No Geocaching Here - Event Cache

I attended my first event cache tonight. It was way cool to get to put faces with the names I've seen in logs and on cache pages for the last few months. Alicia (sskaysee - 1/2 anyway) said from the log it looked like we had something over 40 people present. It was great.

Tripp and the girls showed up late, Morgan had cotillion tonight. I hope they had fun. We overflowed the one room we were in and ended up spread all over the restaurant so I didn't get to talk to them as much as I would have otherwise.

Prior to the event Jessi, who has decided on J-bear97 as her caching name, and I spent the afternoon doing some caching in the area. We finally scored "This Park Rocks!" on our third attempt with a hint from Sprout. We had a lot of fun with "Llama Spits Again", not that we saw the llamas. We did however get to spend several minutes petting a very nice strawberry mare and we also got to see geese landing, turtles mating and a slew of ducks. Our second failed attempt at "rocks" did result in the collection of an entire walmart bag full of trash so we did our CITO duty for the day. We also got our first "skirt lifter LPC" with "Stevi's Cache" I must say, I think they're pretty cool.

No, its not the most exciting scenery, but its neat to think that there are things hidden in places like that, where a ton of people walk by all the time and have no idea they're there. It's like being in on a secret. Remember how it was when you were a kid? Or when your kids were little? And everything, every rock, every tree, every bug was fascinating? Its kinda like that. Geocaching brings that sense of childlike wonder back for me. I think that's why I do it. It lets me not have to "mom" for a little while. It lets me go back to being a kid with a treasure map only this time there really IS something where X marks the spot. Not like when we were playing pirates as kids and all we had for our effort was a big hole and some angry moms because we dug up their yards. And for my daughter, mom's not mad because she's along for the hunt. Its fun to just get out and play together.

I continue to plot where I'd like to do another hide. Like Timbercreek, I want it to be somewhere special. I've asked permission to place one at our church but thus far we have no answer. I'm afraid that the answer will be no. They're a bit nuts about avoiding liability. Sad but I guess that's the "nature of the beast" these days. I'll keep thinking and looking. When its time, it'll come.

I'm itching. I hope its windburn and not poison ivy/poison oak. I don't see any evidence of blisters yet and I'd think I would by now. It could be psychological from finding that stupid tick. I HATE THOSE THINGS!!!! I can find one, flick it off, do a thorough tick check and still itch for days just at the thought of it. EWWWWWWWWW! I was all up in the bush looking for "Sleepy Hollow" today. That's one that's going to have a DNF for awhile. I'm not about to try that one again until the fall. Too many ticks and poisonous plants.

Tomorrow I have to work. Bummer! I'm ready for school to be out, its cutting into my geocaching! LOL! But we have a lot to look forward to tomorrow. Its Ben and Jerry's free cone day! Its also VW club meeting. And of course, I'm planning on caching between the two events. :) Priorities you know. Speaking of priorities...sleep is becoming one. Terbear out.

Ok...I am SO digging paperless caching

I talked my darling husband into giving me his pocket PC so I could try caching without fighting a sheaf of papers on a windy day. We tried it today for the first time while going looking for "Fields of Clover" and "Old Raleigh Cemetery"...it was so cool! I am going to LOOOOOOVE this.

We found Fields of Clover with very little trouble. I'm learning more about how to handle my GPS and what to look for that gives away the hides. There is a geotrail beginning to form to this particular cache, 3 months ago I probably wouldn't have investigated it, even if I HAD noticed it. Today, even though the tree cover was giving me some difficulty with my readings, I noticed the geotrail, followed it to where I thought I would hide a cache if it were me and BINGO! There she was. That felt pretty good.

