Ahoy Matey!
Blue Beard’s treasure map came at a great price paid in blood and betrayal. In the end, only Little William Kilpatrick remained from the crew that buried the stolen bootie, and Jack Ripley held the map. William disappeared into the frontier lands. Jack followed the map.
Through storms and raging seas he traveled until he reached the deserted island. He followed all the landmarks, but in the end the only thing he could find was an enormous chain and anchor. There in the sands next to the anchor lay a bottle with a note from William.
“The anchor is the treasure. In a storm, it’s worth its weight in gold.”
The Hub: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Photo credit: C. Hase
13 Places I Have Walked.
A big part of this weight loss program I’m on is about getting exercise. We’re supposed to get a minimum of 150 minutes of aerobic exercise every week. That’s a lot of walking.
1. Around the block. Literally. In February this was the most I could handle. The pain was intense. By the end of the month I was still only going around six to ten blocks from my home, and it took between fifteen and twenty minutes.
2. To the grocery store. It’s only a few blocks away, so this isn’t much of an accomplishment.
3. Along the bicycle path. We have a whole network of them in town. I can catch part of it from about six blocks away.
4. Along the river. There’s something really nice about walking along a river.
5. Up a hill in a state park on the edge of town.
6. Along the railroad.
Alright, time to branch out a bit. The rest of the list is places I’ve hiked in the past.
7. In the Adirondacks. The picture from last Saturday is from a chair ad. Not my own. But I have been there.
8. Along the Appalachian trail.
10. Along the Great Wall in China.
11. In the slot canyons of the Gobi Desert
12. All over the Islands of the Galapagos.
For more lists visit Thursday Thirteen.
Suzie’s House 409 : Walter’s Funny Stuff
Drew was deeply absorbed in his own thoughts as he, Walter, Bruce, Tracy, and Emma walked to Emma’s house. Misgivings dogged his every step.
He should just take Walter home, no matter how the man might protest. He could drag everyone back to Suzie’s house, despite how tense her talks with the lawyer made the atmosphere. They could even adjourn to a restaurant, despite the risk that he or Walter could go off the deep end at any minute. Really, they weren’t so desperate that they had to go to the home of a kid they barely knew.
How Is the Weather?
Somehow I end up asking this every so often. I tend to think of it in a climate-changing way; as if I personally could track the global changes by asking my friends how it’s going in their neck of the woods.
I’d probably know more if I actually paid attention to national news, as in the kind you watch on TV. Not going to happen. I’d rather ask my friends what’s up.
So I guess it’s flooding in Texas right now. Yes, that was an intended understatement. I have a friend in the Houston area, so I actually care. California is once again bone dry. The Girl seems to think people will collect the water in Texas and ship it to California. Um…. yeah.
Here it’s a bit odd. The people in charge of releasing water from our various dams are confused. On one hand we had enough snow pack to fill the reservoirs. On the other, the reservoirs aren’t filling up as fast as they “should”. They have no idea if there will be enough water to meet demand.
Some are predicting a long, hot summer. In our case that means a long, hot forest fire season. I’m not looking forward to that.
Last night we got pebble sized hail stones. Mr. Al ran outside with a cup to catch a few. The Girl tried to stop him, saying he’d get hurt. I told her to leave him be. A second later we hear him shout “Ow” as he got pelted.
I guess with hail stones adding to the snow pack, I’m not all that worried about the reservoirs.
So how’s the weather where you are?
Still Wrong
Previously in Jack and Jill: Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
The theme for this week’s Jack and Jill is “New York” as suggested by Jannie Funster
Want to see what I can do with a word or phrase? Make a suggestion.
Leaping Lizards
The witch of Belliniton added some belladonna to her brew, then found the eye of newt complexly out. Well, nothing for it. She would have to go collect some.
“Stay out of the cauldron, Fang.” She gave her pet dragon a quick scritch behind the ear before heading into the woods to replace her stores. When she returned, she found that Fang had not obeyed. His bony remains coiled into a decorative but tragic shape. Returning him to life would take weeks.
“This is why you should always make sure you have all ingredients on hand before you start to brew,” she muttered.
The Hub: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Photo credit: Douglas M. MacIlroy
13 Questions
Recognize this list? I swiped it from Mia Jo Celeste
1. If you had an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
Water. Oh, wait. I already have that. Lucky me!
2. If you are an animal what would you be and why?
Human. I like having brains.
