Today must be one of the laziest days we’ve had in quite some time. Honestly, I didn’t realize how good it would be to get back to the barnyard. There isn’t much better of a feeling than sleeping in your own bed, after a long time away from home.
Eustace was invited to a company retreat, so I’m not exactly sure what he’s doing, just this moment, but I can hear snores coming from the porch, the barn, and my upstairs bedroom. It seems that everyone around here is sleeping in, this lovely Friday morning. Everyone, that is, aside from myself.
While I might not be able to enjoy coffee anymore, I still love to sit in the still of the morning, with a good cup of tea. It’s so quiet, aside from the wind in the trees or the occasional birdsong floating across the meadow.
Well, I should say that it’s usually very quiet. As for this morning, it’s a fair bit away from being the normal serene calm that I’m used to experiencing. Funnily enough, I’m not bothered in the least from all the snorts, mumbles, and growls calling to me from every corner of the barnyard. In fact, I find it rather comforting, like a warm blanket on a winters day.
Snoring babes means happy babes, as far as I’m concerned. Life at sea has it’s benefits, but when it comes to rack-time aboard a massive ship on the water… well, you never know if you’ll wake up in your bunk, or on the floor, what with rough waters and high winds!
Take Osrig, for instance. He barely came out from under my bed while on the ship, but now that we’re home, he rarely comes in the house. His favorite spot for napping is just outside the kitchen window, on the porch…
Honestly, I don’t know that we’ve ever seen him so happy and relaxed.
Speaking of seeing someone happy, oh my goodness, you should see miss Tilly! Well, you can’t actually see her, right this second. She woke up when I did, begging me to help her pack a basket of fruit for young Henry, and his family. She left straight-away, headed for the river where the two lovebirds often meet. I don’t suspect she’ll be back til this evening…
Ahhhh, young love! Something tells me that she will be spending a great deal of time with her sweetheart’s family, which I am glad for. Tilly has grown up right before our eyes, and in such a short time, it seems. Besides, Henry spends a lot of time here with us, as well. I’m thinking of inviting them all for Thanksgiving dinner. There’ll already be an army of ants, from Lilly’s kin, and Squagon has invited family members from both his Acorn and Pinion Valley clans. The more the merrier, I always say!
Well, my tea has gone cold, and my tummy is shouting “Oatmeal… Oatmeal… Oatmeal!” I best get busy making breakfast.
Oh, yeah… and it’s FRIDAY, everyone! Have a blessed weekend… hugs
This week’s tinkering session has brought to light several glaringly obvious problems. One has to do with the whole ship naming idea, and the other has to do with how Norbert (AI) and I get along.
Go ahead and take a seat, as I fully intend to expound on both problems, quite extensively!
After wasting more hours than I care to admit, in an attempt at designing a show stopping, Emmy award winning, and downright flawless signage for our homecoming boat naming ceremony… I discovered a huge flaw in my plans!
Did you know that most pirate ship’s didn’t bear any name on them at all? Something to do with how many times a pirate ship was stolen from the pirates… by other pirates. Who knew? Well, at least I didn’t! Not til after I went looking for pictures of nameplates that might be helpful in creating my own design. I wasn’t finding much, so I asked google why.
This was the answer given by Google’s AI:
There are no good pictures of pirate ships with names carved on them because pirate ships were not built to be displayed or documented, and detailed records or images rarely survived. Unlike naval or large merchant vessels, pirate ships were not formally commissioned, and their identity was often temporary. The notion of a famous, custom-built pirate ship with a beautifully carved name comes more from modern fiction than from historical reality.
Here are the main reasons why no such pictures exist:
1. Absence of official records
No formal documentation: Navies and legitimate trading companies kept detailed archives of their vessels, including plans, commissions, and portraits. Since pirates were criminals, they did not create or keep such records.
Informal ownership: Pirates typically didn’t build their ships but rather captured and repurposed existing merchant or naval vessels. They often “traded up” for a better ship when they had the chance, meaning a famous pirate’s association with a single ship was often short-lived.