We got to "Old Raleigh Cemetery" around 5 pm. I'm still not sure if we ever actually found the right entrance. The cache description said to look for a historic marker and there definitely wasn't one of those anywhere that we saw. In fact the sign was the lid to one of those large plastic storage boxes with the reflective mailbox letters on it that said "Raleigh Historic Cemetery". We went on in, thinking we'd find our way to the correct gate and then backtrack from there. Ultimately though the jungle-like undergrowth, complete with aggressive "wildlife" in the form of a fairly loud dog, proved a bit more than I felt like tackling that late in the afternoon with a skittish 9 year old along for the game. We'll talk to Spencersb at the meet and eat on Monday and get some insight and go after it again soon. Hopefully with a weedeater.

Speaking of the Meet and Eat. I'm so excited to finally meet some other geocachers. I've met cgeek and she's awesome. Its going to be nice to talk with folks that understand the addiction. I don't always get to see trippdyer and company at church and other than the CUMC Tech Teens crew that I've also gotten hooked on it most people look at me as if I've taken leave of my senses when I bring it up. Even explaining it doesn't get it across what's so attractive about tromping around a weed infested cemetery on a sunday afternoon looking for an ammo can or a tupperwear box full of "junk". Its going to be quite the challenge to avoid the "catch phrases" Geocaching, caching, geocache, cache, or geo and still get my fix of people who "get it" I'm afraid. LOL!

I want to spend some time tonight and tomorrow playing with designs for my patches and also maybe playing with the shrinkydink material for some "geocoins" for the Tech Teens. I did go back to hobby lobby on Saturday and buy some. It was just too cool to resist. :)

Guess that's all for now. Teribear out.

I found the coolest thing today!

Shrinky Dinks for Inkjets! The possibilities boggle the mind. Photo "geocoins" were the first thing that leapt to my thoughts. A photo of the "CUMC Tech Teens", who by the way now have their own account on geocaching.com, from one of our recent cache runs or other gatherings would make a lovely "signature item" for the team.

I'm still working on my patches. I found a neat product today that I THINK will make my patches "iron on" for those who don't have the time or desire to sew. Its a double sided fusible interfacing and I think that if I do it like I did the back of the last set and have it stitch with the last pass around the border to cover the bobbin threads that I will have made "iron on" patches. Stay tuned.

I'm hoping to hear soon what the status is on the meet and eat for next Monday. It appears our first choice of venue is no longer in business as of last Friday or Saturday. I'm really hoping we'll chose a new venue and keep the date. I'm looking forward to seeing cgeek again and to meeting all the other names I recognize from my collection of cache pages.

In homeschool news...we've decided on a return to no daytime TV on days that begin with the letter T. I think we've all noticed a marked decrease in creativity since we let that policy lapse. The good news is that geocaching is an educational activity and therefore is perfect for those lovely T-days that we've been having of late. Except for next Tuesday. That's Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's...gotta have priorities. :)

Adventures with Teenagers

One of my churchkids turned 16 yesterday and her parents allowed her to take today off to go to the DMV and get her license. Another of them goes to an Episcopal school and today was the last day of their Easter holiday. We hooked up for lunch around 1 and then we were off for an afternoon of geocaching. Yay!

It was interesting playing the leader for a new driver trying to follow in city traffic. She did well. We managed to pick up 6 caches today between 2 and 4:30.

Our first stop was "Mama Mia" which we'd gone after without success on Saturday. We'd been searching for a micro and completely overlooked the nano that was the actual hide. I'd never seen a nano "in the wild" before. Those things give a new meaning to the word evil. In a good way of course.

One of the neat things about this trip was that, totally by chance, none of the containers was alike and all the hides were very different. It was a great learning experience for me regarding the variety of hides that are out there in our urban environment.

From "Mama Mia" we went to "Butterflies". This was in a neat little "pocket park" that I had no idea existed. The container here was a metal candle or spice can and it is not handling the weather well. The log was soaked. I posted a needs maintanence log on this one and I'm hoping the cache owner will take care of it because its a really nice location.

Next it was on to "Sudoku Challenge - Hard". I was glad to have the younger, lighter people with me because I'm too old and too heavy to be climbing trees. It was a nice hide. ML took one of cgeek's wood geocoins, I already have one in my collection. cgeek's kind of a celebrity around our crew...we love her hides, evil though they may be. We left a mint tin that I'd been saving for an "evil micro" container in homage to the queen of the "evil micros".

