Up until the last few years my 58 year old body had never experienced any pain or suffering which extended over months and into years. My Body had its share of broken bones, freezing cold adventures, tooth pain from a premature extraction, and extreme headaches associated with flying, but nothing which threatened my very career or lifestyle.

Not only that but my restaurant career had been very stable. I had moved from one job to the next as if I were changing shoes. One restaurant would pass me onto the next with no interruption. One time I had a brief fling with another restaurant, (documented in Ma Belle II) but overall I had a series of long term monogamous relationships – with not even a day inbetween. From March 1973 when I began my career in Fine Dining as a Busboy at Mr. D's until July 2006 when Citronelle closed, over 33 years later I had never been out of work and had never worked more than one job at a time. Nor had I ever missed more than a shift due to any extended injury or illness - maybe a day off here and there due to the flu, but that's all.

That all changed at the end of June 2006, just before Citronelle closed its doors. While hiking I stepped into a hole, severely injuring the tendons in my left leg from the knee to the ankle (documented in Ma Belle III), which regularly caused me agony for the next year whenever I waited tables or performed my Tai Chi routines. But in retrospect that was nothing compared with what was coming.

9-28-07 A Moment of Bliss amidst the Swirl
9-29-07 The Roller Coaster of Emotions

10-1-07 Naked for All to See
10-2-07 The Bittersweet of the End
10-6-07 Astrological Knowledge Contributes to a State of Denial
10-9-07 The Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome
10-15-07 A Person Explosion
10-23-07: A Salt Deficiency?
10-26-07B: My Person Fever abates, for now

11-6-07: An Emotional Rollercoaster
11-10-07: Life in Hell

12-30-07 Anger, an Obstacle to Liberation
12-31-07 "Are you afraid?" - "Never!"

1-07-08 What’s the point? Just more garbage
1-11-08 The Grim Reality of Despair
1-16-08 Tempted by & Succumbing to Greed
1-20-08 The Crash
1-22-08 Astrology: Psychological, Coincidence or Real?
1-26-08 An indefinite leave of absense
1-27A-08 Lyme Disease?
1-27B-08 An astrological interlude
1-27C-08 Grateful for my adversity
1-28-08 Turbulence before the End
1-29-08 An allergic reaction & a choice

2-4-08 The Veils of Illusion & a Hint
2-5-08 Misinformation from the Doctor's office
2-6-08 A Medical Foul Up
2-7-08 Cured & Back to Work?
2-12-08 Job’s problem, not Career
2-13-08 A Personal Revolution – as Uranus conjuncts my Sun
2-15-08 Leaving an Abusive Relationship?
2-24-08 Stripping Away Pretensions
2-29-08 Granted a Reprieve

3-1-08 Ode to Imperfection
3-2-08 Gratitude for a Musical Breakthrough
3-3-08 Ordeal Passing??
3-7-08 Happy 58th to me
3-10-08 Stripping away face
3-25-08 Bless Chinese medicine

4-6-08 Cultivating the Yin
4-7-08 Escape requires a Novel Solution
4-17-08 The Birthday Relapse
4-18-08 Is my Person really ready for a Job?
4-21-08 The Creative Surge explodes outward
4-28-08 Out of Control at the Cask
4-29-08 The Disease-inspired Computer Breakthrough