nie

here is the link to nieniedialogues and also her sister's blog c jane.

thanks

...what does one say

was running through the routine of blogs i read. i had to read one three times through, i am still a bit stunned. i've been following the "nieniedialogues" for a while now....her name is stephanie clarkson, out of arizona. it is, as you can guess, a blog about her life and interests as a young wife and mother and human being. she has four lovely children, and husband she dotes on and in turn is doted upon...

when i flitted over there today, there was a message from her sister announcing that nie and her husband, christian were in a plane crash (private plane--christian is taking lessons toward his own license.) the readers can follow the updates on the sister's own blog.

apparently there were three on the plane, nie, husband, and the instructor.
the instructor, though found alive with the other two, did not, in the end, survive (his was the most critical condition).

the sister informs that the conditions are severe, and that recovery will be long and difficult. family and friends are praying and fasting.

i would like to add my prayer, and i would hope that you would extend your own for this beautiful young family...

evening of a morning

a katydid who thought it had gotten away, but it soon caught us a fine catfish. (summer2008)

to follow yesterday's post: a good morning deserves a good end of day, okay i'm sure it usually goes, at least it all started off well, and then if fell apart somewhere about the middle, took a bad turn at lunch. but how could it turn wrong with spaghetti and chili dogs for lunch?

i don't recall much of the afternoon, i'll blame it on the heat of the day, and the fact that nate decided we should work on "the story". she is excited over every typed page, but the collaborative effort does not go as quickly as she feels it has. her optimism, however, is a lifesaver and we had fun adding a few extras to the part we were working on and trying to figure out how to move the story forward to where we want it.

i finished May Bird: Among the Stars (juvenile fiction).. one of the best sequels I have ever read.. and I should say THE best prologue on a sequel (or maybe most any prologue) ever. those first lines are important...the author kept them coming.. i would recommend the May Bird books to anyone, but the subject, morbid sense of humor, and suspense may not be for just anyone, certainly no one younger than Nate i would say; and really, i think she would have caught more of the humor if she were a bit older, but we actually own these so she'll probably read them again. if you are afraid of ghosts, the bogey man, glowing lakes with water demons, or monsters in general, please do not read the book (at the very least at night).

once sean was home, nate decided we should listen to some blue grass...sean had found a station on pandora, and nate worked up a sweat dancing around the living room.... should i ever worry about her getting her exercise if there is a fiddle or a banjo to be overheard??

had roasted tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and a fan blowing into the kitchen and across the table.

went to the garden, all of us, and after harvesting some cherry tomatoes, a few of the larger variety of tomato, and carrots, sean and i weeded. i was, of course, dressed appropriately for impromptu 'real gardening'; yeah, i need to plan a bit better. and bring more than one glove in our little tote..i've a blister on my left hand, really, i thought i'd have a blister from the playstation but that has gone straight to a callus. i felt like i had webbing between two of my fingers thanks to the band-aid. oh, and what was nate doing while sean and i weeded? she weeded the corn for two minutes, and then trotted off with a flower for a neighbor, and then proceeded to chat for several minutes, while alternately chasing the garden cat (who seemed to like sean, because like all cats, they know he is allergic to them).

sean read nate another chapter of The Dawn Treader and she was off to bed for twenty minute naps between requests for water... once naptime was over and she was really asleep, sean and i settled in for an episode of Bones; we're almost through season2.

yeah, it was a nice evening for a nice morning... something to hold onto once the frenetic pace of school begins.

summer morning

Nate: a summer fishing expedition: 2008

this morning was what a summer morning should look like..... deep blue sky, hot, little breeze.... sleeping in, finding a dead fly to look at under the microscope and then to feed to the venus fly trap (who has found a way to thrive without us), watching a spider bundle its catch after almost walking into its gigantic web, little red strawberries, bunches of cherry tomatoes taunting with the promise of red, eating home-made ice cream for breakfast (a nectarine, raspberry, and blueberry concoction), relaxing under the recently installed ceiling fan alternately finishing a good read and playing the playstation.

writing and stars

i have not, to my misfortune, been writing much this summer; been reading plenty, but not writing. When Nate was on her ABQ trip, as a mode of comfort for those long days and nights away, we made up stories together, some she would have to finish in her mind in the down times, or at night in her dreams, and then catch me up the next phone call. she decided she wanted for us to write them down. i made notes, but they've taken new life in their expanded recorded version, as is often the case. the stories are basically a series of adventures of Natalya and the Shimmering Star... family and friends are included..
we're working of the main story of 'the Shimmering Star' a magical object or other that morphs to facilitate, or acts as the facilitator of Natalya's adventures.. Meanwhile, we are about half way through our first story...

here is an early draft of Shimmering Star and the Treasure of Unicorn Island. this should be chapter one, anticipating a possible prologue or authors' note on "the Shimmering Star".

