#Crossing Bridges

[acommonloon]

In the abstract, walking across a pedestrian suspension bridge didn’t sound like a big deal when it first came up in our living room. In reality it wasn’t, TBH it was terrifying.

I played it off like it was just something to fill the time before lunch but when this fucking beast rose up out of the mist like Godzilla, I was a seriously worried I might freeze up. I never thought I or it would fall. The bridge is rated to hold the weight of thousands of people at a time and is practically immune to any weather they get there. It does not look risky and I’m not especially afraid of heights except in the way a rational person recognizes heights equal danger. Still I felt fear.

After what felt like interminable warnings by the guide, “Don’t run, don’t jump up and down, don’t lie down, don’t climb onto the sides” I didn’t hesitate to start across or do any of those insane things. Fear of failure wins again.

The metal decking was wet and combined with the constant slope down to the middle of the bridge over 850’ away, the footing felt precarious. Of course even if I’d fallen, I wouldn’t fall off the bridge. Rational thought meet nearly six hundred feet of height. At first I held my phone in my left hand and gripped the bridge railing with my right. I could feel my legs wanting to shake and there was some noticeable sway in the bridge even though the wind was light. The park guide had said if you begin to have trouble don’t look down, focus on the far side. I thought, well what would be the point of that. The point became very clear very quickly but by the middle, I was no longer holding on instead focusing on the view and pics of the view.

Right after she was born, I bought a picture for my first granddaughter, who was waiting safely back under a large pavilion barely in sight of the bridge. It said, Brave is not a feeling.

In the abstract, walking across this bridge still doesn’t seem a big deal. There is no doubt the trail we hiked along the valley on miles of wet wooden stairs was far more dangerous. I don’t feel any sense of accomplishment for having done it. Simply put, the others wanted to do it and I wanted to be with them. Lemmings?

Once we were on the other side, I realized the guide had followed us over. No doubt he would have assisted anyone who needed it. No one did. He began to give us a presentation about the bridge, its history, cost to build, time it took, etc. He paused for questions. Not having attended closely to his prepared comments I asked, “So this is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world.”

He hung his head and as if ashamed admitted two other bridges had been completed recently that were longer. But this one was still the highest!

When questions lagged, I asked if anyone had run the bridge thinking - if something is there someone will run it. I understood they couldn’t allow tourists to run on it but well, it’s 1,700 feet long across a scenic valley so.

The guide looked astonished and with a degree of reprimand exclaimed, You cannot run the bridge! He went on. Your perception of the slope cannot cope while running and you will feel you are running into the air and you will fall!

Oookay then.

So then I asked had anyone BASE jumped or bungee jumped the bridge? This question seemed to visibly upset him and D turned and gave me that look. You know that look. You don’t really know what it means specifically but you know you best stop whatever you’re doing. Fear.

It is not allowed! He said

<sigh> humans never do things unless it is allowed.

Looking for a pic with this saying for my 3 year old granddaughter. Stop messing up my hair. It is not allowed!

[between-loss-and-sacrifice]

[anjrumal]

Book review: CROSSING BRIDGES

In her impactful memoir Crossing Bridges Lisa Watts offers readers much more than a charming travelogue. Watts, "the traveler” explores and recounts the physical and emotional demands of her joyful and arduous biking expedition up the US east coast from the Keys to Canada.

I wondered if she would make it past day one's first grueling 45 minutes. Given her description I honestly don't know if I could have.

But, she did! In so doing, and along the way she shared lessons learned, like: "Find a spouse who knows you leave the house sometimes." She did find such a partner - Bob.

"Drive up east coast?" Bob clapped back? "You should do it" he said." After living together for 30 years we should be able to survive eight weeks apart."

Another lesson Watts shared is, "MPH not as important as I thought it once was." Perhaps that is just another way of saying, 'enjoy the ride." Or maybe it is just a variation of one of my favorite old bits of homespun wisdom, "Lose your mind and come to your senses?"

The ride and its aftermath generated an abundance of memories, and needed introspection. For instance, where does this feat place me physically? she wondered. "What is an athlete?" she pondered, And, “can I endure this?" she considered.

Her answer, 'You know you can endure." She knew, because in reaching back and into the present she re-generated childhood, teen, and young adult challenges that she confronted and had struggled to overcome; perhaps foreshadowing the present - not only the outcome, but the process.

Integrating the physical and emotional demands of one's life and trying to make sense of it is not without complication, doubt and uncertainty. This, in part, is what Watts endeavored, taking life to its final stage.

For some, life's final transition offers less of a menu of athletic challenges." Watts offers readers the invitation for such a dual look back and ahead.