2. Lack of artistic and photographic documentation
Photography did not exist: During the Golden Age of Piracy (roughly 1650s–1730s), photography had not yet been invented. All depictions would have been through drawings, paintings, or engravings, which were rare and often inaccurate.
Inaccurate depictions: The few engravings of pirates and their ships that existed during the era were often made by artists who had never seen the real thing. For example, some engravings from A General History of the Pyrates depict pirates in the style of high-class Europeans rather than in the authentic fashion of colonial sailors.
3. Practical considerations of a pirate’s life
Anonymity was a virtue: Pirates often sought to avoid recognition. Publicly displaying a distinctive, named ship would have made them an easy target for naval forces actively hunting them.
Names were not permanent: If a pirate did name a captured ship, it would be a makeshift name that could be quickly changed if needed. Carving a permanent name would have been pointless and risky.
Low-budget, functional appearance: Pirate ships were functional tools for crime, not display pieces. A pirate’s priority was speed, maneuverability, and firepower, not fancy ornamentation. Any cosmetic additions would have been minimal, temporary, and focused on intimidation rather than elegant craftsmanship.
The short version is, there were simply too few records, and too many pirates stealing each other’s ship!
So, it’s back to the drawing board on signage… but, I’ve an idea for making a placard for my office desk, at least. Maybe there’s a fitting image that we can stitch onto our sails. That might work, but I’ll need some suggestions for image ideas, and details. If it’s not too much to ask, perhaps you wouldn’t mind helping a girl out. Toss me a short description in the comments, if you’re feeling creative.
Now, as for the second problem that I encountered, this one has more to do with me being an overthinking perfectionist, than it does with the quality of Norbert’s work. I must confess that my technical skills get fully bulldozed by my Chatty Cathy style descriptions. Basically, I make the mistake of thinking that my AI has a brain, any real depth of understanding, nor can it relate to what I’m typing… Norbert is merely an advanced series of algorithms, meant to match words and written concepts with visual imagery. There will never be a computer that can recreate what is in my minds eye, with any certainty. We humans are far too complex for that to ever occur, in my opinion.
As far as Norbert and I are concerned, there is still much to be done in terms of operator error (my part), as well as, better listening skills on Norbert’s part.
I’ve noticed that when I ask the program to place a human into art or cartoon, it responds successfully, for the most part. Like putting my image into a scene on the ship…
I have to insert the images of my characters, in order to keep the realism in the actual image. But watch what happens when I ask the AI for one of the artificial characters in a scene without any human aspects…
Notice how the AI has begun to change the scene toward a cartoon feel. The bowl and utensils now look plastic, and the cookies look like they could be made of playdough. Now, I don’t mind this effect if the image is meant for a child.
I also noticed that the computer handles outdoor better than indoor, when the image is fully imaginary. That means, when the model is neither human nor animal, but fictional. If I ask for an image of Eustace, Tilly, or Bailey, the images are almost always photorealistic. But the conflict begins when I try to put them together in the same image. The AI will either turn my image into a cartoon or completely mutilate the other character’s features…
And, NO, this is NOT one of those images where folks remark at how an owner and their dog look alike!
For now, there will not be any forthcoming group photos.
I know that I worked on Peanut’s images last week, but without much success, as you know. I think that if I want a more realistic Peanut, I must first create him with an outdoor background. Then, I can simply pull his outdoor image into an indoor scene; one with realistic features and furnishings. The same should work for an indoor image being pulled to an outdoor background. It may be successful if I can nail the correct lighting for both images.
I’ve known for some time now that I could very easily live in either a library or a bookstore. But, after thinking on the prompt this morning, the idea of living above my own bookshop/bakery… now that does has a whimsical feel to it, if I do say so myself!
There would be numerous rooms for reading…
All with different styles to choose from, thereby allowing the reader to find their favorite chair, as well as finding just the right amount of light…
or maybe just the right amount of pillows…
Here’s where things get rather interesting. You see, my ideal home would be somewhat magical. There’d be a desert trolley, effortlessly rolling from room to room, all by itself. My magic trolley would offer up the best kinds of cookies and pastries one could imagine…
Why?
