the Le Grand Continental-Boston (LGC), Celebrity Series choreographed street dance of local citizens, I expected to meet people beyond my usual sphere, learn cool dance steps, and have fun. In the three months between auditions and our upcoming Copley Square performances May 16, 17, and 18, LGC has exceeded all of those expectations. But my first foray into choreography has also brought an unexpected benefit: a deeper appreciation for dance.

From the first rehearsal I realized that the dancing I enjoy at clubs and weddings is different from dance as an art form. I can apply pressure to my partner’s shoulder to guide him through a jitterbug swing or waltz turn, but coordinating multiple bodies through space to music is logarithmically more complex. Simple gestures aggregate into complex moves, which become challenging sequences. I began by memorizing step A + step B + step C, a sound, though tedious, method of learning. Practice videos with music proved difficult to follow, but I valued the ones with counts. I understood dance as a math problem. Over time, patterns emerged, repetition, then order, and finally, the accents that interrupt order.

I discovered elements of yoga and running embedded in our choreography. Then I found dance in everyday movement; mundane chores like hanging laundry and raking leaves induced motion that evoked dance. As I mastered sequences, I craved further complexity.

I’ve seen Boston Ballet once or twice, but knew little about our city’s other dance offerings. My curiosity led me to Alvin Ailey at the Wang Center as well as spring performances by the Boston Conservatory and local dance troupe Urbanity. After witnessing three performances within a month, I was struck by the physical and emotional wallop dance can offer.

The Boston Conservatory’s Limitless demonstrated the range that aspiring professional dancers must achieve and illustrated aspects of dance I’d never considered. That Mark Morris’ Canonic ¾ Studies could be so funny or Dwight Rhoden’s Fits of Hissy so precisely exhausting. Tommy Nesbitt’s The Past is a Foreign Country explored the trauma of the Kosovo War with an emotional depth that transcended words. Following that with Karole Armitage’s decadent Rave seemed inappropriate on the program page, yet felt exactly right in time and space.

Alvin Ailey presented a pinnacle experience. The visual and emotional impact of the company pulsing in the syncopated gallop of Aszure Barton’s LIFT resonated for days afterward.

Yet Urbanity’s performance spoke most directly to me. Perhaps the cognitive leap between my own abilities and those on stage didn’t seem insurmountable, merely huge. Urbanity offers so many ways to dance: children; adults; seniors; amateurs; professionals, there’s a place for all. The quality of dance was high, but the purpose and dedication that each dancer brought to the stage was even higher.

My exposure to professional dance evoked two questions. First, is there a common thread that ties Urbanity’s high school student Peter Mazurowski and Alvin Ailey veteran Antonio Douthit-Boyd? Second, why has my street dancing in Copley Square triggered this broader exploration?

The commonality I discerned between Limitless, Alvin Ailey, and Urbanity is dance’s ability to tackle thorny issues while maintaining human connection. The dozen dances I witnessed addressed confrontation, love, war, and death. Yet the very nature of dance demands we maintain relationships to one another. Every move by every dancer is tied to every other human on stage. As long as we cling to the tension that binds us, humanity’s potential to triumph remains strong.

Why this seems relevant to me now is a matter any educator or social scientist can explain. When we immerse ourselves in something, anything, we appreciate and respect it more. The Celebrity Series is investing significant time, money, and personal energy to present Le Grand Continental. In exchange 112 people are enjoying an experience that enhances our relationship to an art form. Hopefully, the thousands more who attend will gain fresh perspective on art in general and dance in particular.

Art requires people to perform as well as people to witness. The Wallace Foundation has documented that becoming an art producer, even in my own rudimentary way, increases a person’s appetite to consume it. In the art world, supply and demand grow together. The more art we create, the more we crave art.

In a nation where public funding of the arts continues to decline and there is a measurable disconnect between arts education priorities and funding, we must constantly stir the creative pot of artistic endeavor. Otherwise, artistic initiatives will stagnate.