For a long time Stinky Blue Bottom was average in a way that every pirate captain should not be average. Thus, he was first known to the pirate world as Red-sleeves Rupert. His costume was all black but for the red sleeves of his billowing dress shirt (with ruffled front). No one took his aspirations as a captain seriously and he could never supersede the station of First Mate.

Red-sleeves Rupert was often confused with every other blood thirsty dark pirate who had chosen the South Islands as their hunting ground. Surely it was to his advantage to be mistaken for a more skilled pirate; as it was he was not terribly creative in the ways he brought terror to the ships and islands he robbed. He was certainly not unique in an impressive way that could cause anyone to faint with fear. He decided to speak to the same job counselor that Blue Beard had used. After three sessions, the best he could do, and this was how he got his name, was to acquire a unique odor and always wear the same blue trousers with tiny white clouds on them. They were really his pajama bottoms, but they had worked, and he had finally gotten his own name, a name that did, in fact, inspire dread. With the name and terrifyingly well-reputed scent, he acquired a ship and a crew (all of whom could not smell anything at all).

Stinky Blue Bottom had many great successes in his budding career as a pirate Captain. This is not one of those success stories. This was a horrible failure, of the most magical sort. It involved the the theft of a beautifully drawn treasure map, and a hunt for its Treasure of the Golden Horn.

Stinky Blue Bottom commanded a ship called Robin Dread, and he had it drop anchor near the Unicorn mouth, south of the Visible Lagoon. It seemed ridiculously obvious that the Golden Horn treasure lay protected on the Unicorn Island's horn. Why would anyone need a map? Except he had never heard of the treasure before he'd come across the map in a rare trip into the Mystical Wood. The Mystical Wood was for a more kindly sorts of creatures. The kind of creatures who took naps with intriguing maps lying open beside them.

The Island's Horn required ear plugs, ropes, and parkas. Parkas were hard to come by in a tropical environment. Fortunately for Stinky Blue Bottom and his men, they were hairy enough to cope. The treasure was recovered with a fair amount of ease.

The treasure chest was of a sturdy wood construction and had the swirling scroll work of the fairies along its sides. It was reassuringly heavy, full of gold and jewels and strange rocks. There were enough brawny backs to haul the chest over the rough terrain of the Horn. All were fairly worn out by the time they arrived at the lagoon, and were relieved to find rest beside the unmoving waters.

At least, the water was unmoving when they had passed it earlier, and when they returned to rest by it. It needed only the right hour of the day before it began to wake, and creep, and ease itself further up the bank. It was quiet and sly, and it was distracting with the suddenly opaque quality it acquired. Previously one could only see the reflection of the sky on its impenetrable surface. Now you could see everything it would want to hide. It was plainly visible. It was not, however, plainly, nor obviously, nor noticeably creeping up along the bank. Its edges worked like fingers upward until it tickled one of the pirate's leathery feet.

Eight-toed Albert jumped to his feet and let out a girlish giggle. This so surprised No-Nose Stanley that he too jumped up and, to all their misfortune helped move the trunk toward the sinking landscape of the disappearing bank. Its weight caused it to slip and tilt toward the encroaching pool. When the pirates had set it down before resting it had been safely clear of the water. Now it was threatening to tumble and sink into its depths.

The men became aware of the sly lagoon's creeping and scrambled to pull the chest up to the tree line and on toward safety. This inevitably turned into a tug-of-war between the pirates and the water, with Stinky Blue Bottom shouting threats of plank walking. But the men were losing to the water. And with a great gulp the lagoon swallowed the treasure whole.

The water receded with the hour, and the lagoon returned to its stillness.

Stinky Blue Bottom continued to jump up and down and shake his fists. He took hold of the map and ripped it to pieces before launching it into the wind. He threw himself down onto the quick drying embankment and pummeled the ground with his fists and boots, and occasionally his head.

Once exhausted by his own display, the Captain gathered himself with much dignity. He looked at the lagoon consideringly. His First Mate Cleetus Flat-shoes cleared his throat and straightened his neckerchief. With a nasally whisper, he reminded the Captain that he was expected to show up for his mother's birthday gala in two days. It was one of the reasons they'd hardly slept on their trek to and from the treasure site.

The Captain said nothing, but snapped his fingers and signaled the men to return to the ship. He had, fortunately, procured his mother's birthday present aboard The Singing Harp last week. He would return for the treasure another time. Indeed, he gleamed in his dark eyes as he watched a small piece of the map twirling in the wind, he was the only one who knew where the Golden Horn treasure now was. He chuckled all the way back to his ship. Yes, he would return for the treasure of the Visible Lagoon while it waited in safe keeping just for him, because no one else would find it. How could they?