Stranded in Richmond; or, Be careful what you wish for

First, a warning. For those of you who are planning to take a workshop with Kino, I just discovered that she has a new siddhi: The siddhi of being able to change the weather by mere suggestion.

I just experienced this firsthand. Yesterday (Saturday), I was chatting with her in the coffeeshop next to the studio before her Yoga Sutra talk, and we started talking about the weather. This is roughly how the conversation unfolded:

Kino: How's the weather in Minnesota?

Nobel: We are expecting at least 6 inches of snow on Sunday. Oh, the weather here is so wonderful compared to Minnesota [the weather in Richmond has been somewhere in the 50s and 60s the last couple of days]. Gosh, and I'm going to be returning to that terrible weather?

Kino: Hmm... maybe you will get stranded here tomorrow [Mischievous glean in her eyes].

Nobel: Well, I'm sure there are worse places to be stranded in... [Chuckles].


Well, guess what? I am stranded in Richmond right now! I got to the airport here a couple of hours ago, and the airline staff told me that my flight had been delayed due to inclement weather. Since that meant that I was going to miss my connection (in Cleveland), they had to put me on the earliest flight out tomorrow (Monday) morning. Fortunately, they were able to get me a room at the nearby Hampton Inn at a reduced rate (they explained that since it wasn't a mechanical failure on the part of the plane, they couldn't get me a free hotel room... bummer! But well, one has to get what one can get, right? Besides, this still beats spending the night in the airport lounge, so I shouldn't complain).

So what's a stranded blogging yogi to do? Blog, of course! So here I am now, sitting in my hotel room, writing this wonderful story :-)

Actually, it just occurred to me that there might be another way of understanding Kino's powers: Maybe what she really has is the siddhi of granting your wishes in a way that you least expect it. After all, as you can tell from the conversation above, I really wasn't all that enthusiastic about returning to the snow-bound midwest. Actually, as I was preparing to leave for the airport earlier this afternoon, I remember feeling a little bummed-out at having to leave this place of milder weather...

Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for, especially in the presence of a senior Ashtanga teacher...