Lack of a clever title shouldn't stop me from posting, right?

Gull 1: "May I buy you a . . .?" Gull 2: "Take a hike."

I've been to the beach. 

It's nice at the beach. There's a lot of movement to keep things interesting. The waves, for instance. They just keep coming. High tide, low tide, early morning, late afternoon, at night when you're finishing your ice cream and getting bitten by mosquitoes and the moon is full––the waves keep doing their thing. (Earth science is not my strong suit.)

Which got me thinking about how people always say "Change is good"––in a motivational slash inspirational way–– and that people who change are seen as energetic and brave and forward-looking, while people who don't change are seen as boring or timid or possibly wasting their lives. And how stretching is really another way of saying "attempting to change," which is all I've been talking about here.

But some things that are good and valuable and inspirational DON'T change. See what I'm saying? Not just the waves, but Peanut Butter Cup ice cream at HCICP, and bagels from Neptune Market and scones from Foodies, and doing a really hard jigsaw puzzle on the round table, and going to the same beach with the same people for 20 years. 

I know. You don't have to point out how it's good to change in some ways and keep things the same in other ways. It's just what I was thinking about at the beach.

Artsy.

I'm ready to part company with Pilates. My monthly membership at Boston Body expires right after Labor Day, and I don't think I'll renew for a fourth month. Awww, I know––sad face––we've come so far together, you and I and Mr. Pilates. 

But it has served its purpose, and the stretching as metaphor will continue. I'll get to that in a minute. And I have a very nice DVD and stretchy-band Reformer to use at home. (Thank you, gift-giver!)

I will look like this, but bigger.

So don't worry, everybody! I'm going to keep walking, and in October I'll go back to the Y, where I had suspended my membership for a few months while I was doing Pilates instead. So, it's all cool. I'll be fine––all tall and bendy and whatnot.

Meanwhile, I've got a new writing project I've set out for myself, to begin imminently. Soon. Monday, probably. It's going to stretch me good. 

I am sorry to be so coy; it's not something I'm ready to get all share-y about, and I'm taking a "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched" approach, as protection. However, as one very astute counselor pointed out, "Being excited about the eggs is OK!"

I am pretty excited about the eggs.

I realize they're all "in one basket." One cliche at a time, please.