Our next hunt takes the prize for biggest comedy of errors and I truly hope we didn't manage to get another of cgeeks caches muggled. *crosses fingers and prays hard* We went after "Marquett Park". It was a beautiful day and the muggles were everywhere, including sitting right at Ground Zero. I asked ML to stop and tie her shoe and check to see if the cache was where I thought it was planning to come back later and grab it when someone wasn't sitting right on top of it. Something got lost in translation though because she tried for it and got caught. The lady thought she'd stolen her cell phone! After much explaining and showing of the cache container, the GPSr and the cache pages we were able to convince her otherwise. We replaced the cache without further incident and the people there weren't inclined to take it but I'm still paranoid that it will end up gone and we will once again be the last people to "see it alive." Note to self - DO NOT Take teenagers on Stealth Required missions. Just don't.

"745 - CACHE" was left for another day. At least teenagers do learn. There was just too much muggle activity in the area to get it today, although we're certain of its location. It will wait for another time.

"A Walk In The Park" yielded a unique hide combining a carabiner and a decon container. When we opened the cache we found among the swag the dreaded used golf ball so we took that. We left an easter button and a pencil sharpener shaped like a small wrench. We figured that for a used golf ball we were definitely trading up. :)

We ended our day like we started it, with one of cgeek's evil micros, "On The Perimeter". This was one of my favorite hides of the day. The tiny bison tube could have easily been mistaken by the unobservant as some kind of cocoon. Very creative hide and in an area that we really didn't have to worry too much about muggle activity.

All in all it was a lovely day. Good hunting, good friends, good weather. Who could ask for more?

2007 CUMC GPS Easter Egg Hunt - recap

After much plotting this is what I came up with:

Two teams - you saw the patches below.
Two sets of eggs in different camo colors (thank you Walmart).
8 locations (they came in packs of eight)
Each egg filled with a "congratulations you found it" sheet (in case someone else found it before my kids did) and a rubber stamp.
Each team had a GPSr, the hunt booklet and a stamp pad.
I was available to be a PAF if they got stuck.

On the morning of the hunt, I went out alone with the GPSr and placed the eggs and took a single reading of the location. If I had it to do again I'd have done that more carefully but I'm a beginner and I was in a time crunch. I had designed the booklet with a place for the stamps, the rules of the hunt and a place on the back to record the coords for the teams to enter into their GPSr's.

I placed the eggs at various locations around our church and, since we have a rather large campus, I placed the last four and the prize box in places on our campus. This got everyone back on campus for the birthday party that followed. One of my churchkids in team CUMC Tech Teens turned 16 today.

The teams arrived at 2 and were given a gallon ziplock bag containing their patches, their booklets and their stamp pads. And then they were off on the hunt and I was off to get the stuff together for the party.

The hunt ended up taking about 1 1/2 hours and everyone seemed to have a great time. Egg #3 gave them all a problem and they had to call for a hint but otherwise it seemed to be just about the right level of challenge. Team Purple found the prize box first but elected to re-hide it and wait until Team Pink completed the hunt and then everyone picked their prizes at the party. They're all wanting to know can we do it again next year...so I must have done something right. Smile

After the party we finished up the day by doing some loggable caches and we found MUM's The Word, team trippdyer found Fogleman's Revenge and we looked for Mama Mia without success but I'm going back to check on that tomorrow on another cache run.

To see pictures check out www.deltageo.com

Today is the Day



I've got the rules printed out, the logs made, the eggs filled with cache notes and rubber stamps, the swag is bought, the eggs are ready to be hidden and these patches are made for all the players. I've been toying with the idea of a patch as my sig item so I wanted to see how hard they would be to make. I'm pretty proud of the way they turned out. I've got a couple of designs I'm playing with for my person patches but this is a special edition, limited run for the crew that is playing tomorrow. Team Pink has pink borders, Team Purple has purple borders. The bunny is the four colors of the geocaching.com logo. I think they're pretty cute.

