Wings of the Valkyrie
Page 20
“I can't believe I’m about to say this, but I think I’m getting too much social interaction during the quarantine.”
I sighed. “Yeah. Me too.”
“I don't think I can do this anymore… if I have to get on one more video chat I’m going to jump out the window and start punching a tree.”
Somehow, during a stay at home order we were sick and tired of seeing people. We both just laughed at the irony.
The whole thing made me realize that there are all kinds of people out there. My closest friend is not handling this whole thing very well. He’s slowly going mad, as if he’s snowed into a hotel and trying to write a novel. His wife is doing just fine, and I think that’s making him even more insane. Me and my wife are all good, and that boggles his mind.
Yesterday I realized that while it’s him that’s going insane, it’s our fault. The three of us are way to calm for him. He wants people to freak out with him just a little bit, and talking to us makes him think he’s the odd one, when in reality the three of us are the abnormal ones.
My point is that I wasn't really thinking about how I was affecting my friend. I wasn't doing anything wrong, but it was still upsetting someone I care about. I mean how hard is it to talk to my friend?
I guess what I’m getting at is that I have to go; happy hour starts in twenty minutes.
I hope you all are having the best time you can during this hard time, and if you have an hour or three, maybe call up a friend and get drunk online with them.
All the best,
Charley
(5/24/2020
Boise, Id)
Author Notes - Martha Carr
May 24, 2020
Have you heard of the Barkley Marathon? It’s this crazy 120 mile+ race through the mountains of Tennessee. There’s no markers on the race course, there’s no chip timers (they use books and runners tear out the page along the course that corresponds with their race number – yeah, you heard me right), and for most of it there’s no real path. Part of it even goes underneath a maximum security prison through an oversized pipe. It costs $1.60 to enter and a license plate from where you live and only 100 get chosen each year to try. Very, very, very few ever finish. If or when a runner quits, someone plays taps on an old bugle.
It was calculated by someone (because there’s always someone who has to calculate everything) that the extreme up and down of the race is the equivalent of going up and down Mt. Everest… twice – and all in a weekend.
There’s a cool documentary on Prime if you want to check it out for yourself.
Why bring it up? Well, there’s a point all of the runners keep making – that just challenging yourself and trying changes you forever… for the better. It doesn’t matter if you finish as much as you try with everything you have, and you walk away ready for the next challenge. A runner learns to slow down their brain and relish where they are, notice everything, and wonder… where exactly is my wall? Is it here? Or is it a few feet further?
As runners drop out, they become an elite support team for the runners who are left, encouraging them and giving sage advice. They all know the inner race that’s still being run for someone and they want to help them go the distance, whatever that distance turns out to be.
It’s a very personal journey.
I am an off again, on again runner. Right now I’m a walker working my way back to running but I can still remember tackling tough spots on a course after weeks of trying and walking away high on endorphins wondering, what else could I conquer if I just kept at it? Afterward, it made every other task a little easier, not just because I was willing to try a little longer, but I was willing to let go of thinking I knew the ending to the story or how the journey should look. I became willing to be present and give it all I had and see where it took me – instead of insisting on being the leader. That last part has been key for me.
The number of hours I have wasted pondering ‘what if’ questions – magical questions with no answer that can only eat up time. And everything I do in a day becomes elevated because I actually notice where I am and who I’m with and what’s going on.
Okay, back to writing for me. My personal Barkley is to run an entire 5k and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do that right around when they can bring back races. But, the even cooler thing is that I’m enjoying the journey and not waiting for any destination. More adventures to follow.
The Magic Compass
If smart phones and GPS rule the world - why am I hunting a magic compass to save the planet?
Austin Detective Maggie Parker has seen some weird things in her day, but finding a surly gnome rooting through her garage beats all.
Her world is about to be turned upside down in a frantic search for 4 Elementals.
Each one has an artifact that can keep the Earth humming along, but they need her to unite them first.
Unless the forces against her get there first.
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON AND IN KINDLE UNLIMITED!
Other Series in The Terranavis Universe
The Adventures of Maggie Parker Series
The Witches of Pressler Street
The Adventures of Finnegan Dragonbender
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