Flashless

I was never Flash in the mornings (despite being one of those heinous morning-people types) but now, with this blasted cold (STILL hangin’ on though much diminished) and recovery from back surgery (also FAR less intense) it just takes me a lot longer to get going. Patience – I’ve GOT to develop that skill. I can. I KNOW I can. Maybe.

I just finished Ben Aaranovitch’s book Moon Over Soho. The main character, Peter Grant, is a London cop and a sorcerer's apprentice. I’m pretty much in love with Constable Grant and, lucky me, this is one book in a series. Now then, I’ve a whole pile of unread books sitting by my bed. This includes some novel (I forget the book’s name) whose author has been compared to Raymond Carver. Carver just slayed me – LOVED his work.This despite (or because?) they were bleak and all too real.  Bleak and real are a little too close to home right now.

I also have Not Fade Away: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found by Rebecca Alexander. It’s her story of dealing with a disease that was robbing her of sight AND sound, combined with a devastating fall that shattered her body. Sounds WAY too heavy for me, particularly after my year of eye surgeries and the recent back thing BUT this is inspirational! She is and was determined to get the most she could out of life.

Now, at 35, with only a sliver of sight and significantly deteriorated hearing, she is a psychotherapist with two masters’ degrees from Columbia University, and an athlete who teaches spin classes and regularly competes in extreme endurance races.

Sounds great, right? I expect it will be a fab-ola read but, at the mo, I’m in the midst of my own battles. When I read stories of 82+ year old women running full marathons, blind/deafies who live astoundingly successful live (Hello, Ms. Alexander AND Ms. Keller) and the like, I feel overwhelmed – Oh, I can't possibly accomplish all they've done! Their heroic stories are actually, while I'm in the thick of things, DEmotivating.

Mebbe I can't hit the same heights BUT I can survive my own raft of shit, thrive and motherfucking triumph in my own way/on my own playing field. Also too...run marathons? Please, even when I had good balance, I was NOT a runner.

I'm ultra competitive but, primarily with my ownself. I want to hit greater heights each day. Today’s goals, two reps (not just one) of 10 each of my four leg strengthening exercises plus another walk along the seawall. Maybe I’ll even get a little farther down the road today.

What I need, book-wise, is escapism. Ya know. fight the good fight throughout the day and then retreat into Fantasy Land in the evening. Now that I’m driving again, I want to hit the bookstore for another from Aaranovitch’s Rivers of London series.

Off I go!