Yoga is big enough to hunt with

Just when you think you understand the range of yoga, it can surprise you. I was pretty astonished this morning to learn that a Kripalu yoga instructor also enjoys a good turkey hunt in Tennessee. Sierra Bender is a teacher of Kripalu yoga, the same kind my wife Abby has been certified in. Abby leads Kripalu classes in studios here in Austin. Sierra is leading a week-long class up at Austin's health resort The Crossings called "Boot Camp for Goddesses." The note in The Crossings newsletter included a picture of Sierra striking a martial-arts kind of pose. It was different enough to make me look closer when I learned she's a Kripalu teacher, too. Kripalu is a unique path of yoga.

Little did I know that it can include turkey hunting. Just Google Sierra. Among the five links you will see: Tennessee's Wild Side, an Outdoor Adventure Show.

http://www.tnwildside.org/stories.asp?Story=281

Where Sierra, as the "good friend" of "80’s country music superstar" Gary Morris, joins her fellow hunter on a good turkey shoot.

Where to begin here?

1. Ah, basic cable, the kingmaker and publicity trough of the 21st Century.

2. The study of a 4,000-year-old practice can lead you to the conclusion that you can "enjoy hunting as part of making a connection with nature." Who knew.

3. Deer season will be well past when Sierra brings her goddesses out into the Texas Hill Country at the Crossings for hikes. Turkeys might want to bed down tight for the week in February, though.

4. Yoga is such a ancient vehicle that it's being driven in so many directions today. It's likely that Kripalu has got room for turkey hunters among its disciples. It's not Buddhism, after all. Yoga's shoulders are broad enough for both goddesses and friends of 80's country music superstars. It's an essential practice. Hardly a week goes by when I don't learn that yoga can be combined with nearly anything, from luxury cars to the right shootin' iron in the Tennessee woods. Your results may vary.

And I don't know if I'd want to get cross-wise with any of those goddesses in boot camp during that week in February.

Am I reading this correct? I'm in the Write City

Today a score of cities have something fresh to crow about, including the one I live in. Austin ranked number 16 in the Connecticut State University survey of most literate US cities, far above other Texas cities and ahead of New York, Philadelphia, Toledo and Las Vegas.

While those last two might not be expected to rank high among literate towns, one is my childhood home and the other is the spot where my mom and brother have settled. According to statistics on libraries, Internet access, bookstores, newspapers and publishers, Austin stands just behind St. Louis, just ahead of Nashville. Seattle was number 1, nudging out Minneapolis on the basis of Internet access.

What drew my hometown so high on the rankings was also its Internet access. Austin is the third-best connected city in America, ranked by access points, library connections and online book sales. Last year Internet wasn't a part of the survey calculations, and Austin was ranked 22. Considering that I'm editing an online newsletter (3000newswire.com/blog) for the first this year, publishing a printed journal of more than 500 circulation, and starting up a local creative writing workshop practice, it feels like I'm in the Write City.

Toledo moved up from last year, and scored as high as it did because of its libraries according to the survey. I recall those libraries with great gratitude, from stately branches like the West Toledo location with its wide bay window seats to the philathropic palace in downtown, thick with the scent of cotton-rag paper and decorated with soaring murals in its atrium space. Wood chairs and floors and the hum of microfilm machines checking out books are a big part of my grade-school memories.