The Three Men Who Walked On Water

Who were the 3 men who walked on water?

The first one was Jesus...

The second one was Peter...

And the third was a guy named Jose...

...so, bulls don't swim... do they?

The Name Game

Ok... we are going to play the name game. I'll start, and you come up with as many fun names for these pictures as you can!

I will add each suggested name to it's picture.

Think witty... clever... outside the box... silly... have fun!

Scarlett & Viaggiatore

"Highway Child"

(there was actually a highway patrol behind the bus who didn't make it into the photo somehow...)

~11 Psychadelic Windows -Chief Biscuit

~Hippy Love Child - Princess Banter

~All Outta Scooby Snacks - East Coast Dweller

~Let's Do the Time Warp Again - Diana

~Priscilla, Seriously Old Queen of The Desert - Vanilla & Atyllah

"Rumble in the box"

~'Hey Psycho, Your Victim's Woken Up!' - Jon M

~Get Me Outta Here - Chief Biscuit

~I Think We've Found Jimmy Hoffa! - Diana

"Studded tire, live wire"

~Off Road Rage - Chief Biscuit

~Transvestite Undercover - Vanilla & Atyllah

~Rednecks Gone Wild - Rachel

"Ways to get from here to there"

~Tour de France Job Lot - Apprentice

~Mountain of Bikes - Chief Biscuit

~Lock it or Lose it - East Coast Dweller

~Ever Since Jimmy Got His Drivers License, It Made Stealing Bikes From All The Other Kids Much More Efficient - Diana

"Caddy Daddy"

~Driving Miss Daisy - Apprentice

~Nice Booty - Chief Biscuit

"Yield"
~Because I Can - Chief Biscuit

"Red Bull Running"

~ Always Carry a Spare - Chief Biscuit

~El Toro - Princess Banter

"Oh Mickey!"

~Oh Mickey, You're So Fine in Lavender - Starshine

~Mellow Mickey - Chief Biscuit

~Finding Minnie - Princess Banter

Singing & Dancing in the Rain

This evening was wonderfully special and full of fleeting delights. Colorado Symphony Orchestra (well, a smaller group of them) performed in the park for the public to enjoy.

There was a large crowd; easily 300 people, sitting and laying on the grass enjoying the talent of some of Colorado's finest musicians. It was hot today, topping off at 99, so the dark clouds and cooler air were a welcome relief for this idyllic indulgence.

It started out a casual but reserved affair. Everyone quietly enjoying and relaxing.



And then afternoon showers came gently, and the grown-ups began to panic a bit... pack things up and hurry around. And they forgot about the music, and the fading day, and the loveliness of enjoying all of it out of doors. They popped up like gophers across the grassy knoll and snatched up their necessities. It seemed for every drop of rain there was one less person to be seen.


But the Colorado Symphony Orchestra played on... like the famed quartet on the Titanic, who played while it sank. They had purpose.


The symphony played, and suddenly children appeared where there had been none before, like little pixies at twilight, dancing with rapture and bliss to every note filling the air from the instruments above them. The sounds of the symphony drew them forward like a pied piper.

They frolicked and twirled and wove around in a single file chain in front of the stage, hand in hand. Their laughter spun lambent across the music that had enchanted them. The magic of the moment was not lost on them, they were instead lost in it... giving in to the glorious sounds, holding hands with new found friends, singing with purely joyous laughter, and dancing in the soft warm summer rain.

Let not this lesson be lost on you... live in every moment, to its fullest, and find happiness where you did not imagine it to be.

Scarlett & Viaggiatore

The Garden of the Gods

Where does one go to be inspired, to breathe deeply and experience the mightiness of the world we live in?

The sea

The mountains

The vistas of wide valleys

The list is much longer than this.

Considering the fact that Colorado is land locked, and I've already posted photos of the mountains here (see below)... we journey today, in our search for spiritual perspective to The Garden of the Gods. It is located just west of Colorado Springs, CO, and is well worth whatever time you spend there.

This place was donated to the public by one man, on the condition that it always be free for all to enjoy.