Because, all of my reading rooms will come with a complimentary tea/coffee service, obviously! Nobody likes having to put a good book down, just to eat or drink, sheesh! Most avid readers would just choose to starve, I’m guessing. But I say, “Not on my watch, they won’t!”
Now, let’s talk about ambiance, or atmosphere, if you will. What’s a good reading session, without the accompanying sounds and smells of a delicious bakery, just up the stairs…
That’s where I’d spend half my day, baking my heart out! Oh, and I’d have one of those air blowers on my kitchen vents, pumping the smell of sugar cookies out into the streets.
The front of my bookstore would offer both an indoor and outdoor seating area…
And, just behind my bookstore would be a beautiful city park, filled with lush green trees, fragrant flowers, and numerous kinds of birds and other small wildlife…
So, there you have it, folks! My ideal home, all rolled up into a dreamy oasis of cookies, characters, and creature comforts!
As you know, Brutus had flown back to the barn with the little ones during our ship repairs. While there, he gathered a stack of maps I’d inadvertently left behind.
I may have a good memory for a lot of things but I’m not that good!
One of these maps carries the location of a certain missing troll. You remember Peanut, right?
It’s not as easy of a task as one might think, seriously! We need to find the location of a specific river inlet. We’ll need it if we’re to get this ship far enough inland to find the path leading to my grandson’s old house.
It’s wonderful that Brutus retrieved my maps, don’t get me wrong. We certainly need them if we’re to have any success in this venture, but I can’t make heads nor tails of the silly things. If you were at all wondering why maps for sea routes are all a jumble… Pirate’s, duh! When did you ever hear of a sober pirate? Well, besides myself, of course! I’m just crazy!
Of all my hidden talents, reading maps isn’t one of them… don’t judge!
If I’m being fully honest, I assumed that it would be an easy thing to figure out, what with my memory of old trails and waterways I’d once traveled. It’s rather embarrassing to admit that I find my memory of the past beginning to fade a bit, lately. Either we’ve been out to sea for too long, or… perhaps I’m choosing to close certain doors to memories that are connected to sadness… who knows.
What IS important, however, is that Eustace can read them as easily as a children’s book! No joke! He’d come to offer me some fresh tea, and happened to glance down at the map on the table. Leaning in to look more closely, the camel suddenly remarked, “Hey! We’ve been there before, haven’t we?”
In confusion, I replied “I don’t know, have we?” I had no idea what place on the map Eustace was even referring to, nor did any of it look at all familiar to me… not a bit!
Eustace pointed to several of the landmarks, assuring me that it was in fact, the very river that we’d traveled down after leaving my grandson’s house, several years earlier. With the camel’s aid, I was able to plot a usable course.
We were blessed with fair winds, and full sails. We sailed northward along the coast, in search of a rather large inlet that was marked on the map. On the morning of the fourth day, I awoke to a most beautiful view…
We’d reached the inlet before dawn, but everyone was still asleep, other than Brutus and Eustace. Smoothly and quietly, the two were able to guide our ship through the breakwaters without too much difficulty. They told me all about it over our breakfast in the galley.
Apparently, Brutus flew above the ship and scanned for any underwater obstacles that needed avoiding, while Eustace took the dragon’s verbal guidance and steered accordingly. Once within the rivers currents, Brutus used his powerful lungs to blow enough air into our sails to push us upstream. If not for Brutus, we’d be walking all the way on footpaths. There wasn’t any way that our tiny crewmates could paddle hard enough to fight those powerful currents. The ship was just too big and heavy for oars to be of any use.
At the moment, I’ve sent Brutus to scout out the river beyond our view. I thought he should look out for any obstacles in our path, or any dangerous debris floating down the river in our direction.