I hope thousands of people show up to see Le Grand Continental this weekend. Not to see me, but to see how dance can change the way we appreciate our world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alvin Ailey, Celebrity Series, dance, dance education, funding for the arts, Le Grand Continental, The Art Fuse, The Boston Conservatory, Urbanity | Leave a comment

12-Step Program to Turn an Angry Young Man into a Pollyanna

Posted on 05/09/2014 by paulefallon

Forty years ago, while discussing the inequities of our world at a deep night college party – ranting is the more accurate verb – my friend peered over his beer and shook his head. “You are one angry young man.”

My head struck a firm nod in agreement. “Damn straight, I’m angry. And I’m going to do something about it.”

Last week, I came whistling out of the locker room after yoga and my young teacher asked, “Why are you always so upbeat?”

I tossed her a smile and a wink as I headed out the door. “It beats being grumpy.”

Riding home I recalled that college party and wondered how that angry young man turned into this cheerful yogi. I can’t pretend my anger dissipated because the world improved or that I saved even a morsel of it. The world’s the same old mess with a different cast of characters. But I was able to identify specific moments when my anger melted into understanding, compassion, and eventually, joy.

1. Be Like Sissy Hankshaw. “The international situation was desperate as usual” is a recurring phrase of dread that haunts our antiestablishment heroine as she hitchhikes across the middle of this great country in Tom Robbins’ 1976 novel, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. But that reality never dampens Sissy’s adventure. In the 70’s, communication brought every tragedy into every living room. Now tragedy pops up on our iPhones. The world has no more problems than before; they just get more airtime. Be like Sissy and learn to ignore them.

2. Volunteer. The first time you volunteer you think, “I’m going to save others.” Then you realize whatever benefit you produced was meager compared to what you gained yourself. Keep doing it anyway. Volunteer early and often, near and far from home. It’s the quickest way to see the world through another person’s eyes.

3. The Best of All Possible Worlds. In my late twenties I was a member of church social group. One evening we debated Doctor Pangloss’ assertion in Voltaire’s Candide, that this is the best of all possible worlds. I was the sole person in agreement with Voltaire. Humans seek, but we are never satisfied. The setbacks imposed by nature, inhumanity, and satirical authors deserve to be railed against and set right. But they will never stay right, nor would we be content if they did. The best possible world isn’t perfect. It’s this one, where perfection is just out of reach.

4. Sing and Dance. Singing and dancing builds community, empathy, and strength. Not just at weddings and parties, but also at protests and wakes. Singing elevates emotion; dancing releases tension. They make you feel good despite yourself. No one can ever sing and dance too much.

5. Avoid Lawyers. Life is unfair. Once you accept that, everything else can roll easy. Strive to be fair in all of your dealings so you can sleep at night. Relinquish the slights others deliver to you and you will sleep even better. Confound the poor dude who crosses you. Shower him with kindness. That ought to ruin his sleep.

6. Have Children. Studies show that people without children are happier than people with children. This says more about the transitory nature of happiness and the vagaries of statistical studies than it does about the value of children. Children may not make you happy in the moment, but they enhance your connection to humanity and expand your concern for the world. Children allow us to re-experience the world through their eyes. They are the conduit to rescripting our youth as well as contributing to the chain that will continue after we’re gone. They cost a fortune. They can be surly and insolent. But they also provide lasting joy that supersedes mere happiness

7. Cry for Joy. One afternoon, during year two after my divorce, I was working in my attic while Michael Feinstein warbled through Johnny Mandel’s Where Do You Start for the thousandth time. I cried so hard my gut wretched, which was an awesome core workout before core workouts had even been invented. When I finally stopped, long after the song was through, I thought I’d expunged all the tears in me. But I was wrong. Two days later my daughter demonstrated how to push milk out of her nose and I laughed so hard I cried. Since then I’ve never cried in sadness, only in joy.

8. Find your Fitness. I’m a yoga junkie but not a zealot. What works for me doesn’t have to work for you. First World living requires little from our bodies, yet we still have them and they need to be put through their paces. Whether it’s rugby, roller blading, or ring toss, find a way to keep your body moving.

9. Spin, spin, spin. Clouds do not have sliver linings. In fact, clouds have no linings at all. They’re nothing but gas. A few things in this world are utterly evil (Hitler, child slavery, bed bugs) while others are completely pure (babies, full moons, ice cream), but the vast majority of material goods and pronounced opinions are a sprinkling of both. The more you choose to accentuate the positive, the more the positive will flourish.