Enjoy!

Gateway to the Garden of the Gods

Kissing Light

A matter of perspective

Looking back at The Garden

Climbers resting along the way

Shadow of Laughing Bear

Leaving the Garden of the Gods

Hope you enjoyed the brief tour, there is so much more than that what I've shown.

Scarlett & Viaggiatore (who learned that his roar was MUCH louder when it echoed off of the rocks)

Philosophy, Justification & Irony

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes ~ Oscar Wilde

This is the message on the little paper tag hanging over the side of my mug of tea today. It's Earl Grey tea, my latest favorite for the last 8 months or so. I love Oscar Wilde's writing, his mind worked in wonderful ways. I love tea, and I love thinking and drinking deeply at the same time.

This is a special mug of tea, however. There is a story regarding it's path to my mug. Fade to last night... a friend and I are sitting in a super fancy schmancy conference room near the top of a glitzy high rise hotel downtown at a 'fashion seminar' hosted by two ladies who write a column about fashion in the local paper. Both of these ladies review a list of fashion don'ts that pretty much encompass exactly what my friend and I are wearing. Of course.

My friend, Molly, is a near 6 foot blonde, and almost all legs carrying her enviable figure. She is fun, naughty, sexy and completely uninhibited. It is a favorite pastime of mine to watch other people watching her, women hate her on sight, and men are speechless. She is fabulous. She is what women should be. If it was the twenties, she would be a flapper. Oh wait...

Suffice it to say, she looks better than can be imagined, I don't look too bad either, and both of us are staring at these lady presenters wondering why they are showing us photos of Barbara Bush and Hilary Clinton and interrupting each other with warnings against wearing what we are wearing.

Molly looks at me and says, "This is supposed to be for us? My mother is too young to wear those styles!"

We've raided the dessert table and had coffee and tea already.

"Want to take off?" I ask.

"Yes, there's a bar at the top of another hotel down here that has a great view of the city, and I haven't been there yet. Let's go."

We take off and stop at the ladies room one floor up from the hotel lobby. While I am waiting for her, I see the door to the 'kitchen' is wide open. This is a catering kitchen used for conferences and meetings on this floor.
(STORY INTERRUPTION FOR EXPLANATION) I've developed a habit I'm not proud of, but a habit it is, nonetheless. I grab extra single packages of Earl Grey whenever I get the opportunity, and tuck them into my purse for those occasions when I want tea at a location where there is no Earl Grey. I come prepared.

While we were at the fashion thing, I kept eyeing the coffee/tea station with keen interest, thinking I could stock up the purse while I was there. At least a little. To my disappointment, there was a small gang of male wait staff and a male bartender that were hovering, hiding in that exact corner... watching the lecture with suspicion and uncertainty, and they weren't going to budge. I'd have had to make a blatant withdrawal of the tea packets in full view and that's just tacky.

So we are downstairs and I find myself waiting for Molly, and looking into this empty kitchen. It is the quintessential metaphor of entering the door of temptation, incarnate. I tentatively tiptoe in... look around, and then beeline to the huge boxes (2) of tea bags. YES! Having been denied the opportunity to filch upstairs, I capitalize on this chance... only to discover that there is one single solitary packet of Earl Grey tea. Not another one in sight. Well one is better than none, and I don't want any of the other flavors.

Molly comes waltzing in at this point. "What in the world are you doing?!"

"Stocking up, I couldn't get past the beverage patrol upstairs." I grumble.

"You can't do that! There are rules about this in the bible!" She is horrified. She is a full blown part-time Catholic, which means sinning is ok as long as you ask for forgiveness.

I smirk at her. "Molly, we just sat through that whole stupid fashion thing, and if I'd asked them for the tea, they'd have smiled and given it to me. It's one tea bag, this is a huge hotel, they aren't going to care." I feel quite justified. I can come up with more if I need to.

"Commandments!" she declares.

We walk down the stairs arguing the morality of this issue, and her shock at my pinch.