While the dragon is busy with that, I thought it might be a good idea to wash and refill all of our water barrels, now that we were back in freshwater. The babes chose to gather fresh wood, along with any fresh berries they might discover. I can’t remember when we enjoyed fresh berries, and I highly doubt I’ll be tasting them anytime soon. Never send a hungry baby to pick yummy, sticky, and sweet berries if you actually wanted some! That would just be silly, and very unrewarding. They were having fun, which was the intended outcome. I was free to work without tripping over a little one scuttling about underfoot. Besides, they made enough noise that I knew exactly where they were, at any given moment.
I should correct myself, here. Not all of the babes went off to the woods in search of goodies. Eustace stayed behind to organize all the maps in my cabin, sorting and storing them safely. There were several maps that he wanted to study further, as they were unfamiliar to us. I don’t actually know where I’d found them, originally. Who knows? Perhaps, once we’re done collecting our forgotten troll, Peanut, we’ll already have decided upon our next adventure.
Back to what I was saying about who stayed behind on the ship, there was only one other that stay aboard the Torrent. Osrig refuses to come out from beneath the bed in my cabin. As I’ve been telling you about all the trouble with ship repairs, trips to the barnyard, and map reading… I’ve been trying to help Osrig through some very difficult adjustments. The poor thing has never seen anything beyond the sea, the sands, and the island tropics. He’s terrified of humans, and I’m certain it was for good reasons! When I was bathing him for the first time, there were many scars beneath his fur. The scars were deep and jagged, running across his face and back. They looked to have come from beatings with some form of whip, or cordage.
Quite honestly, I’m surprised that he trusts in me the way he does. The only time he does come out from under the bed is when I enter the cabin. He’ll sleep beside me on the bed during the night, but at first light, always returns to the spot beneath the bed. When the ship had to go ashore for repairs, I had to leave him in the cabin with the door locked. Creed made sure that he was the only one entering and leaving that room, ensuring that Osrig remained undetected.
While it’s great and all that Osrig is good at hiding under beds, it cannot last! I’ve only a short time before we will be traveling by footpaths and deer trails, and if he’s still stuck under my bed I’ll have to leave him behind… and this time I can’t do that! Nobody gets left behind… nobody! For Pete’s sake! That’s what this whole rescue operation, mission thingie, is all about, right?!
Ideas, you guys… pleeeeeeze oh pleeeeeeze! Does anybody have a hack, secret handshake, magic beans, or irresistible Scooby snacks?
Well, we did it! Don’t ask me how, because the main mast snapped five miles offshore, nearly flipping the ship on her side. Thank the good Lord, the ship righted herself, though the entire main sail sank into the sea. Another blessing was the free tow into land we were given by a nearby vessel. They’d seen the whole thing and rushed into give aid… Sailors are some of the nicest folk you’ll ever meet!
Anyways, the ship was pulled up onto shore. ..
The damage from that snapped pole was extensive! It caused two other beams to splinter, tearing through most of the other sails. That wouldn’t have been so bad, in and of itself, but when everything crashed over the side of the ship, it ripped all the side railing off and tore into the actual frame of the ship. Honestly, looking at the ship from dockside makes me glad to have made it to land, at all!
While I’m quite sad at how much damage was sustained, there were two huge pluses in all of this mess. The first huge plus was the fact that I’d already sent Brutus and the babes off in the little dingy, to land further up the coast. With the ship up on poles, along with scads of workers climbing in and out of it, there’d be no way to hide anybody. Something told me to send them on ahead. Thank Goodness for small favors, lord!
The second huge plus was the surprise that had been waiting for me on the dock…
You guessed it! Creed was standing there smiling at me as I climbed off the ship, like he’d been expecting my arrival. How on earth did the man do that? He always seems to know when I need him the most. Love is such a funny thing, always showing up in ways we never saw coming.
Oh! I think that I’ve settled on a name for our ship. How does “The Torrent” sound for our soon-to-be seaworthy vessel? With Creed in charge of the repairs, she’ll be right as rain in no time!
While I’m not in the mood for writing today, there is always room for tinkering, right?!
