May 5th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Happy Monday Morning!

So I had every intention of sharing with you what I did yesterday, but since my friend has not forwarded me the photos, it is going to have to wait. Normally, my blog post would have been finished by this time of the morning; but I figured since I’m the only one who gets up at the crack of dark every morning, and sane folks sleep until a reasonable hour, she would email me the photos when she woke up. No big deal. I’ll just tell you about it tomorrow.

This delay left me with time to poke around the internet, and two stories caught my eye. The first one was a terrible accident which occurred yesterday at the Ringling Brothers Circus, in Rhode Island. They have this aerial act called the human chandelier, where women, suspended by their hair, do an acrobatic routine.

Somehow the suspension broke and the acrobats fell between twenty-five and forty feet to the ground. Eleven performers were injured, one seriously, including one on the ground. Needless to say, there were many children, as well as adults, in the audience traumatized by what had happened. Could you imagine, going to a show with your kids, and seeing something like that?

For decades the battle has rage over the deplorable conditions, for both the animals and the performers, in circuses, and this horrific event is adding even more fuel to the fire. People were demanding that safety nets should be required for all aerial acts, but in this situation, I think a safety net may have cause even more damage, because the medal frame, which was holding the suspension, came crashing down too. The net would have probably collapsed from the weight of the frame, and it would have made it even more difficult to get to the injured performers.

It’s just a sad and unfortunate incident all around. I pray for the performers who were injured and for all the folks who had to witness this horrific event.

The next story just made me mad. The ship, Norwegian Breakaway, had some

mechanical issues, and had to be tugged into port yesterday morning, causing delay. Passengers were supposed to disembark at eight, but the ship did not dock until ten. It was reported that during those two hours tempers flared, and fights broke out.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What the heck is wrong with these people? You just spent a week’s long vacation, cruising the Caribbean, and you fly off the handle because you’re docking at ten instead of eight? Passengers were bashing the crew and the cruise line for the “traumatizing incident”. What “incident”? You arrived safely. You were delayed for two hours. Malfunctions happen. It’s part of life. You didn’t survive the Titanic for God’s sake. Get over yourselves!

At that point, I closed the internet, and decided to write my blog with or without the photos from my friend. I swear, folks are absolutely insane anymore. Personally, if it happened to me, I would have grabbed a deck chair, laid back, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the two hour bonus on my vacation.

Other than throwing in a load of laundry, whipping up a batch of eggplant parm for RV, and making dinner for us, I will be devoting all of my time today to editing. I should be able to tackle two chapters. Lucky for me, this book is only 250 pages, nowhere near the 600+ pages like the last edit, so I am not feeling overwhelmed. Even though I can only work on it a few hours a week, I’m pretty confident I can finish before the end of the month.

I hope you have a marvelous day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

You were born, raised, and have lived a good chunk of your life in the middle of the country. Now, you get your an opportunity to travel to the coast, and you see the ocean for the first time.

I can’t believe I’m actually here; bare toes squishing in the wet sand, standing at the water’s edge, while waves crash over my ankles. Pictures, TV, and the movies don’t do it justice. They couldn’t capture the vastness of the ocean, the feel of the force of the waves, the smell of the briny air, or how the combination of sun, sand and surf affect the body, the soul.

Now I can truly appreciate why so many songs and poems have been written about the beach. Without qualm, I could sit here for hours, watching the squawking birds fight over taste morsel, or stare off into the sea, with hope of sighting a school of fish, or better yet, a pod of dolphins. My senses are all heightened. The air is saltier, the sun hotter, and the cacophony of sound has me trying to look in all directions at once. I don’t want to miss a single thing, because this may very well be my one and only time.

Your Next Challenge is:

Use the following three words in a story (I’ll tell you tomorrow where I pulled them from – I’m sure you’ll chuckle.):

Townhouse, Variety, Occasion

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.