"I only ever take tea and pens, and the pens are by accident, usually." I point out defensively. "They have it there for people to take and enjoy!"

We round the corner, arguing still, and head toward the lobby, down a hall that is all glass windows on one side, except for two doors that are clearly labeled at eye level 'Emergency Exit, Alarm Will Sound if Opened'. She goes straight for them.

"Molly no! You can't go through..." she pushes the door open and a siren that is several decibels above deafening, screams this trespassing travesty to the world. I'm sure you heard it, wherever you are.

She walked right through it without flinching, and continued outside.

I walked down the hall and past the security guard who gave me a disgusted glare. I mumbled a quick apology and went out the front door. There's Molly, sauntering toward me with an unabashedly carefree and guilt free grin on her face. The (male) hotel staff that are huddled together about 15 feet away from her are grinning and waving.

"Don't you say another word about the tea." I said evenly.

She grinned, "It's so fabulous, all I have to do is smile." A tucked chin giggle, a flip of her hair and off she strolls down the street.


As I sit here, sipping my pinched tea, I contemplate Oscar's words... and I think to myself, what are mistakes, really... lessons? Things gone awry? Is it only a mistake to the one who got the shortest end of the deal? I like the term 'experience' better. It's all encompassing. It's accurate. It covers every perspective. It makes the guilt disappear immediately, and there's no confession involved.

Here's to a lifetime full of them... as I tip my mug, sip my tea, and savor the experience.


Scarlett (Viaggiatore was not there. He was off visiting Roary and the new twins).

Let me tell you a thing or two! ~ The Moaning Meme

I have been tagged with this most unusual meme by Ally at Crazy dust in my coffee, thanks Ally... a legal and lawful chance to gripe!

I have tagged 5 people who I have not tagged for anything in the past. Enjoy!

5 people who will be annoyed you tagged them.

• Pawlie Kokonuts at The Laughorist
• Cupcake Man at Freedom is a cupcake
• Wilf at Wilfs World
• Cleo at Confessions of Cleopantha
• Caribbean Queen at NYC/Caribbean Ragazza

and, on the off chance that one of these fine folk do not play along, I am using my mulligan on a back up tag:

• Kelly at MyUtopia

4 things that should go into room 101 and be removed from the face of the earth.
• Prejudice - we are humanity, get over yourself already
• Hatred - just imagine
• Disease - all of them
• Hunger - the world over

3 things people do that make you want to shake them violently.
• Interrupting - again with the manners!
• Lying - I detest liars
• Child abusers - straight to hell for you!

2 things you find yourself moaning about.
• Spending twenty years of my life being on HOLD. I can't stand being put on ignore. GRR.
• Gas prices - You want HOW MUCH for a lousy gallon of gas?!!

1 thing the above answers tell you about yourself.
• Hmm. I'm plagued with pie in the sky ideals and pipe dreams?

RULES
• Link to the original meme at freelancecynic.com so people know what it's all about!
• Be as honest as possible. This is about letting people get to know the real you!
• Try not to insult anyone - unless they really deserve it or are very, very ugly!
• Post these rules at the end of every meme!

Award for Viaggiatore & A word from Viaggiatore

Rooooooaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

I would like to thank each and every member of The Shameless Lions Writing Circle who voted for me. I greatly appreciate this award, and I choose to share it with all of the lions, as each of my brothers and sisters is beautiful in a different way.

I look forward to writing and working with each of you, for a long time to come. It is my honor to be in this circle; thank you Seamus for the opportunity to do this.

Viaggiatore

What a long... strange... trip... Armed and Dangerous II - the return of Scarlett

I am back. I am not awake, I am sleeptyping... but I am back. The Armoire Saga continues.

After having made a sizzling deal with a rental car company for a pick-up truck to haul the Armoire back to Denver in, I beg a dear friend, one Robert the Bruce, to come along and he agreed. God bless him and his clan forever. To call Friday afternoon chaotic would be an understatement. I get the sainted lady of South Jordan (Utah) to agree to meet me at the storage facility on her day off so that I can pick it up. Changed my plans, reserved the truck, got the friend, meeting the lady. I ran some imperative errands after work and dashed like mad to make it to the rental car company before they closed at 6. I arrived at 10 to six, yay me.

