Embracing My Dark Side

I have an affinity for villains, and I have always perceived myself as being an outlaw.  My heart is black, but my sister who lives next door to me in #4 is filled with the spiral light of Venus, because she has love in her heart.  I turn my lights out which most people think of as a negative trait, but I also enjoy being dishonest, rude, and manipulative, because girls think that bad guys are more fun and good guys are just boring.  I can’t see much difference between the dark and light, although others see light as happiness, prosperity, and being perfect while they associate darkness with chaos, death, and the underworld.  Light and dark exist together and they balance out each other as our Earth rotates, one half is always facing away from the sun being in the dark.  Darkness is not a bad thing, as it is just the absence of light.  Bright lights will burn your eyes and darkness always provides me with solace.  I sleep much better in the dark and I got divorced because my wife liked to sleep with the TV on.  When it is a hot sunny day, I will be the first one seeking the shade.  I do not fear the dark and I save a lot of money on my electric bill by turning my lights off.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Neighbors – Image by KL Caley.

Lottery Dream Home

The little guy felt like he just won the lottery when he found this abandoned conch shell laying on the beach.  Sea snails can’t crawl out of their shell, but when a snail dies, it loses its shell because it shrinks, and the mantle through which it’s attached to the shell decomposes.  An hour later the rotting carcass of the dead snail was totally gone, and the crab had a full belly.  The tiny Hermit Crab thought that this shell might be too big to lug around with him, but he figured that he could always sit back and wait to steal the castoff shell of a larger crab that decides to make an upgrade.  In the meantime, while he was waiting, other crabs would gather around the shell and do the same.  If he decided to exchange shells with a larger crab, he might even be able to find a mate by doing this.  He figured that if a good-looking female comes along that he would start standing up on his legs and waving his claws at her, to try to impress her by looking larger.  If she’s interested, she might reciprocate by waving back, and they could approach each other and touch claws.  Ahh, making love in his new home, what could be better than that?

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Upsizing – Image by KL Caley.

Killed By Tractor

It was a great concert, and he partied the whole time he was at the Woodstock Music Festival.  He had three days of music, mud, and memories, with Hendrix closing the show on Monday morning August 18, 1969, at 11:15 am, and after that he went back to his tent, but he couldn’t find it.  All of his friends had disappeared, he was hungry and had no idea where the car that he arrived in was located.  The whole event was chaotic from the beginning to the end.  So many people flooded into the festival grounds that the promoters had to stop checking tickets and make the concert free admission, because they were too overwhelmed.  Suffering through traffic jams for hours and getting dosed with something that he drank that was laced with LSD was not what he wanted.  He did get to see a bunch of topless women and some completely naked girls which was a first for him, but the whole general atmosphere was memorable.  These hippies gave him a granola bar and then he smoked some hash with them, which made him really tired.  He found a discarded sleeping bag laying on the ground and decided to take a nap in it.  He finally got some well-deserved rest that he really needed.  The next day it was a foggy morning, and he was still sleeping when a tractor came by to clean up the debris and that is how he met his demise.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Tractor – Image by KL Caley.

European Architecture

The crenellations on top of this building are upright projections made up of a series of notches and many people say they resemble teeth.  Defenders would stand by them to ward off invaders and try to prevent them from attacking.  Soldiers were poised at medieval crenellations with their bows and arrows along the multiple openings at the top of this defensive wall.  A rampart with a walkway allowed for the movement and concealment of the troops.  The malevolent gargoyles were stationed below, and they were always on guard for any vulnerabilities.  These cunning creatures were here to protect this building from evil spirits, and they would do no harm to humans, despite their frightening appearance.  These grotesque beasts also served another purpose, being a spout designed to convey water away from the roof and the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between.  Gargoyles are always carved out of stone, and they are often made of granite, and they have become one of the most distinctive features of Gothic architecture.  I think they look so cute when they are gurgling out water.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Gargoyle – Image by KL Caley.

Where Have All the Children Gone?

