Yeah, I've been slacking at my blog yet again. I must have been enjoying my summer or something.
The pretty lady and I got to enjoy some good days off at some nearby attractions, and a couple days of camping near the ocean in Maine. Things have been going well with her and I, to the extent that she's moved in with me. Still counting my lucky stars with her. There is no drama associated with her; just one of the most level headed, calm and caring human beings I've ever met.
Unfortunately I could only attend Aikido one day a week regularly with my girlfriends days off schedule. Still, it was a good summer of training, particularly a couple weeks ago when we had a seminar with the head of the Baltimore school that my aikido sensei trained coming up with a couple other students to spend the day training with us.
That particular day was just a couple different kinds of positive. The head instructor of the Baltimore Dojo was someone that really knew his stuff, and along with that was quite personable and patient with explaining things. He enjoyed training with us so much that he stated he hopes to make this an annual event. Good stuff learned that day, with all of us regular students able to attend. One of my fellow students also tested, achieving 4th Kyu. I was happy to oblige by letting him toss me around for his test. I'll be testing for my 2nd Kyu in November. Looking forward to that, as training has been going well.
All summer something had been bugging me however, and I'd felt a cosmic pull back to a particular aspect of the Ninpo Chuan Fa I was taught, the Tai Chi aspect. And so some of my summer reading has been about that noble art. My old instructor John taught me a short form and a long form. I remember a good part of the short form, and have used some video to help practice it. The long form I barely remember, and once I feel like I've gotten the short form back in my noggin, I'm going to do some internet research to try and learn the long form again. And if I get that back, I'm going to try to learn the special Tai Chi style Aikido kata created by an Aikido Master that also studied Tai Chi. Just have that interest right now I guess.
No major trips with the motorcycle, but I have enjoyed some decent riding this summer around home.
So overall a good summer, but now I'm looking forward to the Autumn season, my favorite time of year. Almost time for some bundled up fall riding, some New England style cooking and baking.
And most importantly, the pretty lady that now lives with me is an excellent baker...
