The Start of the Story

Posted on 08/05/2007 by chick

The shuttle bus stopped in front of the gatehouse of an enormous building that seemed to spread for miles in either direction. At least ten stories tall, it cast an ominous shadow upon the ground, and the surrounding fence, barbed and electrified, gave off its “No Trespassing” message loud and clear. Continue reading →

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Foxy Dancer

Posted on 08/05/2007 by chick

A poor fox simply could not fox trot
No matter how hard he was taught.
Whether quick steps or long,
Every time he’d step wrong,
But he gave it his very best shot.

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Sunday Struggle

Posted on 08/05/2007 by chick

My first ever Sunday Story has been imperiled by our first ever overnight visitor. A lot of cleaning is required to bring our apartment to anywhere near visitor-worthy. Am I sorry? Not in the least. We are happy to have company and the place looks a heck of a lot better. But now, while the men are off reminiscing or picking up hookers or whatever it is they like to do for fun, I have a little time to myself, so I must hurry up and write.

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Just Belt It Out!

Posted on 08/04/2007 by chick

I know, I know. I haven’t posted a clothing limerick in a long time. I got stuck on one and with it sitting in my head half-formed, there hasn’t been enough brain-space for working with new ideas. I need to get it out of my head, so here are two versions.

1.

The young cat found a belt he was sure
Would look smashing against his dark fur.
But he cinched it so tight
That his head felt quite light
And his vision soon started to blur.

2.

The young panther was fond of his belt,
How it glittered against his black pelt.
But he cinched it so tight
That his head grew quite light
And his hind legs he no longer felt.

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Red for a Reason

Posted on 08/03/2007 by chick

There are two things that can make the moon appear red: lunar eclipses and particles in the atmosphere (e.g. pollution). We are not scheduled for a lunar eclipse until August 28.

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Two Moons

Posted on 08/03/2007 by chick

I saw two moons last night.

The first was on the highway just after I left work. I heard a beep, but saw nothing amiss until a car moved up in the lane to my left and a man’s naked butt was thrust out the window. It was only a quarter moon from my perspective, but still funny.

The second was shortly after I crossed the state line. It was the real moon, hugging the horizon, large and ominous, shockingly red. It was the kind of moon that arouses primitive superstitions and I had to fight the urge to consider it a bad omen. Sign or no, it was both beautiful and frightening.

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Gratitude is Great

Posted on 08/02/2007 by chick

Gratitude is great. I’m feeling much better. I don’t think I need to write a daily gratitude post anymore, but I don’t want to completely give it up and then fall back into the habit of ingratitude. One gratitude post per week sounds reasonable, so I’m going to try that for a while.

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Trip Revisited

Posted on 08/02/2007 by chick

Some images from vacation . . .

On Monday, I woke up early enough to see the sunrise. During my first walk on the beach I found three shark’s teeth, a couple of friendly centipedes, and many pieces of glass. Most of the glass still had sharp edges, so I threw it back into the water, hoping that it might someday turn into real sea glass.

While shopping in Solomons Island, I found a wonderful book about sea glass. The beach near my grandparents’ house always used to have an abundance of sea glass in different colors. The book reminded me of how much I used to love hunting for the beautiful gemlike pieces and collecting them in the little pail my grandparents bought for me.

K— came to visit on Thursday. We had lunch at a nice little cafe and we each got a free mug. When we got back to the house, there was a storm approaching but it didn’t look like it would do much more than sprinkle, so we decided to risk a walk on the beach. The storm waited until we were completely out of range of shelter, then it ripped open the sky and dropped buckets of rain, soaking us to the skin. We went back to the house, dried off, then tried the beach again. This time, we had a wonderful walk. We saw lots of birds, including a heron and a bald eagle, and we spotted some rays in the water. They seemed to be following us and because they kept sticking the tips of their “wings” out of the water, we thought at first that they were sharks.

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Music to My Ears

Posted on 08/01/2007 by chick

I am grateful for my iPod.

I let it play in shuffle mode yesterday and was delighted by all sorts of artists and composers that I had accidentally forgotten about, like Erin McKeown, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dave Matthews Band, Danny Elfman, and Franz Liszt. I will have to let my iPod choose music for me more often.

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Summer Ain’t Over Yet

Posted on 08/01/2007 by chick

It’s the first day of August and I feel like summer is already gone, but that’s silly. The autumnal equinox isn’t until September 23. We have all of August and most of September left. That doesn’t mean there’s time to waste, though. It will go fast. I’m planning some jaunts and activities to try to make the most of the time.

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