After the Dance

The girls were something else to perceive. They wore what appeared to be grass

skirts with flowers and brightly colored pieces of cloth all sewn up to look like

what Nomi thought Hawaiian hula girls should look like. Several  of her troupe

were quite overweight. Several were very young and small bodied. Nomi herself

had an intensely attractive figure as she led the rest of the girls. The music was

loud and the dance was sensual, rhythmic and well balanced with the music.

Nomi obviously had a gift that, till now, Jim barely suspected. It's difficult to

describe the effect of Miranda's music and the dancing along with the interrupted

plan and subsequent confusion. The Vulture appeared hypnotized by it all, as if

everything that happened was part of the show. Theatre has a power all its own.

People allow it to continue and produce its effects, even strange and threatening

as the case might be. Here is what probably happened. There is no other rational

explanation!

The girls were still dancing as the pirates were being locked up in the brig. Nomi

still held most of Captain Wallace's attention. Their eyes met in a moment that

must have been pure glee,  like when you bet on a long shot and it came from

behind and you and the object of your affection were jumping up and down at the

same time, in the same rhythm, and everything else that could be right, was.

Indian Winter

It's 6:40 pm according to the little clock on the lower right of this computer. It's very dark out - and cold!

Just that quickly and we jump from Indian Summer to Indian Winter - a concept that I recently invented, though I feel sure it's been invented before by many others. This time it represents an earlier winter climate than usual. Up here in northern Vermont, though, early winters are quite common, at least in my short experience here of about six years. Yesterday also marked the first day of a return to standard time from daylight savings time. Again, the computer clock proved the correct and timely, excuse me, reference to this fact. "It", or some technician with a better worked out schedule system than most people, also reminded me of my daughter in law's birthday - yesteday in fact, who my friends are, and that I should back up my files. These are pretty handy little machines, eh? Back to Indian Winter...

It gets very cold up here in northern Vermont where I live. We're just six miles from the Canadian border. I once read minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit directly off a thermometer which I held in my hand on the deck outside my front door. This was my first winter up here and I was curious. It was about one o'clock in the morning and was getting colder fast! I've never measured 40 below, but I've heard people speak about it and I believe I felt it through the wall of my bedroom! The cold of winter never penetrated the insulation of my home like that before! Well, it was only 19 degrees at the kitchen window thermometer, just outside the window where I can see it, when I glanced out this morning. That's not very cold, not even for November, but it was about 80 degrees or so just a few days ago, when I wrote about Indian Summer and that's quite a contrast. Fast, sudden, and I fear too many little birds and small animals fell in the surprise of it! I feel sorry for them. Indian Winter doesn't describe this weather phenomenon. Early Winter Shock would be better!

Happy Halloween!

I hope you were successful last evening in your hunt for treats!

I so loved this holiday when I was a child that I celebrate it even today as my own personal new years celebration, along with my closest family and friends! So, Happy New Year!!

A little drive around the Vermont countryside proved very rewarding. The chocolate candy was especially fine. The day was very warm for this time of year, but it rained a lot earlier this morning. Still, it was a nice afternoon.

I'm starting my study of communiction and I'm excited about it. It seems to be the make/break of success on this planet. So very, very important. So, what is it? Well, yeah - the interchange of ideas - communication particles, words, musical notes, symbols, smiles and all of that. Well, I'm sure most of you have tried that and even had occasional success at it. "Hello!", you say, and you get back - "Hi!" and you feel all warm and good. So you keep doing this, see, and it gets better and better and soon you're laughing. You found the answer! Indeed, you have. Communication is one of the easiest things to contact there ever was! You think about it and it's there! Right there - sing a song! Dance! Don't just listen to me. Try it yourself - see what happens.

So if it's so simple, why is this world having such a problem with it? That's such a good question, that I'm going to leave it there for you and come back to it.

It's actually way up there! It's way way up there for most people - beyond the stars. Yet it's so powerful that it goes right through everying - woosh bang - from zillions of miles away, like so many things that people ascribe to "higher powers". Apparently, we all have the innate ability to communicate freely and easily on our own determinism and with out own tools, but we often fall short of the mark. Ask any publisher, any marketing agency, any media manager. It's not as easy as you'd think, even though it probably is as easy as you think when you really know how.

