A Typical Day in Liminal Space

 Ovidia--every other Tuesday

I'm in an in-between space right now... mostly because the Giro d'Italia is over and I'd been using it to pace myself; my challenge: as long as the boys were riding on live tv I had to be either writing or riding (on my stationary bike with Zwift in front of the tele)... thanks to which I've got the first draft of my September deadline book down.

Now I get to pull the draft apart and figure out what to keep/ chuck out before July, when I'll be working on finishing the next draft during the Tour de France. Yes, I know it sounds crazy but I think it works for me because it makes me very, very aware that there are people out working much harder (and crashing much more painfully) than I am!

And yes, they're riding the Critérium du Dauphiné right now and I'm watching it this year because Chris Froome, one of my heroes, is riding. He's my role model for recovery, coming back from a horrific 2019 crash during a recon ride for that year's Dauphiné. He was in his prime then, with seven Grand Tour wins, and now the man they weren't sure would live/ walk/ ever ride again is back at the Dauphiné. 

Chris Froome is who I think of when my legs hurt or I'm feeling tired and sorry for myself!

I have a re-staging of an old play coming up (opening 9 June) and rehearsals are in progress for a new piece (opening 8 July). But they're both out of my hands now, so I'm just trying to keep to my routine and prep and get in shape to write the next draft during the Tour de France!

And here's a quick photo glimpse of what a typical day in my life looks like now:

 

 We had a lovely rainy morning. I love being woken by rain rather than by an alarm!

A glass of apple cider vinegar (diluted) to get all systems going... 

and coffee and edamame (baby soybeans) for breakfast at the computer while I write my morning pages and do my DuoLingo (Chinese and French) lessons.

then on to yoga. The rain's stopped but it's still pretty wet out,

classes here are mysore style. I'm still not as strong as I once was/ would like to be, so I usually practice only 30 min to an hour.

Sorry, couldn't resist but this is wonderfully sophisticated compared to when I started doing yoga--we used to wash up scooping water out of a dragon pot with a plastic mug!!

Then a five minute walk to my bus stop. This is one of my favourite park paths. 

And Bus 61 is one of my favourite buses because in addition to getting me home from yoga, it also brings me practically to my doorstep from Smith Street (theatre meetings) and Circular Road (PR meetings).

And it's generally half-empty when I'm travelling, so I can spread myself out and get some reading done. Today I had Michael Connelly's 9 Dragons with me. I love how he shows Bosch acknowledging his automatic racial prejudices yet being unable to dismiss them.   

Back home for lunch: leftovers on the left--couscous with black beans, onions and corn in mala mayo and on the right steamed chunks of carrot, broccoli and and cauliflower (frozen in 150g packs and microwaved 2 min) 

And here I am back at the computer, wishing I could be outside but I'm going to be good and finish writing this, then spend a couple of pomos (25 min work sessions) on the next book and some future book ideas. 

With stretch breaks, of course. In the old days that's when I'd take the doglets out to the park--the little park just outside our gate, saving the large park across the road for the end of work walk. But now they're both gone I'll probably stay in and do the laundry and prep dinner instead. It's probably an improvement, but I know how much I'd rather feel an urgent wet nose prod me just in case I didn't hear the timer on the computer go off!

Still, this is a good space and one I'm happy to be in. I hope you're all doing well in your own spaces too!