Mid-march, 2012. It is a positively balmy 70 degrees this evening. I just got my hair cut at the ritziest salon in Philadelphia. Where to take my new bob? I bobbed down to the Schuylkill River waterfront, lay on a giant boulder and stared at the sky through the pages of my book. I was situated near the beginning of the path, and so the dozens of runners taking advantage of this incredible weather flew by at a strong finish as they neared the end of their run. Part of me wanted to join them, but I had not gone running since the Broad Street Run in May 2010. The combination of running and ballet had been too much for my knees, so I chose one over the other, and here I was now, two years later with split-sole dance sneakers on my feet and lazing around off the path rather than running it.

Eventually, the sky grew dusky and the breeze turned chilly for my still bones, and so I climbed off the boulder and began to head home. Under the Walnut Street bridge, however, I was drawn by the rail looking over the water. What a great barre it would make! I thought. I wandered over and facing it (and the water) did a deep plie to stretch out my achilles and loosen my hips. I thought back to yesterday's class and in particular the tendu exercise and wondered if I could still remember the tendu combination. Turning at an angle into the barre, I began to do a few tendus. After a few tries, I was able to recall the tendu combination, and began to venture into the rond de jambe combination-- my favorite of the essential barre exercises...

And so on. I got so into my attempt at recalling the entire class that I was starting to sweat slightly under my poofy red winter coat, so I took it off and hung it on the rail. For the rest of the time, a small part of my brain was praying that my keys would not fall out of the pocket and into the river. With every move, with every turn, I could smell the Aveda shampoo that had been massaged into my scalp. I could smell summer coming and all its happy associations-- ballet, late nights, vanilla scented lotions, sweat, sweat, sweat, hippie guitar sessions, gelato, the sultry air...