Remember when you were little and stuck in the house for whatever reason, with nothing to do but entertain yourself? We didn’t have cell phones, tablets, or computers when I was little. There was a radial phone attached to the wall in the kitchen, and we had one of those televisions that were encased in half a tree. Those old televisions didn’t come with cable, so forget Netflix, YouTube, or even a video recorder. Music came out of our car radio and television was only for Saturday morning cartoons and Sunday night Disney specials… otherwise, it was meant for the grown-ups.
So…. what did we all do for fun when left to our own devices? I don’t know about the boys, but us girls played dress-up! We loved to sneak into our mother’s closet and pretend to be a grown-up, stumbling around in her high-heeled shoes, tripping over the hem of the dress we’d been parading around in. My mother was an avid Avon customer, having boxes under the bathroom sink that were filled with sample lipsticks and perfumes. By the time I was finished with my self-makeover masterpiece, I both looked and smelled like an old French whore, as some might say.
Well, I’m far older and no longer even wear make-up or fancy dresses. I probably don’t own more than half a dozen outfits, mostly sweats… and high-heels left the building years ago! Thanks to modern technology, I’m able to enjoy a little playtime, sort of like I did as a child, but virtually! Back then it was dress up for myself and my baby dolls, alone in my bedroom. Today, I use a computer program to create beautiful, imaginative and entertaining things… and I get to see myself as the younger me, the way I remember.
Not just me, but you get to see all the barnyard babes going and doing things that I don’t get to do in the real world. Speaking of going and doing things, we’ve been adrift for days without the tiniest bit of wind to fill our sails. It’s been stiflingly hot in the cabins below deck, but brutally hot on deck, where the sails hang limp and useless. With nothing to do, compounded by the discomfort of the heat, all crew have holed up in the galley. It’s mid level of the ship, and nearest our water supply. Plus, I built a make-shift wading pool for us to put our feet in, for a little relief.
I think the nautical term for things is called Doldrums, not that it makes things any better in the knowing of such a term. I don’t even know what brought it to mind. Since we’re all too hot to touch each other, let alone don a bunch of hot and cumbersome outfits out of a smelly old chest, I pulled out my laptop… yes, I do happen to have a magic laptop that has an imaginary extension cord attached to it, so what! Think inner child, here…
It all started with Nugget! Well, a picture of today’s dress-up star, as I needed a volunteer subject. Who better to tinker with than our quirky little sailher… get it? Sail her, Sailher! Well, hopefully you got it…
Anyways, back to our magic make-over session, for today’s tinkering adventures! In the editing section of my AI program there’s this drop down list labeled “Stylize”. It’s where you can choose from a number of color/style/backdrop environments to enmesh with your character/model. I’ve never really used it before, due to being so picky about facial expressions and the mix between realism and whimsical in nature… basically, I’m a control freak with an overactive imagination. At times, I really do feel sorry for my AI assistant!
I took the above image of Nugget and simply began going through the list, making two images in each template, with the creativity setting on 7 out of 10. The higher the number, the more creativity I give over to the AI. It would take all day for me to run you through the dozen or so templates, so I’ll just show you some of the ups and downs and then my favorites, if you’re still actually here. I’m bored, ok! So suck it up Buttercup, as I like to say, and enjoy the goofy pics…
While they were fun to play with, it was merely for testing out of this particular feature, not for altering Nugget, in any fashion… get it? Fashion… oh, for Pete’s sake! I refuse to give disclaimers each time I do an incredibly corny play on words! I can’t help it that I am married to a man who loves to turn everything into a bad Dad Joke… it’s worn off on me, I think.
As far as the future use of this particular tool, I’m not so sure I like it for much of what I do, but it did render some positive results, as far as enhancing a backdrop or something like that. I’ve noticed that the program has a tendency to alter the appearance of my character’s face, or replace my model for an entirely different one, which isn’t what I wanted. Unfortunately, I also discovered that it only works on artificial characters… it doesn’t recognize my character, nor Mini-me or even the puppy, Bailey. Mainly, it worked with artificial and animated creatures. At least, it was the overall result from today’s two hour tinkering session.
