On A Limb with Claudia

Previous Chapters

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“It’s a little weird to be here,” Alex said.

“It has been a while,” the clerk said. She turned to speak to another customer.

Stepping aside so that a customer could move by her to the bar, Alex walked through the shop to where Jesse was standing.

“This is it,” Jesse said.

Alex opened the door and jogged down a series of wooden steps into the labyrinth of limestone tunnels that run beneath Paris. Five steps, turn, five steps, turn. In the dim light, she counted the steps in her head. Even though the stairs continued into the darkness, she walked forward off the stairs into the fifth passage way and froze.

This was the passageway from her nightmare.

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Dax Moy recently challenged his readers to come up with fifteen BIG goals they would like to accomplish over the course of their lives.  I thought I would share with you ten goals I would like to accomplish over the course of my life.

1. To live at least one month in Paris and at least a month at the ocean every year.

2. Have enough resources – money and time – to live, exciting and joyful life with my family while having plenty of resources to donate to people in need.

3. Feel deeply comfortable with my physical manifestion – looks, age, and weight.

4. Learn the boundaries of what is enough, what is too much and where I want to draw those lines so that I can be content that I do enough.

5. Be the best wife and friend I can possibly be.

6. Learn to communicate in Spanish, French, and Irish Gaelic.

7. Have at least one novel hit the NY Times bestseller’s list.

8. Live an active, joyful and fulfilling life into my one hundreds.

9. Create a serial fiction for every major city in the United States.

10. Dedicate myself to creating quality fiction which provides the reader with an uplifting, curious, fascinating, hopeful, emotional experience.

What’s on your ten big lifelong goals list?

P.S. This is a great vid of Dax talking about how to get your goals.

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Last week, while walking with a client on the Cherry Creek Bike Path, a biker hit me with his hand. His hand out to the side, moving fast, his hand thumped my back. He hit me so hard that I fell forward a few steps.  I said a loud, “OUCH!” The biker zoomed off to join the crowd of ‘bike to work day’ riders.

Did he hit me on purpose? I don’t know.

Did he know who I was? I doubt it. My back was to him and I was wearing a jacket I almost never wear.

Was it an accident? No, I honestly think that if it was an accident, he would have stopped to see if I was injured.

So there I am – client talking about her issues, pain in my back, not sure if I’ve reinjured my recently recovering neck – walking along the bike path.

What is a kind person to do?

For a moment, I became an enraged victim. I have a spinal cord injury! I could have easily been seriously hurt. My client is a small woman. If he had hit her, she would have been injured. He had no right to hit me – ever – let alone for walking on a path designed to be shared by bikes, walkers, runners, dogs, and everyone else in between.

I chose to let it go.

One thing I’ve learned on this kindness journey is the lesson of hot potato.

Here’s a guy who, for whatever reason, decided to assault a stranger. In my imagination, he’s angry with all the amateur bikers. He’s worried about work or simply just angry about his life. Who knows? Maybe his wife found out about his trip to see his mistress in Argentina.

Anyway, he holds a hot potato.

Stretching out his hand, he waps me on the back. In this way, he transfers his rage and impotence to me. I become the enraged victim. By taking his hot potato, I am forced to carry his rage, impotence or simple indifference to another human being traveling along the same byway.

After complaining a bit to my friends, I decided to let it go.  I chose to give this small kindness to myself. By letting it go, I was relieved of the rage and impotence created in the act.

The only thing I carry is a bruise from where the side of his hand collided with my back.

