No Set Boundaries: Eleven Stories of Life, Travel, Misadventure (Townsend 11, Vol 2)

By Townsend 11

The Townsend 11 collective of award-winning writers is back again with eleven true stories that will delight, entertain, amuse, and inspire readers of all ages. If you like the essays published in Travelers’ Tales, Lonely Planet, and other creative nonfiction anthologies, you’ll love Townsend 11’s second volume, No Set Boundaries.

The first volume, No Fixed Destination, took readers from China to Croatia and beyond with heartfelt memoirs, stories of romance, and lessons learned. The second volume moves from reflection to action. Witness an early-19th-century Catalan tradition practiced in modern Barcelona that terrifies and thrills Jennifer Baljko. Follow Bonnie Smetts in Rome as she discovers how to shop the Italian way. Shiver with Dana Hill on a cold beach in England. Watch Carol Beddo find the courage to deal with bureaucratic prejudice aimed at a young woman in Ethiopia. Walk with backpacker Y.J. Zhu along a frightening, war-ravaged Cambodian road into hidden beauty in Angkor Wat. Rest awhile with Jacqueline Collins in a special California garden. And, slide through time with editor Larry Habegger as he drifts into an Impressionist painting on a canal in France.

Then prepare to laugh. In his hilarious “Warped Willie,” Bill Zarchy deals with his once-proud, straight zucchini that morphed into a crookneck squash. Barbara Robertson’s attempt to help lost travelers becomes a comedy of misdirection.

Next, John Dalton debates the risks and rewards of mountain biking after a misadventure on “Brokeleg Mountain,” while Jacqueline Yau goes to India to fulfill a travel fantasy in a Rajasthani city. “Jaisalmer, seduce me,” she writes, “I’m ready.”

Whether you want to tickle your imagination, laugh out loud, or come along on an adventure, No Set Boundaries has a story for you. For more information, visit townsend11.com.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Townsend 11
• Release date: Oct 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781609520618

Townsend 11

Townsend 11 is a collective of eleven writers (including one who’s been living in Barcelona for several years) who meet monthly in a converted brick warehouse on Townsend Street in San Francisco. We are committed to sharing stories that enlighten, entertain, and inspire. Our work is an eclectic mix that has been widely published in major magazines, newspapers, and books, and has earned numerous awards. Now, in this age of e-books, we’re launching a series of works to engage you.

Book preview

No Set Boundaries

by

Townsend 11

Eleven Stories of Life, Travel, Misadventure

This collection is an original publication of Townsend 11.

Copyright © 2011 by Townsend 11

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an information storage and retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Cover Design: Bonnie Smetts

Cover Photographs: © Bill Zarchy

ISBN: 978-1-60952-061-8

Smashwords edition

Contents

Introduction

Larry Habegger

Castles in the Sky

Jennifer Baljko

Bellissima

Bonnie Smetts

A Visit to Brokeleg Mountain

John Dalton

Warped Willie

A Cautionary Tale

Bill Zarchy

Wrong Way

Barbara Robertson

Beach Weather

Dana Hill

The Garden

Jacqueline Collins

Jaisalmer

A Desert Kingdom

Jacqueline Yau

My Ethiopian Tent

Carol Beddo

Sunset at Bayon

Y.J. Zhu

A Trickle of Time and Water

Larry Habegger

Acknowledgments

About Townsend 11

Introduction

Breaking New Ground

Larry Habegger

When we got started with Townsend 11, our primary intention was to put our work out to a wider audience. We weren’t thinking about being entrepreneurs or developing a business or capturing a new market; we just liked the work we were doing and wanted to give others the chance to enjoy it, too. But then we started hearing that we were innovators, a cool group of writers exploring new territory as the publishing world and the way of the writer were changing all around us.

So we began to look at that and wonder if this really is new ground we’re breaking. Aren’t others self-publishing their work on e-platforms, spreading the word to audiences they’d never be able to reach otherwise? The world of websites and blogs and social networks hasn’t been around that long, but it’s been here long enough for thousands if not millions of others to chart the same waters we’re charting.

So are we cool or not?

The best way to decide is to read our books, follow our progress, and see for yourself.