3. When you were little who is your superhero and why?
I didn’t have one. I was too busy living.
4. Are you a morning or a night person?
Night, though I still get up at the crack of dawn.
5. What’s your favorite thing to do in the summer?
Travel
6. What’s the weirdest thing you ever ate?
Alligator? Or maybe some of the things I do with flax seed.
7. What are your favorite hobbies?
Sewing, knitting, and Final Fantasy RPGs.
8. What’s the ideal dream job for you?
Writing. Hey, lucky again.
9. If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic comedy, an action film, or a science fiction?
Off-beat mainstream.
10. Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours.
Where to begin….
11. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be and why?
I’d be Rocky Road, cause it sounds good. 🙂
12. If you could describe yourself in three words what would they be?
Wait! What? Oh.
13. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why?
Can I pick the moon? I’d love to go to the moon. I’d pick somewhere closer, but the question makes it sound like you’ll never go in reality, and I have every intention of going everywhere. But the moon is beyond me.
For more lists visit Thursday Thirteen.
Suzie’s House 408 : Blocking Traffic
“You could have just called. We can talk any time.” Drew tried not to glare at Walter while the kids from Gene’s band stared. Not to mention anyone else on State Street interested in the little knot of people blocking the sidewalk.
“That wouldn’t prove anything.” Walk looked smug around the mouth, but worried around the eyes.
Drew decided to go with the eyes. He sighed in exasperation and ran his hand over his hair. “So long as you don’t make a habit of it, I guess it’s fine. I don’t mind getting out of the house right now anyway.”
Happy Memorial Day
If I can tear myself away from the Playstation I’ll probably barbeque today. That’s about as patriotic as I get. What about you? What are you doing this weekend?
Dewdrop Philosophy
Two Micorgians sat side by side on the very edge of the word. Unlike their brethren, they enjoyed the view from the shimmering line between their world and the next.
“What if we were in reality so small that our whole world fit into a dewdrop from another world?”
“What does it matter? On something of that scale, the things that happen on one plane of existence will have no effect on the other. We will live out our whole lives like this.”
“I guess you’re right.”
Just then the weather turned violent, the ground shook, and the edge of the world broke.
On another plane of existence, a little boy used a stick to hit dewdrops off of leaves.
The Hub: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Photo credit: Santoshwriter
13 Changes
As I mentioned a few months ago, I’m part of a special program designed to help people with a predisposition to heart disease and diabetes. The program is called Lifestyle Balance. The point is to make permanent changes in our lifestyles that will promote health and longevity. Here are some of the changes I’ve noticed so far.
1. I have lost twenty pounds since the beginning of February. Not bad for three and a half months of dieting. Given how slowly I have lost weight in the last several attempts, I assumed it would take a full year to reach this point.
2. My pants had gotten so tight that they road up. I’m still wearing the same pants, but I’ve taken in the seams and they now hang.
(more…)
Suzie’s House 407 : Hide and Seek With Walter
The old man looked gleeful as he muttered something about hiding. Tracy kind of liked him, even if he did act weird. He looked from left to right like some guy in a stupid movie who wanted to hide, then went down State Street in a fast shuffle.
“Wait! Did you say Drew?” Tracy started to follow him. “You know Drew?”
“Just leave him alone,” Kate grabbed Tracy’s sleeve. “We need to get back to the studio. I’ve got a date with Justin later.”
Birthday Pie
The Girl had her 18th birthday this year. This year, when it came time to make the traditional cake, she put her foot down. Although she’s always eaten it, and often complimented it, she says she doesn’t like cake. Well, I’ll admit I’d noticed that everyone in the family prefers the icing, but I never expected anyone to out and out refuse my cake.
I make it from scratch. It tends to be a little too moist and heavy, but I like it that way. So of course I offered to buy a box of cake mix in any flavor she might want, even though I wouldn’t be able to eat any of it if she picked chocolate or strawberry.
Nope. No cake at all. I suppose since she doesn’t like muffins this makes sense. What she wanted was banana pudding pie. So that’s what I made her.
I like to think I am an open minded, generous parent. Apparently this is not so. She was very happy with her birthday pie, and informs me I should have been doing that all along. What’s more, I’ve been overbearing for having forced her to eat cake instead of pie all her life.
How dare I impose a cake tradition on her for all these years. Although she has objected before, I never really took it seriously. But looking back on it, was I imposing my preconceptions on her? Is that a bad thing?