They search and search. No reservation. They call around to their other shops. Nothing.

It is 5:59 when I realize that I went to the wrong rental car company.

Ooops.

I dash out with an embarrassed smile and wave and get to the right one (Budget - shameless plug), at 6:02 but they are closed. Not a soul in sight. No surprise, I have the same uncanny ability to vaporize at closing time on Friday.

New plan.

I now have to leave Saturday morning. I will miss the family reunion. I will miss staying the night in Glenwood Springs with my dearest mermaid and her mermaid daughter at the cabins.

Saturday, bright and very early we are at Budget. 'That's so weird' the guy says. 'We're always here till about 6:15 on Fridays, we just got out early yesterday for some reason.' Of course they did. Have I mentioned that my life is a study in irony? It is. I am blood related to Murphy too... I think, but he was at the reunion and I wasn't.

We get the truck. It has 4 doors and a short bed. Good Lord I hope that armoire (which I only saw a small thumbnail photo of) fits in the truck.

We drive 500 miles (almost exactly) to the storage place, and Sainted Lady is there with Mr. Sainted. She has dragged her husband along to enlist his help in the loading of the beast. I say beast because she opened the door to the unit... and at the sight of all seven feet of it, I almost fell over in shock. And heat. It was 175 degrees.

The beautiful Beast. Note that it is almost as tall as the doorway behind it that is three steps up from the ground. It is inconceivably heavy.

Robert the Bruce looks at Mr. Sainted and they both sigh and start heaving and shoving the beast toward the truck. The bed is much too short. Tailgate down. I brought rope, thank the Lord. After much work and near death, the beast is loaded into the truck. Mrs. Sainted Lady looks at me and says (as we are standing amidst a museum of miscellaneous items in the storage unit)... 'do you want this Santa? I'll give him to you right now for ten bucks.' It is July and I am looking at a large Christmas decoration.

Santa is a mountain Santa. Furry fur coat, skis, snow shoes, canoe, the works. He's ready for winter in the Rockies. He's not little either. 3.5 feet. Yah whatever, I'm here, we'll put him in the truck.

I hug Sainted Lady in utter gratitude and we drive to the gate, where my Wonder Aunt, Worlds Best Uncle and Fun Cousins will meet us. We follow them 20 miles down the road to their home, they take us to a wonderful dinner at a secret hideaway and then make banana splits for us to enjoy on their back deck under the new chandelier.

Worlds Best Uncle made the chandelier, it is constructed of a ladder that Wonder Aunt used to climb on as a child, metal buckets, and those little hockey puck under cabinet lights. They have it hanging from the rafters of the covered deck with bailing wire... it is the best deck chandelier I have ever seen.

Wonder Aunt and Worlds Best Uncle are extremely talented at practically everything and they are quite clever. Robert the Bruce and I have begun to wonder if we shouldn't leave the beautiful beast Armoire to Worlds Best Uncle and Wonder Aunt because they are whizzes at refinishing, refurbishing, reupholstering... and everything, and they could probably make this beast Armoire look better than it ever did, and they'd thoroughly enjoy doing that. I discuss the idea with Worlds Best Uncle, he is shocked that I would not keep it... what am I going to do with it? I ask. I forgot that I even bid on it in the first place, and it will take a team of 20 pack mules and two oxen to haul the dang thing into my place anyway.

They agree to keep it. I have just rented a truck and dragged a friend 500 miles from home (one way) on an 8 hour drive, watched him and a sainted stranger hoist a 10,000 lb monster into the truck only to drive it 20 miles down the road and unload it. We will be going home without it. It's ok. I still have Santa.

We stay the night and in the morning after a lovely breakfast of cereal and fresh peaches off of the almond tree, Robert the Bruce and I head back to Denver with Santa. We drove through several small towns along the way and decided to stop in one to stare at everyone and eat ice cream. It seems that this is what the locals do, so we thought we'd check it out.



