One of the hazards of teaching movement classes in our Ilwaco studio is the view.
We’ve got the marina right outside the windows. Boats, water, birds, and whatever else happens to wander through.
And then there’s Peggy.
Peggy can be right in the middle of teaching a class when something catches her eye.
During a recent class, she was working with students on shoulder stretches when she suddenly announced:
“And excuse me. Squirrel. Kingfisher. Sorry. It doesn’t take much.”
Apparently not.
This is the same woman who, during an earlier class, thought she’d spotted an otter in the marina.
“I got distracted because I thought there was an otter, but now I can’t find it. I see rings, but I don’t see any evidence.”
She narrowed down the location to somewhere between the Salty Dog and the Bluefin.
But the otter refused to cooperate.
“I can’t say that I ever saw one. All I saw were, you know, motion circles.”
A few weeks later, the wildlife surveillance continued.
Peggy was getting everyone situated on the floor when she realized that lying down would interfere with the view.
“So we’re going to take our strap and it’s going to make otter watching very difficult.”
Then came the instruction I particularly enjoyed:
“Yes, we’re lying down. So you’re going to have to maintain a horizontal vigil if that’s possible from that spot.”
A horizontal vigil.
I’m not sure that’s a recognized Qigong or stretching technique, but apparently it’s part of the curriculum now.
And the animals don’t even have to show themselves.
During another class, Peggy spotted something near the Salty Dog.
“I think there was a head right past the Salty Dog… I just saw something go under… I don’t think it was a cormorant.”
Whatever it was, it disappeared.
“Just teasing me, one little popped head and that’s it.”
We’ve been teaching long enough to know that a class doesn’t always go exactly where you planned.
Sometimes somebody has a question. Sometimes we get sidetracked into a story. And sometimes the instructor is trying to figure it out.
Unfortunately, sad but true! But luckily for me, I'm generally in a room full of otter spotters or spotters of all sorts of things that walk, fly, go under water or catch our fancy for so many other reasons. It's perfect!!