Out of the entire experience, I really only found one image that was able to really hold onto Nugget’s key facial features, well, maybe two. I’ll show them both and let you decide…
I’m learning that sometimes getting lost isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe that’s the secret to finding your way… who knows?!
All I know is that I’m glad we did lose our bearings during that storm, or else we might never have traveled in the direction we did, nor would we have discovered the tiny, lone island, out in the middle of nowhere…
But, is it really nowhere? If you get to a place and find something already there that was left by another… wouldn’t that mean it has to be somewhere, not nowhere?
Well, we did find something that someone else left behind. I don’t think it’s considered stealing if the item was simply abandoned, and left in the sand. I mean, it’s not like the island belongs to anyone specifically, as there’s nobody living there, nor has anyone been on that island for some time. Aside from the treasure itself, there wasn’t anything else on the island, other than some palm trees and sandy beaches. I don’t think it was much bigger than a city park and not a very big one, at that! The only reason we anchored there was to repair some of the damage done from the storm.
After the repairs were completed, I thought it was would be fun to do a little exploring on the island. There wasn’t much there, but it still felt good to get off the ship and walk in the warm sand for a bit. The babes played and played and played, chasing each other from one end of the island to the other, laughing and squealing with delight! Finally, when they’d completely worn themselves out, everyone simply collapsed in the sand to rest… all except for one, Dinky!
In all the activity, I’d not noticed her absence. It wasn’t like she could go very far since the island was so tiny. All I had to do was look around, right? She should have been there, but she wasn’t! I ran back to the ship to see if she’d stayed onboard when we went to play on the beach. She wasn’t there, either. In a panic, I began calling out her name, but I still got no response… Dinky wasn’t anywhere to be found!
All the babes came running when they heard me calling Dinky’s name. Boomer was a wreck! Immediately, everyone began walking from one end of the island to the other, calling out her name. I knew that we should have been able to see her without having to go anywhere, but it occurred to me that she may have fallen in a hole, possibly. Maybe that’s why we couldn’t see or hear her, beings that she was so very tiny.
And, yes! The little dragon did fall into a hole… a rather large one, actually. There she was, just sitting there smiling up at us. There, beside Dinky, was something that I can only describe as a priceless treasure!
Now, you may be thinking that we found a chest of gold, silver, and rare jewels. Isn’t that generally what pirate’s like to bury in the sand on remote desert islands, hidden in the heart of the sea? That would have been my first guess, anyway. Well, before you start thinking that it was money, I’ll stop you. It wasn’t money at all, but if you were to ask me its worth… I wouldn’t be able to give you an exact number. Why? Because, a things worth has to do with the value one places on it! I think that it mostly depends on the things one considers to be worth holding onto. While I saw priceless, someone else left this treasure behind… abandoned it, really!
Why on earth was this treasure left behind? Yes, it was rather unusual looking, but I like things that are different. I suppose that some might find it of no good use, but I love to find purpose in things. I think that this treasure was left behind out of fear… fear of something different, something one doesn’t understand. Fear can make us do things we never thought we might do, say things we never thought we might say, and sometimes, cause others pain, neglect, and/or abandonment. In the case of this treasure… I think that’s exactly what happened!
Part of me wants to show you what we found, right this very moment, but I’m not sure how you might react. Will you think me a fool? Will you deny it’s value, once you see what it is? What if it fills you with fear or revulsion, instead of awe and wonder? That’s a possibility, you know. What I think about a thing’s value may be far different than what you imagine it should. I’m still not even sure what it is, exactly, but I’m still taking it onboard with us… that’s how valuable I think it is!
Ok! Don’t freak out or anything…
Now, I may not know the whys of this treasure being left behind, nor do I know the whats or whos or whens, yet… but I will! That’s the beauty of this whole voyage… we can take as long as we wish to get where we need to go, right?!
Now, I know you might think that I’m going to say ‘the bible’ for my first choice, here… but you’d be wrong! Ok, not entirely wrong.
When I saw this mornings prompt, I did plan to give that as my first answer, at first! But, here’s the problem I encountered when I sat down to write out my response to the above question… the why part!