So here's the "rules" for the hunt

Two teams - Two sets of eggs - Two Ink Pads

Each team will get a list of 8 coords, each will take them to a different location that has some significance to the Tech Team. Once they arrive at the site at that point it becomes a standard easter egg hunt until they find their own egg. Once they retrieve the egg, they'll open it to find a rubber stamp. There are 8 locations, 8 eggs of each color, 8 unique stamps. They'll stamp their logs with the stamp and them move on to the next site. The final site will lead them back to the church where there will be two eggs hidden and also a swag box filled with goodies for them to choose from. Hopefully it won't rain and all will go well.

Plotting: 8 Stage Multi Easter Egg Hunt

My caching buddies usually include my "churchkids" and since very few of them log their finds anyway its truly all about the game for them. I've been wanting to do some kind of personalized hunt, maybe places that are significant to us as a group, but I'm not versed enough at hiding to want to do all the work for permanent placements and I'm not sure if the places I want to do hides aren't already hosting caches I haven't yet found. So I've found these way cool camo easter eggs at Walmart and I'm plotting an Easter Egg Hunt. Nothing that will be posted on Geocaching.com or anything but just something fun for us as a class/crew and give me some practice in placing caches. I'm working on a list of potential places to hide. We may not do the hunt until after easter just to avoid scheduling conflicts. Or we may do the hunt on Good Friday if I get ambitious and get them placed in time.

Taking this a New Direction

I've been wondering what to do with this blog for awhile. I've got too many blogs to keep up and this one seems to get neglected more than the others. I've become addicted to geocaching recently and following the lead of my friend Lisa I think I am going to change the focus of this blog to being more about my geocaching adventures and other random thoughts and musings rather than about writing from prompts. A practice I'm sure has value, but bores me to tears. So stay tuned.

Bashful's Tale -- Part 3

*as one of my new years resolutions I have resolved to write at least every other day. I'm picking up Bashful's Tale where I left it off last year. I hope to finish it before long. Enjoy the next installment.*

After a dinner such as that the boys and I felt festive so we brought the instruments out and played. She seemed so delighted by our pitiful offering. She a princess that had grown up hearing the sweet sounds of a professional orchestra took such delight in our simple music. She danced and clapped and laughed. I got the idea that she should have a partner so I got Dopey on my shoulders and we put on a long coat and danced with her. I could have died a happy man right at that moment.

We decided that the princess should have our room for the night. We all made palettes on the floor and lay awake around the fire discussing what we should do about our guest.

“She cant stay here!” Grumpy grumbled. “Taint safe!”

“What do you mean taint safe? Safe for who? Her or us?” I demanded. The boys looked at me in shock. I rarely ever spoke, that was why they called me Bashful. “Are we such cowards that we’d send the likes of her out into the cold to save our own skins? The queen thinks she’s dead. Let her go on thinking that. She’ll be safe here. She needs a place to stay. She needs to stay here.”

The boys stared at me, jaws agape. It was the longest speech I’d ever made in my life. I half couldn’t believe it myself. My love for her gave me courage I guess for I’d have died rather than let them send her away.

Finally Doc spoke. “Bashful’s making sense. We can’t send the poor child out into the wilderness to fend for herself. Winter’s coming on. She can stay here. We’ll work it out.”

And so it was settled.

Bashful's Tale -- Part 2
The water was cold but I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about her and how incredibly beautiful she was. I didn’t much mind washing up if it meant keeping one as lovely as her happy. I didn’t know about the rest of the boys but I for one didn’t want her to leave.

When we returned to the cabin she had a stew going on the fire. It smelled wonderful, nothing like the vile stuff we cooked for ourselves. She’d found a loaf of bread that hadn’t ruined yet and she’d sliced it and placed it on a tray. While we’d been washing up she’d washed every dish in the place. No small task that. The table was set all nice, with candles even, like we was royalty. A princess that could put a house in order like a scullery maid or cook, will wonders never cease?