I don’t hear the sound of their feet walking through the streets.  It seems like yesterday when they were all playing outside and running around, and I wonder why they disappeared.  Could they still be sleeping in their beds, or did they become victims to the dreaded pandemic?  It would be nice to find out that they are just hiding out someplace like playing some type of a game, but I don’t think it is possible for all of the sons and daughters to be missing at the same time.  Since dead bodies decay, they were all buried in the cemetery.  The horror and the humanity of it all.  Graves mark where their bodies lay, and we can always stop by to say farewell.  It is sad when a child dies, and the grieving does not stop at the grave.  I would like to appologize about my morbid post today, but pictures of cemeteries rank right up there with hospitals and dentists on my list of places that I want to avoid.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Cemetery Path – Image by KL Caley.

Bump on a Log

He sat there like a bump on a log while everyone else joined in the fun, but he was literally a bump on a log, so it was very difficult for him to join the others in their activities.  Some people referred to him as a lump on a log, but he definitely preferred being called a bump.  He did have a cousin that was a bump in the road, and he was a very fun guy to be around.  People would speed up their cars before they drove over his cousin and if they were driving fast enough, they might get some air time.  He wished that he could have also been a bump in the road, but sadly somebody has to be the bump on a log.  Many people accused him of being lazy and just sitting there like a bump on a log, but his only job was to be unmoving, inactive, and remain stupidly silent.  Every day he sat idly by, being listless, and this made him feel useless, but what else is there to do for a chunk of wood, except for trying not to become part of the equation for how much wood could a woodchuck chuck.  His aspiration was for an artist to find him and turn him into an elegant guitar, but with his luck, he would probably end up as a bunch of wood chips and be put in a smoker for some barbecue.  Well at least he would smell nice for the occasion.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Meeting – Image by KL Caley.

A Day at the Monastery

A rooster wakes me up at dawn and then there are morning prayers that strengthen and support my affirmation to God.  When I am done talking to God, I go downstairs to have breakfast with the other monks.  I belong to the order of Benedictine monks‎, and we are Catholics.  We are a solitary group who practice self-discipline and avoid all forms of indulgence, so we live alone or with the other monks.  Our sole purpose is glorifying God in all things, so I was shocked this morning when I saw Fridugisus at the breakfast table saying how much he is irritated by being woke up by that rooster every day and that we should find a way to kill it.  I told him that it would be more annoying if we had a dog that was barking nonstop, or if we lived in the city and were awakened at all hours by the sounds of traffic and sirens.  I told Fridugisus that I see God in the rooster and by seeing God everywhere this can help us to make profound changes in the world around us.

If we didn’t have this lovely rooster that likes to crow at dawn, then we would probably be woken up by alarm clocks and this is much more natural.  He is just telling us that he is awake and that it is time for us to wake up, so we should never wish him any harm, as he is one of God’s creatures.  I told Fridugisus that I happen to think that our rooster has a beautiful crow and I look forward to hearing it every morning.  Fridugisus looked at me like I was crazy, and he said, “I wonder what a rooster tastes like, because I am tired of eating chicken.”  The fun never ends here in the monastery, and it is still just 5 o’clock in the morning.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Priory – Image by KL Caley.

Piles of Sand

Apart from air and water, sand is the most used natural resource on our planet.  We can’t take sand for granted, as it is a precious commodity, and it will not last forever.  Climate change has forced coastal communities to constantly replenish their beaches with dredged-up sand because of erosion from storms and tides and a rising sea level.  Eventually, we will run out of sand and then kids will have to dig in the mud with their sand shovels and sand buckets.  A beach can be made up of small smooth pebbles, cockle shells, coral-like fragments, or mud, but there is nothing like a beach that is full of glorious sand.  Sandy beaches are easy on our eyes, and they feel great on our feet.  Scientists estimate that Earth contains anywhere from 5 to 10 sextillion (10 to the 21 power) grains of sand on all the beaches, and deserts, so we could go with an average of 7.5 sextillion grains.  Some astronomers estimate that there are up to 200 sextillion stars in the universe, making Carl Sagan correct with his assumption that there are more stars in the universe, that grains of sand on Earth.  It is almost impossible to count the number of sand grains in a teaspoon, so we need to make estimates based on cubic volumes of measurement and average grain size and then multiply and add to get an answer.