First of all, do you realize how many books I’ve read over the last 56 years? I wouldn’t be able to answer that question, myself. Goodness! I’ve read and re-read so many books over the years, whether they be fiction or non-fiction. The sheer number of adventurous stories I collected and filed into my memory banks must be staggering! Where do you think my love of writing was born? Dreaming! What filled my dreams? Those fictional adventures brought my imagination to life, I think.
Unfortunately, life has a tendency to suck all the fun and adventure out of things, so survival called for moving beyond fantasy toward the pursuit of the truth. Endless hours were spent pouring through all manner of Christian and/or Secular volumes of self-help, self-improvement, and self-validation books. Some helped and some didn’t. One particular book did, in fact, help. Yes, this is the place where you can say, “see, we knew you were going to say the Bible.”
But did I? Can we even do that? Well, I suppose we could, but the real question here might be… should we?
Did you know that the Bible, itself, is not really just one single book? Technically, it’s a collection of 66 different books, some quite small and others quite lengthy… but still!
Of all the differing books I’ve read over these many years, those 66 books have been invaluable to me at one time, or another. I’m fairly certain that if you were to ask me this same prompt question at a different time, my answer would be different. Well, ok, I confess that the Psalms will always be in my heart, so I guess that one will always be on the list, though I cannot say whether it would be number 1, 2, or 3. As I said, it would probably depend on when you asked me the question.
Since we know that one of the three books has already been set in stone, so to speak, now what? How can I not go straight to the gospels? But, how am I to decide which of those books impacted me the most? Matthew, Mark, Luke or John… can one actually decide between the four? Well, I couldn’t… I can’t… in truth, I don’t want to!
It didn’t even help trying to pick the Old Testament or the New Testament… way too much valuable stuff in both!
Personally, I look to the entirety of the old testament for our history, as it’s important to remember. We all want to know who we are and where we came from, don’t we? Aren’t there currently a number of DNA mail in organizations out there that make a ton of profit from those wanting to know their family’s genealogy? My point here is that we all find our history important! The old testament has 39 books to choose from, and I’ve already said that Psalms is on my list of three, so there’s still 38 more books to pick and we haven’t even begun to talk about the books in the New Testament. What about Paul’s writings, or Timothy’s, or James, or John? See my problem?
If I were to actually take even one of these books and write an explanation of how it impacted my life, we’d need a lot more time and a lot more cookies!
We have a cabin filled with maps, navigational charts, and all manner of nautical doohickeys… and we still managed to get ourselves lost! One would think that having a dragon about would count for something. Not when he can’t fly out and search for our landmarks.
Currently, the dragon is grounded to my cabin… well, not really grounded. It’s more like seclusion for his own safety. After the incident we had the other day, it’s best for everyone involved that the dragon not be out and about, right now. Maybe I should back up a bit…
It all started with a storm, and a mighty one it was…
This old ship groaned, creaked, and sprang leaks from stem to stern, but she held! Thank goodness for the workmanship of those old time craftsmen. Truly, this ship was built to withstand the seas cruelest of winds, and most powerful waves. The problem, however, wasn’t the wind nor the waves. It was the rocks…
It was good that the ship could hold out the water, but I was more worried about the wind and where it was carrying us. We were utterly helpless and at the mercy of the fierce winds for hours, while they ruthlessly pushed us toward destruction…
We never had a chance to safely stow our sails before the storm hit, leaving useless and in tatters. When I didn’t things could get any worse… they did! We found ourselves under attack from pirates…
Our attackers used large grappling hooks to tear into our ship’s timbers, locking onto her sides like hungry eels. Just as they began to board us Brutus came roaring out of the galley with mouth open and teeth bared. The dragon’s sudden intake of breath sent the pirates scrambling back over the edges of the ship in fear for their lives…
I’ve told you that Brutus is a big boy… well, maybe that wasn’t the truest description…
When the dragon is at his full size, he towers over our very ship like it were a mere plaything. That’s the reason for his usual doglike size. Otherwise, the ship would simply sink under the weight of a mighty dragon.