“Dinner is almost ready,” she said sweetly, “and you look so much nicer now. Let me see, now that you’re not all covered in dirt, if perhaps I can match each of you with the names on the beds upstairs.”

She studied us intently. Predictably I began to blush furiously under her gaze. Delighted she exclaimed, “You’re Bashful!” I couldn’t speak without stammering so I just ducked my head and nodded furiously. Grumpy snorted in disgust. “And you’re Grumpy!” she giggled. “And you’re Doc, and you’re Happy, and you’re Sleepy, and Oh my goodness! Bless you!” She exclaimed! “You must be Sneezy.” She laughed, “And that means that you have to be Dopey.” She finished. She’d not missed a one of us. “Well do come to the table, the stew smells like it is ready now.” She said. And she served us. Her. The Princess. Served the likes of us. I think that was when we all became captivated by her grace. She was a different type of girl and a very different type of princess. And we loved her. I loved her.

-- To Be Continued

Assignment #23 -- Part One

Rewrite the fairy tale, Snow White, from the point of view of Bashful, one of the seven dwarves.

Bashful’s Tale

She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Her raven hair spilled across my bed like a coverlet as she slept sprawled carelessly across four of our beds. Her long black eyelashes lay like feathers against her flawless white skin. Her blood-red lips were barely parted revealing perfect even white teeth. Grumpy, true to his name, kicked the foot of his bed. Startled, she roused. Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked sleepily at the seven of us standing there.

“Why, you’re not children at all!” She exclaimed in surprise. “You’re little men!”

“’Course we ain’t children!” Grumpy snapped. “Who said we was children?” He sputtered. “Seems to me the more important issue here is WHO are you and WHAT are you doin’ in my bed!”

A scarlet blush stained her cheeks. “I’m so very sorry!” she stammered. “It’s just that I was so very tired and frightened after my escape that I took refuge here without a thought. I shall go on my way at once.” She rose and began to gather her few belongings.

Doc spoke up then. “Oh, don’t mind Grumpy. He’s just well, grumpy. You don’t have to leave right now. Its much to late in the evening for a lady to be in the forest alone” The rest of the boys voiced their agreement. I just blushed.

I look of relief crossed her face, “Thank you! Thank you ever so much.”

“But what’s your name, child?” Doc asked. “And how did you come to end up here?”

A look of profound sadness crossed her face. “My name is Snow White. My step-mother is the queen.” She said. “This morning she sent me into the woods with the royal huntsman. He told me that she’d told him to kill me and bring her my heart in a jeweled box. He couldn’t do it. He freed me instead. He planned to kill a deer and give its heart to the queen so that she would not know I still live.” Tears coursed down her cheeks and she shuddered a bit at the memory.

“I ran for a long time. Some animals found me in the glade and they led me here. I was too weary to go any farther. If you will let me stay I promise I won’t be a moment’s trouble. I can clean and I can cook. I’ll show you! Let me cook you some dinner while you wash up.” She said.

“WASH!” the boys exclaimed in horror. How long had it been since we’d actually washed? I couldn’t recall.

“Why of course.” she said smiling, “Surely you don’t plan to eat with those dirty hands? Doc, haven’t you taught the others about germs?”

For once it was Doc and not me that got caught tongue-tied and blushing. “’Course we’ll wash! Come on boys!” He blustered. He headed out the door and down the hill to the stream. We followed along.

Grumpy grumbled, “Women! She hasn’t been here a day yet and here we are takin’ a bath! It’s not been a year since my last one! No trouble she says. HAH!”

.... To be continued.

Assignment #22 -- In 200 words write about your first toy

Her name was Fussbudget. She was made of washcloths and stuffed. I'm not sure what color she was when I got her, probably white, but I always remember her being dingy gray. There wasn't much to Fussbudget. She was a simple little doll, kind of like an gingerbread man made of cloth, but she went EVERYWHERE with me. She and Brownie Bear were my constant companions and woe to the world if one of them got lost.