Sand and dust storms are common meteorological hazards in arid and semi-arid regions.  People can literally be buried alive by desert sandstorms and when precipitation is unusually low in a dry year, huge amounts of loose sand will be picked up by the winds and cause havoc.  Swirling clouds of sand and dust can choke and temporarily blind anyone who is unlucky enough to get caught in one.  When wind begins to blow across a sandy, dusty surface, the lightest particles won’t be the first ones to move, because much of the dust is either stuck to larger particles or tucked between them.  But when sand grains start to bounce across the surface, they strike other grains and shake loose the dust, which then rises into the air just above the ground.  All that bouncing and jostling also generates static electricity, where larger sand grains typically lose electrons to the lighter dust particles, giving the dust a negative charge.  The dust particles are blown higher into the air more readily, whereas the now positively charged sand grains usually remain closer to ground level.  That separation of charges creates an electric field that may help electrify some of the dust still bound to sand grains, thus boosting even more of it into the air.  Dust storms are also called “haboobs” and they are unexpected, unpredictable and they can sweep across desert landscape at any time becoming miles long and thousands of feet high.  Dust storms can kill your livestock and your homes can be ravaged by sand.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo and for Reena’s Xploration Challenge 233.

Magical Creatures

Fairies can be of human size or smaller, down to a height of 3 inches or less.  Fairies are known to be adaptable beings, they can live practically anywhere that takes their fancy, but some prefer to live inside of trees.  In fact, lots of fairies live in trees, as they simply love trees.  In a fairy community, all trees are magical and sacred to them, however not all are sentient.  The trees that are able to perceive or feel things are called treefolk.  These special trees can take humanoid form and move a short distance from their tree, to guard the forest that they inhabit.  Treefolk have a nurturing instinct and they often adopt fairies.  When they need to, these treefolk can uproot the entire tree and use the roots as a shuffling form of locomotion.  In their humanoid form, they will have trunk like legs, great branches for arms and wood for skin.

Treefolk are likely to grow in the center of fairy ring, to be a lone tree on a hillside or the oldest tree in a grove, to grow beside a welling spring, or to be one of two intertwined trees.  A fairy ring is a naturally occurring circle made up of mushrooms.  The mushrooms grow out of the ground in a circle shape.  Fairy rings are one of the most magical woodland spots.  It was said that fairy rings are caused by fairies dancing in a circle.  Some people believe that they are portals to another world, while others say that the mushrooms are simply used as dinner tables for fairies.  There are others that belief they bring good luck and that they are a sign of a fairy village underground.  It is thought that you should never step into a fairy ring, as this might make you become invisible, or you would become trapped there forever.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Fairy – Image by KL Caley.

Crab Mentality

Crabs are thought to be selfish, not shellfish, as they will undermine and halt the progress of other crabs, thinking that if they can’t have it, then neither should any other crab be allowed to succeed.  A man watched the way a bunch of live crabs behaved when they were contained in a bucket, and he found something very interesting.  Crabs tend to be aggressive, and they will communicate with other by drumming or waving their pincers.  Crabs will squirm around at the bottom of the bucket, but eventually their natural instinct will tell them to try and climb out and some of them are able to climb walls and trees.  If only one crab is in the bucket, it will have a good chance of crawling up the side in an effort to reach the top so it can escape, by clawing its way up and out, so it can return to the wild.  

When a crab is placed in a bucket with a few of its mates, this interesting phenomenon occurs.  Each time a crab makes its way closer to the rim, another crab from below will reach up and pull it back down to their misery and the group’s collective demise.  Then, another crab will try to climb upward, and again, some crab from the bottom would tug it back down.  Thus, once one of them tries to climb out, the rest will try to pull it back into the bucket.  The one that tries to escape is frowned upon by the others, and if that crab tries to climb out a second time, the other crabs will gang up on the crab again, and they may actually begin to break its claws to completely hinder its progress.  This means that none of the crabs end up escaping, because they are all working against each other.

Toxic people will always be around trying to manipulate you and upset your life.  They will piss on your dreams and try to drag you down to their level, as misery likes company.  Some people are takers and if you give them an inch, they will take a yard, as they become emboldened and they want more and more.  When dealing with toxic people, it is important to set boundaries and make sure that you stick to them.

Written for KL Caley’s Thursday Write Photo – Crab – Image by KL Caley.