10. Be obsessed by something nobody cares about. Find something that you love and drill deep. The amount of personal satisfaction is directly proportional to its obscurity. Following stock prices may be your thing, but you’ll get more satisfaction from craving Red Sox trivia and will be truly happy if you’re mesmerized by New England sea grass. A carefully crafted bit of alliteration can keep me giddy for days.

11. Slow Go. Use the slowest form of transport to get from A to B. You will save energy and savor the journey.

12. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. Read Susan Jeffer’s book if you want, but the title says it all. We are all afraid of ourselves, of what we know, and what we don’t know. Acknowledge your fear but don’t let it hold you back. Rise above. Celebrate this messed up place. It could be better in so many ways, yet it is our home and we wouldn’t trade it for… the world.

Posted in Personal | Tagged 12-step program, Angry Young Man, Candide, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Johnny Mandel, Michael Feinstein, Pollyanna, Sissy Hankshaw, Susan Jeffers, the best of all possible worlds, Tom Robbins, Voltaire, Where Do You Start | 3 Comments

In the Zone

Posted on 05/05/2014 by paulefallon

I went into the studio Sunday noon and laid my mat in a favorite place beneath the skylight tight to the front mirror. I like the way the rays highlight my poses. All the better still if the sun steaming in makes me hotter. Though the room was plenty hot and humid. Well past 100 degrees, topping 40% moisture. I was cloaked in sweat before completing my pranyama warm-up.

Next thing I recall with certainty was laying savasana in a shallow pool of my own warm water. An hour passed. My body moved through the 26 Bikram poses and CorePower flows. I breathed regular and hard. At times my mind spun fast. A knotty schedule problem bore down on me during eagle, pressing my thighs and elbows tighter than usual, etching the conflicts of the upcoming week into my brain like a 6H pencil. Other times my mind went blank. How else to explain the hour that evaporated with my sweat?

It wasn’t a stellar class in terms of form – I recall falling out of some balances. But it was intense in focus. The light, the mirror inches from my hands, every other body receding from my perspective. I can’t remember it all, which means it was great yoga.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bikram, CorePower, hot yoga, yoga | Leave a comment

Singing and Riding in the Rain

Posted on 05/01/2014 by paulefallon

One of the hidden pleasures of being a cyclist is singing as I ride. True, it’s possible to sing in my car, but the sound comes back at me instead of adding to the vibration of the universe. I can also sing when I walk, but I move so slow through space others hear me. When I sing out loud I do it for me. I don’t want others to hear and they’re gladly spared my noise. On my bicycle I can send the tune out from me and by the time someone else absorbs the sound, I’ve rolled on.

Bicycle singing inspires wonderful rhythmic alteration. Coming up behind a pedestrian, whose ears I respect, I take whatever note I’m on and extend it into a soft sostenuto. My passerby hears nothing but an eerie bit of breeze.

This year’s long winter and cool spring have done nothing to elevate the soul. I’ve been forced to dig deep into my repertoire to keep spirits high. March, New England’s signature grotesque month, requires I chortle through every upbeat 50’s musical while pedaling against the wind driving down the Charles River. I’ve never met a gale that could overcome Frank Loesser’s I Believe in You. April’s storms can always been humbled by the maxim April Showers bring May Flowers.

But it’s May 1, the temperature is stuck in the forties, the rain is hard, the wind from the northwest. The calendar displays it’s time for Camelot’s Merry Month of May, but there’s nary a sign of May about. I could go depressive with Karen Carpenter’s Rainy Days and Mondays, or emotionally pathological with When You Walk Through a Storm, but I’m, trying to keep things light and spring like in my head, my heart, and my voice.

Got any suggestions?

Forsythia blooms smothered in rain

Posted in Pedaling Principles - Observations on America at Ten Miles Per Hour | Tagged April, April Showers, Camelot, cycling, forsythia, Frank Loesser, I Believe in You, Karen Carpenter, March, May, Merry Month of May, rain, Rainy Days and Mondays, Spring, You'll Never Walk Alone | 6 Comments