Tai Chi Inspired Training Day 11, 12 June 30, Canada Day

Tai Chi Inspired Training Day 11, June 30

It's Sunday and my usual rest day. For something different, Dennis and I volunteered at Eden North Skydiving for their provincial championships. Gorgeous day for the event. That was the first time I have seen skydiving live at the jump zone and I was surprised at how these people scream in for a landing and then so elegantly land. Plus the sound surprised me, something you don't hear on TV. My impression of the sky full of parachutes was "look at all the pretty colors." But then again, that's me :).

I incorporated Lung 1 into my forms and have noticed some hiccups. Yes, holding my breath would be one.

Tai Chi Inspired Training Day 12, Canada Day

Sunny and hot marks July 1 for Canada Day this year and so does the dragon/lion dance and demo at the Multicultural Center. This is the first year for me both in the festivities and as a vendor at the event as previous years have been spent at the Ponoka Stampede. I must say that I had a lot of fun yesterday and very happy where I chose my tent location. Yes,  we specifically chose the location so that the team would have a place to rest and be out of the sun, a factor for me too. Having the team gathering at my tent was cool. One young fellow looked behind my tent, saw the dragon and said, "Hey there's the real dragon den." Thought I'd mention that. Kudos to the team for a demo and dance well done!

I was the Buddha for the dragon/lion dance and now have much more appreciation for Sifu Vantuil who usually plays the Buddha as it's not as easy as it looks nor is it easy to breathe in that helmet. When I saw the video of me, my first thought is that I resembled a chicken flapping my arms about, definitely not the graceful flow that Sifu Vantuil has. Hey, guess what aspect I am working on!

Being that the temperature was upwards of 30 degrees C, movement wasn't a huge priority for me, on the other hand, my homemade fudgesicles are. However, in my tent during the lulls, I practiced fan movement (open, close, and snaps) with my left hand. It gave me something to do besides think about the heat.

As a vendor the first evaluation of an event is sales, but it's not the most important. Venues are actually marketing avenues. I was informed of a Tri-Community Artist's collective for local artists and am looking forward to hearing more about that as well as cooler weather. :)
Sherri Donohue
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