Fussbudget slept with me. She kept the monsters away. She went with me to doctors appointments. It wasn't so scary if she was there too. Really GOOD doctors examined her first before even touching me. I cut my teeth chewing on her. She was an ever present part of my infancy and toddlerhood.

Fussbudget lives in the top drawer of my mothers dresser now. She is still a dingy gray. She and Brownie Bear survived as reminders of my baby days and my mother cherishes them. I look at her now and wonder how she managed to do so much, calm my fears, ease my pain, be my friend, when she was nothing more than a washcloth or two sewn together and stuffed. A little scrap of love, named Fussbudget.

Assignment 21 -- Write a Letter to the 10 Year Old Child you had been

Dear Terri Beth,

This is going to be a tough year for you. I wish you could know what I know, looking back as I do from 26 years in the future. Perhaps though, its better that you don't.

You changed schools this year. You met two girls who will remain your friends for decades. Laura and Janet will be your best friends and your worst enemies over the next several years but when you're in your thirties you will still count them among your friends.

Be greatful for your teacher, Ms. Gallaher and for your relationship with Mr. Rascoe, your principal. Next year Mr. Rascoe will be elected superintendant and he'll leave. You'll hate the new principal, you'll also hate your 5th grade homeroom teacher. She's a bigot and she's stupid. Don't believe her when she tells you that you do third grade artwork. Don't believe her when she tells you it's not OK for you and Leon to love one another. She knows nothing. She's not worth your tears.

Speaking of tears...your Pop Honey is going to die in October. He's got lung cancer and he's going to have a heart attack. Your daddy will cry. He'll take his new pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and one by one he'll break them into the toilet and flush them away. He'll never smoke another one. When Stephanie offers you a cigarette years from now...don't take it. You'll not smoke long, less than two weeks, but you'll fight the desire for a decade. It wasn't worth it.

Your faith will be challenged next year. Stick to your convictions...GOD created the heavens and the earth. You'll get an F...but it'll be worth it.

This will be one of the last two years before your daddy leaves. Enjoy it. He'll be gone from the time you're 12 until you're 17. Treasure the times you have now.

One more thing...what B.Y. is doing to you...that's wrong. And it's not your fault. And it's NOT your responsiblity to "be nice to him". He's never going to "pay (them) what he owes" and even if he were...you don't deserve to be prostituted that way. You will eventually gain the courage to stand up to him and make him stop...but what is happening to you isn't your fault. I love you and together we'll heal from this. I promise.

Much love!
Me

Assignment #20 -- Write about the color of hunger

The color of hunger?
What do I know
about the color of hunger?
I have never gone to bed hungry
a night of my life
When it wasn't by choice.
Ask me about the color of love
or even the color of rage
and I might
perhaps
have something to say.
But what do I know
about the color of hunger?

Hunger is a black beast
It stalks the desolate places
Where the poor
Who have nothing
Search through garbage cans
For the scraps people like me cast away.
It is a ravenous gnawing hopelessness
That preys on the weak
In a land of scandalous abundance.
What do I know of hunger?
I who have spent most of my life
Trying to curb my appetites
To avoid excess weight?
Hunger is a stranger to me
I have seen it in the faces of children
And old men on the side of the road
Holding "Will Work for Food" signs.
But it isn't something I know
Not intimately.
So how am I supposed to write
About what color is hunger?

Skipping ahead since the last several prompts weren't applicable or were really boring....

Prompt #19 -- Begin a story with the words, "There once was a chance I didn't take..."

There once was a chance I didn't take, a chance to spend a summer basking in the sun in Greece. A chance to spend three months living in a culture not my own but with the advantage of a friend by my side to help me bridge the gap. I've often wondered what would have happened if I'd gone with him that summer.