Letting go is a gift that I give myself. Ultimately, by giving myself this kindness, I can maintain my own equanimity. I’m available to be kind and balanced to the people in my life.

~~~~~~~

Simply Kind Tuesday participants

Remote Treehugger – Kindness songs

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“Luck favors the prepared.”
– Edna E Mode from the Incredibles

What can I say? I like the movie and lost this quote. May you be lucky this week.

Happy Monday!

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Summer is finally arrived to Colorado. Which means there’s plenty to do outside – gardens, picnics in the park, exercising, hanging out, bar-be-quing. Have you been out to enjoy the warm weather yet? I hope so.  I’m hoping to get the rest of my vegetable garden planted this morning, then spend the hot part of the day inside. We’ll see if I can get it done!

How can a Sunday start without Unconscious Mutterings? Well… it just can’t!  Who won last week? Jameil from (I don’t know why) She will get to choose between a signed copy of The Fey, a signed copy of Denver Cereal or a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints.

How do you play? Just answer the word prompts (created by Pea at LunaNina) in the comments. I select a winner using Random.org every Sunday morning. It’s really fun. And my favorite blog post of the week.

Your prompts to play with:

1. Guest ::
2. Impact ::
3. Unplanned ::
4. Tactic ::
5. Delayed ::
6. Bombastic ::
7. Comfort ::
8. Trumpet ::
9. Joe ::
10. Budget ::

My responses:

1. Guest :: House
2. Impact :: on my life
3. Unplanned :: chaos
4. Tactic :: al thinking
5. Delayed :: pain, delayed joy
6. Bombastic :: Fantastic
7. Comfort :: able life
8. Trumpet :: blarring
9. Joe :: Strummer
10. Budget :: ed Balanced

Thanks for playing! When you play, I’ll link to you here!

Filed under: About Claudia, Meme | 25 Comments »

Previous Chapters

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

Sandy opened the loft door.

They thread their way through Jacob’s old apartment to the long stairwell.  Sandy held up the bottom of her dress and Jill began her descent. Reaching the landing, she slipped on her Louboutins and turned left into the main Castle living room.

Jill stopped so fast that Sandy ran into her. All of her friends, Jacob’s friends and their friends stood to create the borders of a small pathway. Each person held a cream colored long stem rose.

Sandy nudged Jill forward between the people. She walked past her friends from Pete’s Kitchen. As she passed, they gave her their well wishes, congratulations and hugs with their cream colored rose. Risto, the beefy cook who broke up Jacob and Jill’s second kiss, had tears streaming down his face. He gave Jill a bear hug which caused the crowd to cheer and clap.

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Previous Chapters

CHAPTER TWENTY

Two weeks later
September 28 – 10 A.M.
Paris, France

“Remind me again why I cannot come with you?” John asked. He moved to stand behind her.

“It’s a tradition for the groom not to see the bride’s dress until she walks down the aisle,” Alex said. She made a face then adjusted her fake blond hair in the full length mirror. “Don’t you want to be surprised?”

“Oh love,” John said. He pulled her toward him. “Every moment is a surprise.”

They stood looking at each other through the mirror. They were staying in Max’s apartment in Paris. In a move that made more sense now, Ben sold his family’s Paris apartment to JAM properties when Max started working in Europe. The apartment, which had been in Ben’s family for over seventy years, was small, two tiny bedrooms and a bathroom, but had a priceless balcony overlooking the Seine from the tenth floor. Max was staying with Fran so they took his apartment.

“Plus you have your tailoring appointment,” Alex said. “Dr. Drayson can’t live in scrubs alone. Max ordered a couple of suits for you. You need to get them fitted.”

“Hmm.” He kissed her neck. “Why does Max get to go to your fitting? Doesn’t he need to replace his suits too?”

“He did that when he was here last. He wants to meet…,” she turned to look at him, “our siblings.”

“He’s never met them?”

“When we’re in Paris together, we want to be together. I’ve spent a lot of time with Ben’s family, but he’s never met them.”

Alex kissed John then held him to her.

“You seem nervous,” John said.

“I guess I am.” Alex turned back to the mirror. “It’s the first time I’ve seen Ben since we found out.”

John kissed her nose. “And?”

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In the last five years or so, it’s been one thing after another in our bee yard. We’ve experienced everything from Africanized honeybees, pesticides,  Varroa infestation, treatment resistant nosema, and Colony Collapse disorder.

Last fall, we made the choice to enter winter without the use of antibiotics, nerve toxin, and the rest of the chemicals usually used to treat honeybee hives. We took a risk, and lost four hives.

And one large, glorious hive survived.

This spring, I split off a few frames from this hive in order to start an new hive. Over the next few months, I took one or two more frames.

Yesterday, we received two new survivor honeybee queens from ZiaQueenbee.  I made an additional split from our survivor hive, so that I could put both queens in.

Here’s the queens in their box.

Here they are in the hive.

Please wish them well. With any luck, we can help the bees find a way out of this crisis.

Filed under: About Claudia, Bees | 6 Comments »

“If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.”

Lao Tzu

As I watch the violence spill out of Iran, and know that this kind of violence continues in my own city, I can’t help but feel sad, powerless and ineffective. It’s only when I remember that peace begins in my own heart, that I realize the answer to my struggle.

Everthing begins with peace in our hearts.

I wish you peace in  your heart today.

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“The only measure of what you believe is what you do.
If you want to know what people believe,
don’t read what they write,
don’t ask them what they believe,
just observe what they do.”

Ashley Montagu

Happy Monday!

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