Summer Solstice Hatha Yoga Retreat

We had a lovely group of five out to Little Renaissance for a weekend yoga retreat.   And for the first time ever, we were graced by two Graces:  Grace Parker and Grace Huang!  Later when we were at the ocean beach, we met a dog named Gracie.  Of course, I had to take a photo of the three Graces and you will see it in the slide show below.

Even though we did a lot of yoga, it still felt like a very laid back weekend.  There was plenty of time for great meals, beautifully long yoga sessions, a little sleeping-in in the mornings (upon request), beach walks,  time for reading and sitting in the sun when it shined for about half an hour, and time to soak in the hot tub!

Perhaps the laid back feeling is due to the fact that this group books private retreats at Little Renaissance twice a year and we feel very comfortable in their company.  It has been unseasonably cool so far, but everyone in the Pacific Northwest knows that summer officially begins on July 5th.  We have not had much of a summer for the past two years and so everyone is antsy to have a “real” summer.  “Real” means sunshine and warmth!  “Real” means clear skies from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed at night.  We crave a real summer.  So, for our Summer Solstice Hatha Yoga Retreat, we braved the clouds, bundled up, and took long walks.

On our Saturday beach walk, we saw a mallard and her ducklings. We all marveled at the sight, but we also wondered why mamma had her ducklings at the harbor (salt water as well as rough water) rather than at the calmer Lake Menard nearby.  She was definitely out of place.  We walked on and about a half mile away, we saw a lone duckling crying its heart out!  We knew he belonged to the mamma we saw earlier.  Somehow, he got left behind.  He was exhausted from crying, from the wind, the cool temperatures, the surf that was creeping up.  Christine scooped the baby into her hat without physically touching him.  She  kept him warm and resisted giving him a name to avoid becoming too attached to this sweet creature, while Craig and I desperately tried calling several Ocean Shores numbers, trying to get a rescue service to tend to the duckling.  “There are no provisions for ducklings. We are so sorry. We hate to tell you this, but you will have to leave it to die.”

After several dead end phone calls and a frantic search to find its mother, we took the baby duckling to Lake Menard nearby.  We would have had to trespass to get to the lake which is surrounded by houses, but we saw a man in his garage and asked him if we could put the duckling in the lake using his boat dock. John turned out to be a very kind man. He was touched by our efforts to save the duckling!  He showed us where to leave it and reassured us that the duckling would survive!  He said other ducklings hide under his dock to protect themselves and that it is not uncommon for duck parents to adopt ducklings that are not from their brood.  He really made our day with his confidence.  Still, it broke my heart to let our little duckling go in the big lake. He looked so tiny and lonely swimming away from the shore!  He swam away peeping, looking for his mamma! Later, we looked on the internet to see what ducklings eat and we were happy to see that ducklings are self-feeding!!  They eat grass, all kinds of greens, seaweed, little slugs and bugs.  I think our little guy will have plenty to eat, survive, and have a tale to tell his children when he grows up!

Here is a slide show I put together from our weekend Summer Solstice Hatha Yoga Retreat!

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