It was the summer of 1990. I was a senior in college attending Memphis State University. Sean was my crazy Greek musician friend. My boyfriend and I spent hours at Sean's apartment with a group of friends that gathered most weekends (and many weeknights) around Sean's avacado green upright piano. I remember those nights with fondness even now. Sean would play and those of us that were inclined woulds sing or play along. I remember sitting perched atop the piano like an old time saloon girl belting out "Mack the Knife". It was at the end of one of these lazy spring evenings that Sean asked me to go with him to Greece for the summer.

I remember staring at him in amazement. "It'll all be paid for. All you have to do is come. I do USO stuff all over Europe. Come with me." There was nothing asked of me other than my company. But something would not let me say yes. Even as someone told me he'd support me if I wanted to go. Harold would have let me go. He trusted me that much. He trusted me implicitly and he trusted Sean enough to grant me the freedom to go.

I couldn't imagine dealing with the reaction of the families when I announced I'd be spending the summer in Greece with another man. I couldn't imagine finding words to explain to my mother that Sean and I were "just friends" but that I was going to spend the summer with him in another country. I couldn't imagine Harold having to explain why he "let me go". In the end, I was too afraid to lose everything in life that truly mattered to me, even for the "opportunity of a lifetime." I said no.

Sean had a seizure in Greece that summer. In the midst of the seizure he walked out of the post exchange with something in his hand that he hadn't yet paid for. They didn't believe him when he tried to explain about the epilepsy. I've often wondered if that would have happened if I had been there with him. I've often thought that if that hadn't happened he would never have had the surgery that left him a shell of himself, robbed of his short term memory and suffering grand mal seizures instead of the petit mal ones he'd had in the past. I've often looked at that summer and wondered, if I had gone with him would everything be different.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference." The wisom of Robert Frost. We cannot predict the outcomes of roads not taken. Regret is an exercise in futility. And so I will never know what could have been. My life is good and I am happy. But there once was a chance I did not take.

Assignment #11

Here are three sets of words. Use all the words in each set to write mini-stories in 300 words or less.

Set 1
Paper clips, principle, lunchbox, swing, girl with a pink ribbon

It’s 8:30 in the morning and already it’s been the worst day of my life. See, I have a bad habit of swinging my lunchbox as I walk. Swing, swing, swing, swing back and forth in rhythm with my steps. I’ve never paid much attention to it actually until today. I was hurrying along, running a bit late, so I was swinging it harder and faster than usual. Hard enough that when the handle broke it flew probably twenty feet through the air before it hit the little girl with the pink ribbon in the head.

It knocked her clean out. The ambulance came and she had to go to the hospital. They said something about a concussion. So here I sit. Counting the paper clips spilling from the container on Principle Hale’s desk. He’ll be here soon demanding an explanation. It was an accident, though they’ll never believe it. I don’t even know her and they’re convinced I tried to decapitate her with my lunchbox. Is it MY fault the handle broke? The stupid lunchbox maker should have made it stronger than that. Maybe I can use that as my defense. Yeah. Works in court.

There are 23 paperclips on Principle Hale’s desk. Life stinks.

Set 2 -- Biology, class card, foreign student, leaf, blood sample

She looked at her class card again. Biology 101, Jones Hall, Room 314, 11:00 am, yes, this was the right place. “How odd,” She thought, “No one is here.” She checked her watch again. 11:05 am. She was late actually and somehow she was still the first one there. “Something must be wrong,” she muttered to herself as she turned to leave. As a foreign student sometimes she still had problems with the language and she wanted to be sure she hadn’t misunderstood the schedule.

“Pardon me,” she said to the young woman behind the desk. “Can you tell me what happened to the 11 o’clock Biology 101 class that is supposed to be meeting in Jones Hall?” She brushed at a leaf that had somehow landed in her hair and waited for an answer. None came. “Excuse me.” She said a bit more forcefully. The startled young woman behind the desk removed the ear buds of her iPod from her ears. “I’m so sorry. Did you ask me something?” Sighing, she repeated her question and finally discovered that her biology class had been cancelled and she would have to register for another section.

