Fleur de Aleta

I am almost 57 Years Old and Apparently I Do Aerial Now There are moments in life when you look at something and think: That looks interesting. Then your brain catches up and says: That is completely insane. Naturally, I signed up. I have been trying to say yes to more things lately. Not reckless things. I have no desire to wrestle an alligator or fling myself off the roof with an umbrella. But things that make me curious. Things I haven’t done before. Things that make that little voice in my head say, Could I? Aerial hammock was one of those things. You know the beautiful women you see doing aerial? They float. They twist. They turn upside down. They somehow persuade gravity to mind its own business. I am not one of those women. At least not yet. I’ll be 57 years old at the end of October. I’m not particularly flexible. My legs need strengthening. And my core and I have a complicated relationship. Years ago, when I had breast cancer, I had DIEP flap reconstruction. Tissue and blood ve...

Morse Code Marriage Signals Received. Words Pending. There are many sophisticated ways adults can communicate with one another. Words, for example.  Words are excellent. We have spent thousands of years developing language. We have nouns. Verbs. Adjectives. Entire dictionaries filled with useful phrases such as: I’m upset. Can we talk? That bothered me. I wanted something different. I’m going to need a little time, but I want to talk about this later. All excellent choices.  And yet sometimes, despite having access to this extraordinary linguistic inheritance, grown adults decide: Nah. I’m going to sigh loudly and bang a cabinet. Welcome to Morse Code Marriage .  Maybe you’ve encountered it. There’s the Exaggerated Sigh. The Cabinet Shut With Slightly More Force Than Necessary. The Heavy Footsteps. The Meaningful Look. The Dramatic Arm Gesture. The classic:  “What’s wrong?”     “Nothing.” And apparently, if all traditional forms of nonverbal communication f...