Blue Marble

I half-swallowed a marble when I was five and it caused me to choke. My mom turned me upside-down in the living room and started pounding my back in a futile attempt to dislodge it. I still remember that incredible feeling of her desperation. I had swallowed my tongue and remember her finally reaching in with her fingers to free it and the marble. When I was a bit older, she told me that I was turning blue and she thought I might die.




Sometimes when I miss her, I especially remember this, just because...

Ad Astra, Per Aspera

with the Stick-Shaker rattling like a tin-can full of marbles:



It's okay to be afraid when scary things happen. Being brave is a whole different matter - it's like those moments when your heart flutters before and during a difficult climb. You keep the engine throttled-up because you know, in spite of your fear, an aerodynamic stall would be catastrophic