Smallville:

Hot dogs and ice cream anybody?

City hall

State Liquor Agency (on Main Street)

Ye Olde Theatre... currently playing Harry Potter

We leave smallville after this brief visit, and a couple of quick photos on an old rusted tractor. We are off again. We talk to my mermaid in Glenwood and she agrees a BBQ is in order. We stop at the cabins in the mountains on our way home to indulge in natures best and one of my dearest friends company, and we discover that this place is the ideal home for Santa. He fits in here like a hand in glove. And truth be known, looks like several of the local men.

While here, we see the longest enduring rainbow I have ever seen in my life... over 30 minutes. I plucked the largest dried up dandelion EVER ~ the kind with the little helicopters all over it that when blown into the wind will give you a wish... and gave it to the mermaids, along with the Santa, and after a nice relaxing visit there, we head back to Denver.

En Route we see an old fire truck from the Idyllwild Fire Dept. and I cannot resist keeping a photo of this!

We made it back safely, and very early in the morning. With only the rental truck keys in our hands, but with a fun, crazy, memorable and wonderful weekend in our back pockets. Everything wound up where it should have been.

My sincere thanks to:

Sainted Lady and Mr. Sainted

Robert the Bruce

World's Best Uncle and Wonder Aunt

Mermaids both

Budget rentals

With a promise not to be so silly for at least a little while...

Scarlett & Viaggiatore (who laughed all the way, and loved the friends and family)

Armed and Dangerous!

Did you ever do one of those things that made you wonder afterwards...

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!!

Let's start at the beginning. It was late in the day about three months ago. Afternoon sun glowing through the big window by my desk. It was quiet for the most part... no phones, no people... not a lot to do. I was web surfing to pass the time, and I decided to visit a favorite site of mine that auctions off a myriad of things... maybe they'd have something good.

I spent a long time on the site. Wandering aimlessly... and I came across an armoire that was nice. A very large armoire. Good starting bid for the auction. It's a blind bid, so there is no way for me to see what everyone else bids. I think to myself, 'why not?' I've been in the market for an armoire for a while. Haven't found one that I couldn't live without. Dropped a pathetically low bid in the box and wandered off... as I am wont to do.

Three months pass.

I forgot allllllll about it.
I get an email yesterday... congratulations! You won the bid... come pick up your armoire.
In Utah.
I live in Colorado.
I have to pick it up NOW they say.

After scooping my jaw up off the desk, I start thinking... now why did I ever put a bid in on that ridiculous thing? I suggested to them that they could give it to the next bidder (to save me an out of state trip for furniture...) and they reply that I am the only bidder. Of course.

Ok. I need to organize.

First, I need to change all my weekend plans. Second, I need to rent a truck to go pick up this gargantuan piece of furniture. Third, I need to bribe one of my friends into going with me to help me pick it up. Fourth, I need to call the company and beg one of their employees to meet me on a weekend to pick it up because they are only open Monday through Friday and I am NOT taking a vacation day to drive to another state to get an armoire during the week.

That done, I am looking at an unplanned road trip. The outlook is good though, as one of my best friends lives on the way so I will stop to stay one night with her at her mountain cabin for a fun visit, and my family (as it happens) is having a reunion this weekend in Utah, not far from the scene of the crime... so it will be nice to stop and catch up with them. And I get to drive a truck. And I get to hang out with good friends in cool places.

So... we will see how it goes!
I hope all of you have a great weekend filled with fun surprises too!


Scarlett & Viaggiatore

What is art?

I was recently visiting LAEvanesce and the question was brought up and discussed; "What is art?"

I read through many comments and opinions; it's always interesting to me that people see things so very differently, and learning their perspectives gives me a wider scope for mine, even if I disagree. Kaleidoscopes are so fun, aren't they?

