I woke up late this morning, and I had a project that had to be done by 10am, so I postponed tai chi until late this afternoon.  I’d set aside a block of time, too, to work on a different project, and I wanted to be able to do t’ai chi after that was done.

So I got my morning activity done, and my afternoon project done, and I was able to do something new with my tai chi form as a result:

Today, I did tai chi in a robe (or tunic, or jacket… the jury’s out on what, exactly, it is) that I made myself.   That’s me at the left, looking a little oddly at the camera in part because I’m holding it at arm’s length, and partly because my glasses have slipped a bit off my face, and partly because I’m using the wrong side of the camera.  But that blue/black jacket I’m wearing? That’s the work of my (borrowed) sewing machine, and my growing skills as a garment-sewer.  For those who want to make their own, it’s Simplicity Pattern #5840, Tunic D.  I can’t say that I recommend it for tai chi, though, alas — it’s primarily a costume piece, I think. As a result, rather than being suitable for martial arts, it rides up the body during the skyward-stretching exercises, and it hangs weirdly while bending over to touch earth.

Other than that, though, it was a good practice.  I was wearing clothes I’d made myself, I was going through the tai chi form I had practiced for more than six hundred days, and I was marking a day of private creativity while away from school.  There’s food cooking in the kitchen, and there’s going to be a great dinner in a little while, and I have a nice evening of grading papers and getting ready for school planned.  In other words, all is right with the world.  What’s not to like?

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