When I was a kid I would collect rocks and pretend that they were precious gemstones. Finding myself in a gravel pit near the Shadey Vale Resort it occurred to me that I may have not been so inclined to bring home jewels if I had grown up somewhere else.

Rocks in Saskatchewan are colourful as the land is fairly high in an assortment of minerals. I’ll leave the research about what sorts of minerals to you but…I just didn’t realize this until I had the chance to spend a substantial period of time away from the province.

Speaking of small rocks, the new karate group is hard but really satisfying and I feel eager to get to the next practice. Last night after a bit of stretching the sensei started exercises by asking us, according to [insert name of famous martial arts dude here], what is the best martial art? Somebody answered, “kung fu??” No…”running”. So he took us for a run outside and around the student union building. He and some others went barefoot. I only had my flats with me but still wore them for fear of lacerating my foot. I had confidence at first because I jog regularly but this was running, not jogging. It was a little tough for me. Then on return to the SUB, we went up and down the stairs a few times…running down, hopping up. I also learned that I really don’t know how to jump/hop. I will have to practice that - I don’t know how to get my feet off the ground unless there is a horizontal plane to put the rest of my body on.

I signed up for a tournament in 2 weeks. Only for the kata (forms), not the kumite (sparring). It gives me extra motivation. This morning I have been daydreaming about the movements. Still, I need to remember that daydreaming != practice.