In No Set Boundaries we set out to explore the world as we encounter it, whether my floating down a historic canal in France pondering the passage of life, Jennifer Baljko marveling at the human towers built on sweat and courage in Barcelona, or Bonnie Smetts finally discovering how to play the cultural shopping game in Rome. We have stories in this volume that will make you laugh or wince in pain. You can do both with Bill Zarchy and his warped willie, or with John Dalton as he learns about the limits of invincibility on Brokeleg Mountain. Barbara Robertson might make you hope you’ll never have to ask directions again, Dana Hill helps you adapt to all manner of beach weather, and Carol Beddo shows you the resilience of a young Peace Corps worker faced with false accusations and officiousness. Y.J. Zhu pursues her father’s dream from sunrise to sunset exploring the mysteries of Angkor Wat, and Jacqueline Yau fulfills her own fantasy racing through the warrens of Jaisalmer, India. Making sure we don’t go too far afield, Jacqueline Collins brings us all back home again with a love poem to her favorite garden.

The whole package is a satisfying mix of humor, mishap, reminiscence, and thoughtfulness. Settle in and see for yourself.

For more on Townsend 11, get a copy of our first volume, No Fixed Destination: Eleven Stories of Life, Love, Travel. My introduction there explains who we are, how we got started, and why we call ourselves Townsend 11. And look for volume 3, No Definite Plans, soon.

Castles in the Sky

Jennifer Baljko

I close my eyes, hoping not to witness imminent destruction. A young child, about five years old, hovers almost three stories above the ground, barely balancing on top of a shaky pillar of flesh.

I can’t resist. Despite the pounding in my chest, I peek through my fingers and watch another boy scamper toward the sky. Pressing his hands and bare feet into the backs and shoulders of men and women with wobbly knees, the lanky 10-year-old tow-head passes the balcony where the mayor and other dignitaries stand open-mouthed. The boy climbs higher. The human obelisk sways.

In a few seconds, I’m certain, bodies will collapse upon one another and screams will pierce the crowded Barcelona square, now blanketed in silence.

What the heck are these people doing? I whisper to no one in particular. Back home, this would be banned. The insurance liability alone would send shivers down any actuary’s spine.

This, though, isn’t the United States. This is Catalunya, and here, in a province fiercely protecting its customs, language, and independence from Spain’s stronghold, human castle building is as much a sport as an art form.

This is not just a hobby, Cisco, a casteller (castle maker) for about 50 years, tells me later. I don’t think there is anything I have spent more time doing, besides spending time with my wife.

The tradition dates back to the early 19th century, and is loosely tied to a religious dance from nearby Valencia. Over the years, the custom has morphed into an endurance event requiring a yogi’s balance and Cirque du Soleil dexterity. Teams throughout Catalunya, which rests on the shores of the Mediterranean and in the shadows of the Pyrenees, train for months to perfect the technical aspects of castell (castle) construction and deconstruction. And, for months, as the sun bronzes their cheeks, wide-eyed locals pack open-air plazas to see if the spires—much like the Gaudí-inspired ones adorning La Sagrada Família basilica—will reach heaven.

An American expat tipped me off about the castellers, and with a child’s enthusiasm, he urged me to stick around for La Mercè, the late-September party to honor the city’s patron saint. The castells were one of the festival’s highlights, and would be worth skipping a beach day to witness, he promised. I pictured the U.S. equivalent of stuffing 20 frat guys into a phone booth. It sounded quirky. I was intrigued.

Now, instead of sprawling out on white sand, I’m watching children hoist themselves further up a trembling human ladder. One small misstep could easily send them to the hospital with broken legs or crushed ribs. I'm certain I'll join them there with the heart attack I feel coming on.

A few minutes ago, things weren’t this stressful. I huddled among the masses in Plaça de Sant Jaume and waited for something to happen. Those in nearby apartment buildings hung out of windows, taking long drags on their cigarettes and Voll-Damm beer. Politicos in suits whooped it up on city hall’s second-floor balcony. A father perched his daughter, ice cream cone in hand, on his shoulders. Tourists readied their cameras. Vendors hawked bottled water and balloons. I caught a whiff of an