Anyways, back to our pirate predicament…
Depending on who you ask, Brutus may or may not have, kind of sort of, lit a good number of pirate ships on fire… well, it all happened so fast that I can honestly say that I didn’t actually see anything happen… honest! I was so busy collecting crew that were scattered about the ship, I didn’t know the ships were on fire until I smelled the smoke in the air.
At first, I thought it was our vessel burning, and nearly dropped Bailey over the side of the ship when our sails miraculously caught a gust of wind, propelling our ship away from the flames as if we’d been shot out of a cannon!
With ships burning in the distance that grew between us, I looked to see that our sails were being filled by the breath of a familiar dragon. Brutus was using his mighty lungs and wings to push us to safety!
Somehow, the dragon managed to direct our ship toward a gap in those islands we’d been crashing towards, just before the pirates attacked. There, we made anchor in the dark, to simply wait out the storm and pray for dawn.
Dawn’s first light saw us making a hasty retreat into deeper waters, hoping to put as much distance from our adversaries as possible, though we saw no trace of our pursuers, nor any evidence of the battle that had taken place, only the night before.
The waters didn’t say empty for long, however, as I’m certain that there were survivors… and I’m sure they told tales of a mighty dragon. By the next day, there were numerous ships of varying allegiances. I could only presume that they were searching for this so called dragon…
My only option was to flee into uncharted waters, seeking to lose ourselves within the sea, itself…
Sometimes, getting lost is actually the best way to get where your going… at least that’s what I’m learning.
So, now you know why Brutus is sticking below decks for the time being. Now is not the time for having a massive dragon flying around your ship, you know? We’d stick out like a sore thumb, if you know what I mean.
For now, if you wouldn’t mind, I’m going to stay lost, I think…
It’s funny how dreamy one gets when living aboard a ship full time. Days and nights lose all sense of time, in terms of minutes and hours. Our days simply move between daybreak and sunset. Things also become reliant on the weather cooperating. If the winds are kicked up and the waters get rough, we spend our time within the ship’s comfortable cabins. Those are days for baking, stitching holes in little socks… and storytelling, which I happen to be rather good at. Needless to say, I think that the babes prefer the stormy days to the sunny ones.
This morning finds me sitting in my cabin, with great plans of writing some grand adventure quickly drifting away with the breeze. While I have many things I could write about, its all I can do to keep myself sitting here, as I can hear the crew having so much fun out on deck!
As you can see, the dragons have taken charge of everything above deck! While I am grateful that they’ve taken that part off my hands, I think it has more to do wind and wings than it does about work… if you know what I mean…
I can’t tell you how many times Brutus has had to pull one of the babes out of the waves. Squagon is the worse, by far! You know, the sea air has even gotten Nugget up on deck…
For a dreamer who normally finds joy in existing within my bedside drawer, life on the water has made her more outgoing.
While our winged babes take pleasure above deck, learning all they can from Brutus about everything nautical, the other babes spend more time below deck.
Lilly tends to spend all her time going over the maps on my desk. She’s always been rather good at puzzles and riddles, so I suppose that she sees all our maps and clues as just that… pieces of a bigger puzzle.
She’s working on a successful course that might lead us to the whereabouts of our missing troll, Peanut.
There’s plenty to keep the rest of the babes happily occupied, what with baking, and things of that sort…
I think that they play more than bake, if I’m being fully honest. Oh well, it makes them happy, which in turn, makes me happy!
And now you see why I’ve gotten nothing done this morning, aside from rambling on about our daily comings and goings. I suppose this is what it should be like, anyway. How else are you supposed to know what’s going on aboard our ship, while we sail the high seas? Getting to where one is going takes time. Who on earth would want to simply read the introduction to a story, only to turn the page and find that they’ve already arrived at the conclusion? That would be so boring and unfulfilling.
If I’m to write anything of value for this mornings Monday Message, it would be this:
The getting to a place isn’t what an adventure is about. It’s about all the things that happen while you’re getting there…
Journey With Me! 