After sifting through all the big words and resolutely high opinions... here was my response to LAEvanesce alone:

Art is much more than what has been debated here. It is that which inspires our hearts and souls... be it nature, architecture, paint, photography, words, food, clothes, cars, planets and stars, music, dance, gardens or even speech.... it encompasses so much more than what lives in Merriam-Websters "Art" box, and ironically, artists live and thrive outside said box.

All the way through your piece and the ensuing comments, I kept thinking of Andy Warhol... what is art, indeed. Does it inspire you? Does it make your soul take wings and lift you from the confines of your tethered ground? Does it please and delight you? Then it is art, whatever it may be.

There are no levels, there are only opinions; one mans treasure is another mans trash, and one is no more right than the other, they are just different. When a person creates something, it is a tangible expression of that which is within them, and that alone gives it value. Whether or not it is appreciated by anyone else is irrelevant. It was important enough for the artist to create; that makes it worthwhile in their eyes, and gives it value.

Value is not determined by another, who cannot see it through the eyes of the one who made it, cannot see the meaning of the maker. But when we see something of ourselves in the work of others, when that connection is made... then there is value for US, individually, but that does not ever define the value of the subject itself to everyone as a whole.

~to this, I would add the following:


*Does one know the value of a macaroni necklace until a small child makes one for you, and gives it to you with all the pride and love in their heart... "Here, I made this for you!"... was there ever a sweeter gift of jewelry? Is that art?


*The wedding cake, before it's cut... holding mystery and sweet promise of pleasure to come, just like the marriage that it celebrates... is that art?

*The prom dress on the excited, beautiful young girl descending down the stairs to her waiting parents and her date... a work of art, no?

*The 1939 Ford, refinished, glossy, gliding down the street in the summer sun... art at work...

*The Parthenon against the backdrop of Greece, gleaming in the daylight... is this not art?

*The little flower growing against all odds out of the crevices of an old crumbly sidewalk; it's petals and leaves reaching upward, outward towards the sky... art in bloom?

*The footprints in sand, snow or dirt that are all that is left of one who has walked away, and the poignant symbolism touches your heart to it's depths... art of the heart...

Are not all of these, and thousands more little things that we do and build and say and create, when put together... the art of humanity? Is any more valuable than any other? Only on an individual level... and none is greater than any other on the whole. The value lies within the heart of the one who loves it.

Scarlett & Viaggiatore (the lion whose body is a work of art, and whose heart is the work of the world as one)

Rock ON!

Sognatrice at Bleeding Espresso awarded me with the "Rockin Girl Blogger" award!





THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!



This is my first blog award for anything, so there is extra reason to celebrate in delight. I am completely thrilled! I shall endeavor to continue whatever work it was that made her think of me when she was passing this award out.



And as a token of my gratitude, I shall pay the goodness forward!



To Minx, who is a fabulous blend of saucy, naughty, nice, witty and wise, and who can epitomize class, coolness and be completely (and acceptably) audacious... simultaneously... better than anyone I know. What a great pleasure to be in her company.


To Jelly Jules... a lady who is bold and sweet, intelligent and fun, and who walks in places I used to know. She brings such a myriad of parallel thoughts to my mind, every time, it's uncanny. Comfortably so. A sister of the first water.


To Ally at Crazy Dust in my Coffee, a brilliant woman who sees things from a deep, fun, very female perspective. A lady whose blog I read almost every day... must have crazy dust in my coffee, which is just the right spice for me, and she is just the girl to give it!!

To LMNoonan at the Failed Painter, who is a great artist, excellent writer, incredible mother, and an inspirational photographer, and she binds all of that together with charm, grace, and compassion. She is a tapestry of feminine wonder and a wondrous mystery.

To Starshine, who has been sharing her step by step journey to the altar with her beloved ESuitor, and has finally (June 30th) tied the knot. She is a woman of deep faith, true honor, boundless love, delightful happiness and what's more than all of these, she is a member of the sisterhood of red-heads. GO RED. Blessings and best wishes on your new life, for every morning you awake to find that your dreams have come true, all my best to you.

