Tattoo Me

Phoenix Rising 

I get tattoos for a variety of reasons. My very first was a Celtic-knot arm band which was admittedly a bit trendy when I had it done. But that being said, I did it just before getting married and it was nod to my Irish heritage as well as a simple of "tying the knot" as it were. 

Since then I've got a calf full of tattoos keeping a record of the marathons and ultra-marathons I've completed over the years. Inspirational tattoos; a Kangi  script on my calf roughly translating to "persevere, never give up"; ironically or perhaps fittingly, I had a massive malignant melanoma tattoo carved out of my calf that happened to be right where my tattoo is; fortunately it only shortened on line slightly and didn't turn it into a different symbol.
My latest tattoo, is a phoenix rising from the flames which given the way my life has turned in the last few years will hopefully not only serve as inspirational but will reflect my life journey.  

​In Greek mythology, a phoenix is a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the Sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies and simply decomposes before being born again. There are different traditions concerning the lifespan of the phoenix, but by most accounts the phoenix lived for 500 years before rebirth.

It's about the same size as the Kraken and pirate ship on my left thigh, so I feel like it balances things out nicely.   

I was going to get another one today but decided to let Cindy get used to this one first, not to mention all the chores and stuff and packing and cleaning and keeping up with the Tour de France and rewatching Deadwood several episodes at a time. I tell myself since I've already seen it, I can play it in the background while I get things done; that never really works out. 

The next one is coming soon;  much smaller but in a more prominent viewable by the general  public place on my body.

For now, behold the glorious Phoenix Rising from the flames.