Thank you, Lisa for opening the door.

_______________

Reviewed by Andrew Malekoff

[deep-space-lines]

IT'S FINALLY FUCKING DONE. I'M FINALLY FREE

UNTIL FRAUD COMES OUT

Tumblr shrinks it down pretty bad so please. please. I am begging you. look at the full sized image and zoom in. This art piece made my friends worried for my mental health I need someone to witness the amount of detail and effort I put into this

also the original sketch under the cut bc I think comparing them is really funny

[why-the-heck-not]

the saturday-sunday night diabolical "life is falling apart"- to do list followed by a mad scramble

[mylifeinpixels]

Find me where no one else is. I feel less alone when nobody is around

[sweetsouldhavernas]

I need more time but time can't be borrowed I'd leave it all behind if I could follow Since the love that you left is all that I got I want you to know

[vgwater]

[fistfuloflightning]

Another for the Crane Husband au— eventually he’ll cultivate a human form (and won’t SQQ be surprised!)

I blame @rarepears for the brainrot :3

[stuckinapril]

unlearning being anxious about things is such a full time job. like even if there’s a problem on the horizon, it makes no sense to be in pain about it twice

[dandelionandkrindle]

REDRIDGE MOUNTAINS

An idyllic region of rushing rivers, towering elms and rising elevations, the Redridge Mountains are under Stormwind's protection. Their inhabitants supply Stormwind with timber, fish, and crops. Only a handful of dangers trouble it: the usual monsters of the woods and the small matter of the Alliance keep overtaken by orcs.

[miaeons]

my brain durin this thunderstorm all today while workin

[alienssstufff]

*cracking knuckles*

Too busy to do anything refined yet too excited to keep the idea to just my brain fiddling around with the concept - they b animal crossing happy home >u<

I blame the cute SL logo and teeny tiny starter bases for this

[hi-there-buddies]

Me: I think I’ll draw a fun little scene from my Steven Universe inspired Transformers au. Nothing too big, just something fun

Also me: *cries*

I told myself I wouldn’t spend too long cleaning this up so forgive the messinESS

[diodellet]

cw: 3 am thoughts hitting, but this time we got good ones 🤧 yippee🎉 i would've wanted to put this in my current wip, but the vibes don't fit, so i'm jus throwing it out here. pre-slash relationship crack, reader is yuu/ramshackle prefect and extra down-bad for jamil, accidental violence and blood descriptions, unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine as always. if u see me editing out any typos and incomplete sentences, no u did not.

thinking of how jamil seems to have a constant furrow in his brow while sleeping. at first, you take it as a sign that he probably isn't even asleep. he's probably keeping his eyes shut in spite of the noise you make. as much as you blame the lack of regular upkeep for the ramshackle dormitory's constant creaks and groans, jamil probably is the lightest sleeper (out of the human characters in the NRC ensemble at least). he's probably keeping all the minute complaints to himself and is just making use of these forty-five minutes away from kalim.

to you, the little crease on his forehead is extra confirmation that - no matter how much he denies it - jamil is so overworked that he cannot seem to find much peace, even in unconsciousness.

and you try to busy yourself, anything to stop from keeping vigil (or watching over him like a guardian angel? to be honest, you were more like a sleep paralysis demon). you were not going to ruin this sacred nap - oh, that sounded so depressing, he barely even gets an hour of break time away from his duties.

(though you do consider reaching for his phone and messing with the alarm. maybe you could stretch that scant bit of time into two, three hours. or just shut it off completely, jamil more than deserved the sublime comfort of not having to wake up to alarms. but, alas, if only you knew his passcode.)

instead what happens is that you crouch by him, one of your hands tentatively outstretched. the pads of your fingertips just hovering a few centimeters away from his face, poised to soothe the tension from his features.

and what happened next, happened in rapid succession and was completely your fault.

crack!

(your cheeks don't stop burning. you can hang your head in a display of shameful contrition, sure. but the truth is that you're tuning out every single word of jamil's exasperated sermon in favor of savoring his touch as he presses a fistful of napkins against your face to stop the bleeding. thankfully not broken, but capillaries like to do their thing and make the situation more dramatic than it actually is.

"enough worrying about me, what about your hand?" you'd sound so cool if you didn't have dried blood on your face.

the unimpressed frown jamil gives you is all the response you need. heck, if you looked closely, you could see him combing through his encyclopedia of choice insults. "my hand is fine. but now i've got a headache thanks to someone being a dumbass. should i be glad that it isn't kalim for once?"

oh, more than a mix of guilt and shame, having jamil's attention on you is an intoxicating sensation, you can only muster a weak "haha" in response.)