Frustrated, she strode purposefully away to the registrars office and found a spot in the long line. After giving the registrar what seemed like everything but a blood sample she finally got the class she needed. She laughed a bit at her own frustration. How quickly she’d become accustomed to getting what she wanted. How different a future this was than the one she’d have had if Saddam hadn’t been overthrown. She smiled at the flag flying over the quad. God bless America.

Set 3 -- typewriter, filing cabinet, puncher, clerk, carbon paper, janitor

She looked around the dilapidated office that the janitor had just unlocked for her. It looked as if it were a museum from the 70’s. An olive green army surplus desk dominated the room and a matching filing cabinet stood in the corner. On the desk was a massive IBM Selectric typewriter. She hadn’t seen one of those in twenty years. “What next,” she wondered, “carbon paper?”

She’d slaved for years as a card puncher. She’d been a retail clerk. She’d been a factory worker. She’d worked in a lawyer’s office. She’d punched one time clock after another in a series of dead end jobs until she’d scrimped and saved enough to try to make a go of it own her own as a writer. She’d rented this little office sight unseen. A fact she was now beginning to regret. Oh well.

She thanked the janitor, asked him about the cleaning schedule and closed the door behind him when he left. This was it. She was on her own. Taking a set of stencils and a bottle of gold paint from her briefcase she carefully stenciled on the glass of the door. “Tara Scott, Author.” She opened the door again and admired her handiwork. Looking around the office again she smiled. With a banker’s lamp on the desk it would look exactly the way a stereotypical writers office should look. She’d be happy here. Hopefully she’d be successful too. Time would tell.

Ok. Yesterday's assignment took me forever to come up with an object. I told you I didn't like that assignment. Hopefully the result will be ok though.

My Life as A Switchboard

Until very recently
I've spent my life
As A human Switchboard
The point of contact
Between a diverse group of people
That found it more convenient
To pass messages through me
Than to deal directly with one another
I had been a switchboard for so long
That I didn't realize
There was anything else to be
Or that there could possibly
Be anything wrong
With being a switchboard
I was a very reliable switchboard
Only passing along messages given me
Not adding my own spin on them
Yet it seemed I was constantly
In the middle of someone else's conflicts
And genuinely puzzled as to how I got there.
C had an issue with D but came to me
Because I knew how to handle D
So why then is D mad at me?
It was a puzzlement.
Many fights
Many talks
Many tears
Before finally I understood
A switchboard is an object.
You use objects.
You love people.
And I was being USED.
So I ceased to allow myself
To be an object
And when I was no longer
Living my life as a switchboard
Peace came.
And the people who really loved me
Remain.
Sometimes old users
Still try and plug in
But now they get
"All circuits are busy
Please contact the party you wish to deal with directly
The switchboard is closed."
And I am happy.

Assignment #10

Write a poem about an object that describes you. First choose an object. Next list the reasons that this object describes you. Which is the most powerful? Which conveys the strongest image of you? Once your main image is chosen list supporting ideas. Build your poem from there.

Once again, I'm not wild about this assignment. I shall think on it awhile and be back.

Assignment #9

Write about how you feel right now using your sense of smell. If you feel frustrated, write about what your frustration smells like. Use lots of adjectives.

Can I just say I don't like this assignment.

PMS Smells like Chocolate

I woke up this morning with that feeling,
ladies you know the one.
When nothing is right
and everything hurts
and ain't nothing gonna get done.
The name of the mess is PMS
and when it comes ain't no place to run.
And PMS smells like chocolate
Bittersweet
Dark
Almost biting
It's all I want and nothing I need.
I smell it in my dreams.
The soothing aroma of cocoa beans
Only a man would have written of life
In terms of lemons and lemonaid
Cause women all know
When the going gets tough
That's the reason that chocolate was made.
And PMS smells like chocolate.