The blank page often is thought of as a curse. Writers bemoan it. They even wail about it. They fret and stew about the blank page. They worry about putting words on the page. They worry about not putting words on the page. They fear the blank page will haunt them for the rest of their lives. They wonder when the blank page will stop being such a bully and let them write. They wonder if they can stage a coup. They fear the blank page already knows their plans to rebel, so they hide. They avoid the blank page. They make a pot of coffee. They wash the dishes or fold the laundry. They pretend they can’t see the blank page from the corner of their eye, but they know it’s there, glowering, waiting.
Data Tells a Story
I’m a type 1 diabetic. My life consists of data points: checking my blood sugar multiple times per day, counting carbohydrates, accounting for exercise and stress and lack of sleep, regular visits to the endocrinologist, basal and bolus and correction rates, the A1C (a three-month average of blood glucose readings) and other lab work. It’s a lot of data. Overwhelming at times.
National Poetry Month: Silence
I have a longstanding obsession with silence. Perhaps it’s not that longstanding. I became aware of silence in graduate school. I began to focus on how a poet’s lines interacted with the white space and the silence. It became – and still is – a point of consideration in my own work.
National Poetry Month: Sound and Rhythm
I don’t much toy with rhyme schemes or meter, but I love rhythm. I think it might be my background in music or simply that I love the way words sound. I like to hear them and to think about how they roll around in the mouth or off the tongue. Strange? Perhaps, but I’m not alone in my love of sound and rhythm.
Write Right: Further and Farther
“Further” and “farther” often are mistaken for each other in much the same way that “comprise” and “compose” are. It’s understandable; “further” and “farther” are separated only by a single vowel. Despite that small separation, the two words are intended for different uses.
Tough Mudder: Complete
I know some of the readers asked on the post “Diabetes, Tough Mudder, and Resilience” that I share how the Tough Mudder event went. More precisely, they wanted before and after photos. I’m happy to acquiesce with that request. I’m also happy to share the list of obstacles, both man-made and natural.
Tough Mudder Obstacles
- Kiss of Mud
- Walk the Plank
- Glory Blades
- Firewalker
- Arctic Enema
- Boa Constrictor
- Funky Monkey
- Cage Crawl
- Mud Mile
- Balls to the Wall
- Log Jammin’
- Hold Your Wood
- Electric Eel
- Island Hopping
- Berlin Walls
- Dirty Ballerina
- Underwater Tunnels
- Kiss of Mud #2
- Trench Warfare
- Wounded Warrior Carry
- Everest
- Electroshock Therapy
FREE Obstacles
- Cow Patties
- Cacti
- Rock Climbing
- Hills
- Rivers
The Tough Mudder
Although I finished the Tough Mudder, I skipped the Berlin Walls and Dirty Ballerina. I just couldn’t do the whole “mind over matter.” It didn’t help that I’d already scaled some walls and had to have a lot of help to do that. By the time I reached the Berlin Walls, I had developed an overwhelming case of self-consciousness. The Dirty Ballerina simply scared me. I overcame my fears on Walk the Plank and Balls to the Wall, but I just couldn’t do it with the Dirty Ballerina. In the interest of full disclosure, I also skirted the Firewalker obstacle. Jumping over the fire just didn’t agree with me. I edged along the fire, then jumped into the muddy water below.
The Diabetes
My diabetes didn’t behave very well for the first few hours. The medical stations had limited supplies, which resulted in testing only when I saw my brother at a spectator station. One of those readings told me my blood glucose was high, so I took steps to bring it down. Unfortunately, my high blood sugar meant I didn’t take advantage of the snacks (bananas and CLIF bars) at the refueling stations, which perhaps explains the muscle cramp I experienced later in the day. The Aquapac (a waterproof pack) kept my insulin pump dry, but it left me wondering if the high blood sugar could be attributed to it. The instructions that came with the pack say the delivery of insulin can be impeded by it. I can’t prove anything in that regard; my blood sugar sometimes spikes when I panic, and I panicked on a couple of obstacles.
The Little Things and the Highlights
- I will be forever grateful to the people who helped me with some of the obstacles. I don’t know any of their names, but I’m grateful for them.
- I’m grateful my youngest brother came even though he had a long day of waiting in the sun. He’s the photographer for most of the photos below.
- I’m grateful I had a teammate who didn’t seem to mind how inept I am when it comes to physical feats of strength. I minded, but he seemed to be alright with the fact.
- I overcame Walk the Plank, a fifteen-foot drop into a pool of water. It took three tries, but I finally mustered the courage to count to three and jump.
- I overcame Balls to the Wall, some sort of contraption that should be in a rock climbing gym. It was a twenty-foot wall (I think.) with minimum toe holds. The point was to use the ropes attached to the wall to climb to the top and down again. It took a lot of effort to get to the top and even more to get down to the bottom.
- I somehow dodged the electrical wires on the final obstacle. I think that’s fair. I’d been jolted a number of times on the Electric Eel, an obstacle that required one to army crawl through a mesh of electrified wires.
The Photos
It’s taken a while to get to the photos, but here they are. Enjoy.