So along with the development of the story, "Dance of the Deep", we're going to run a parallel account of how to communicate it to those who wish to read it or view it as a play or video of some sort.

Indian Summer Continued

The two paper birches that had stood in front of the kitchen window for thirty years or so had been cut down and cleared from the front yard. This morning  the open space was one great big beautiful green  lake that just invited you to jump in. It was  Indian Summer and very late September in Vermont.  You just don't get days like this any more.  I watched the dog sniffing along the edge of our driveway. I caught many of the fine scents of the little blue fall flowers myself. Honey bees buzzed about. It was a fresh morning. I was thinking "this must be like a cup of coffee for the dog" and just then he licked the ground and sampled a bit of a thick mulch of dead ground leaves and twigs and live grasses. I could smell how sweet it was myself. The morning was so fine, you could just drink it down. The dog did just that!

I sharpened the cutters on the chain saw. It would have been a perfect day if I could've started it easily. But it just wouldn't happen. Once it was flooded, it was all over. I just packed it away for tomorrow. Perhaps it was too nice a day to work.

Indian Summer

Somehow it became warm again early today! The thermometer attached just outside my kitchen window was reading 80 degrees in the sunshine! Here it is summer again! Summer is a valuable thing  up here in northern Vermont! Time to get some wood cut and time to rake the leaves off the lawn. Time to work outside where ordinarily it wouldn't be advisable for the wind and wet and cold of just last week. Winter does come in hard, fast and sudden around here. You turn around and you're looking for snowflakes. "Thunk", just like that! "Boom" - it's winter!
So, how's it gonna be three hundred years from now? Will there still be Indian Summer here in the east of the United States when Jim Wallace gets back the the earth - if he gets back?
It would be nice to put in a section of Jim just wishing to be home in late september - early october, all comfortable and warm , watching the birds and squirrels out of his front window, the smell of fresh coffee and roasting turkey, the smiles and laughter of his family.

"Did you ever think you'd get back here for "Halloween Night" and  the children with their pranks again?" Sally asked him as she brought over a hot cup of coffee and sat down next to him. "I nearly cried once thinking exactly that." Jim smiled. It was true. I prayed. I actually prayed that I would, but I didn't know. "I knew you were in trouble. I always know when you're in trouble. I prayed too."
Sally said as she stood up to bring over some packages. "What have you got there", Jim watched curiously as the pirate costumes unfolded in front of him. "Oh no!" He pleaded as they both started to laugh. "You didn't!"

Thunderstorms

Well, last night was scary, close, noisy for the lightning and thunder. The power went off for a few hours. I'm not really sure how long since I had gone to sleep early and woke to a very dark room and house. Flashlight and cell phone soon solved most of my problems, except for a cup of coffee. The water pressure was down too low to force up any water from the well. I had some left over coffee - a few sips. I put this in a small pot and heated it on the barbeque. Soon I was settled and had made my plans and went back to sleep. Shortly the lights went back on and there was water running in the bathroom. I made a fresh pot of coffee, grabbed a handful of sour cream and onion potato chips and thanked goodness for the speed and efficiency of our happy little community, Frito Lay,  and the Vermont Electric Cooperative. What a great world we live in!

Counting the Take

 

Captain Penance stood with what appeared to be a clipboard at the head of the line he'd ordered formed. One of the Explorer VI's crew after another was sized up as he wrote notes and spoke to them quietly. "Hmmm, I'm wonderin' what makes the likes of you come so far out now'!  I'll bet they miss you down in Minnesota eh?" He smiled at the geologist as he estimatedthe price he'd be able to pull for him. He looked them over like they were part of some auction. When he got to a girl, he was no less rude, adding very pirate like comments. It all made Captain Wallace very nervous and angry inside. He had to conceal this as carefully as any card player playing for very high stakes. He had to think, think, think. "There must be some way through this."

The Vulture had pulled a scarf off the neck of one of the girls and was making crude remarks just as the cook came in to announce dinner. It was fortunate timing, because it gave Captain Wallace time to recompose himself.

"Dinner's ready Captain". He spoke to Captain Wallace.