Nerves of steel, nerves of dust

To be honest, I've been a bit nervous about getting back on the bike since the last time - and it's been almost three weeks.  I only went 4 miles that day but nearly had an asthma attack.  Just couldn't breathe.  I know that was from the anemia, but that feeling of not getting enough oxygen is not something one likes to repeat.  I think I'm recovered from the anemia now, and it's an overcast day, so a perfect day for riding.

I must say that everywhere I go here that I am always looking for bike racks.  I see almost none.  That means tying up to a tree or a street sign, and I'm never comfortable with that, even though I lock the entire bike down thoroughly.

I finished the 13th chapter of my book and am now at least 1/3 of the way through chapter 14 and am building towards a big action sequence, something that is not my forte.  I just sweat over every little sentence because it all has to be choreographed in my head.  It's not just a fight scene but a lot of cat and mouse, cloack and dagger.  Yeah, that stuff is hard for me to write.  I always think of that whole opening sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I know I could never have thought up all that action upon action upon action.  Yet I know that whatever I write has to be completely realistic and believable.  So I'm just taking it one line at a time.  I don't know if chapter 14 will spill into being a chapter 15 or whether chapter 14 will just be long.  I was desperately needing some new background music to help me through the chapter, and I had a strong suspicion that the soundtrack from the upcoming movie The Imitation Game would provide that, so I downloaded it from ITunes, and sure enough, it's helping greatly to set the mood without being too harsh or driving in its ambiance.

I still think of Britain, but I know that God firmly shut that door, and who am I to try to open it again or curse Him for it?  But He let me go there and be in the land before He said, "This is as far as I can let you go."  Is it a permanent "no"?  I don't know.  It doesn't matter any more.  I feel a bit burnt in general about international travel, however, and I'm not willing to try again any time soon...even though I still have tickets to Hamlet at the Barbican in London for October 2015.  Might have to resell that ticket.