All of you are Rockin Girl Bloggers... and it is my privilege and pleasure to have befriended each of you. It is with gratitude for past thoughts shared, and in anticipation of many more wonderful smiles and laughs to come, that I bestow this award to each of you... and a double hit to all the girls in my list who already have it, you have it again from me.

To Sognatrice, thank you once again, kind lady, yours is the blog that has been a light for mine to follow. Grazie Bella, Grazie Mille.

Scarlett

Happy 4th of July!!

A Happy and Safe 4th of July to all!

Scarlett & Viaggiatore

Words of Wonder

Instead of Wordless Wednesday, let's do the opposite. Let's take an in depth look at words, specifically communication. Viaggiatore and I went to Japan recently to pay a brief visit to Kumonkey at "Mountain to the sea". We were discussing language; he teaches English to Japanese students of every age. He said, "... my students don`t have perfect English but can still get their point across..." and my response was this:

Communication is one of the most important (if not the single most important) tool that humans use in surviving and growing, be it linguistically, physically or any of a myriad of several other methods. Your "...students don`t have perfect English but can still get their point across..." echoed the change in communication that we see here in the states too... each generation uses language in it's own way. Most of the young Americans that I know don't have perfect English but can still get their point across. I am reminded of Professor Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady" who sang, "...one common language I'm afraid we'll never get..." I'm afraid he was right.

What I can't decide is whether the English language has been lost or just continually evolves. Ebonics is huge in the states now. It drives me crazy to listen to people use grammatically incorrect speech every day, but that gets into a whole different soap box issue about education. The point (forgive my digression) is that "students don't have perfect English but still get their point across" is rampant in countries where English is the first language.

It has happened all throughout time... the way we speak to each other changes with every generation.

Is it lost, is it evolved?
Diluted or dissolved?

Is it something that should be lamented? Sorrow or disdain for those who do not communicate the way that we do? Is it wrong? Is it worse? or... is it just different? How many words have fallen out of use and are no longer even printed in the dictionary? I have several language resource books, I like to read them... they are a definitive history of humanity. What we were, what it meant, and it makes me wonder how it will change again as time passes and we morph into whatever we will be next. Nothing ever goes backward, we will never speak as the generations who came before us did, and we probably won't speak as the generations who come after us do... "I'm down wit dat" will likely never escape my lips, and the chances are slim that "I'm inclined to acquiesce" will ever come from the mouths of the babes who are born today.

Loss or evolution? If it is loss, then the words of those who came before us were lost also... continual loss throughout the existence of humanity, but if it is evolution... then we are part of a cycle that continues to spiral forward into the unknown as it always has. We have an innate fear of that which we do not know or understand. Perhaps it is this fear which feeds the distaste for a method of communication that is different than what we know and believe to be right.

What do you think?

III. Viaggiatore ~ Sahara sand and the Mediterranean Sea

"It's so hot today." I whispered with a quiet sigh.

Viaggiatore turned and looked at me with those bottomless eyes. "It is warm, but it's not hot."

"You're in a fur coat and you don't think this is hot?" I gave him the 'single-raised eyebrow' of doubt.

"When I escaped from the evil chief of the Kilmuseri tribe at Mt. Elgon on the Kenyan and Ugandan borders, I headed north into the Sahara desert. It was 125 degrees. That was hot."

Both eyebrows shot up that time. "Wow... that is hot. How long were you in the desert?"




He swung his tail and shook his mane out and the scent of it's blossoms filled the air around us. "It took several weeks getting through that desert. It's about three thousand miles from Lake Victoria to Tunis, Tunisia. I ran as much as I could at night, I stopped at each little oasis that I could find. I met some friends along the way that were good to me, but it was a difficult journey. The good thoughts and deeds that followed in my wake were like rain in the desert to the people that I touched; it strengthens me when the idea of helping others is manifested in the lives of those that I meet."

I watched him quietly. I didn't want him to stop speaking.

"By the time I got to the Mediterranean Sea, I was feeling much better. I rested for a few days in Tunis, and then swam to Marseille, France. I stopped at a few random islands on the way but swimming in the sea was easier and faster than getting through the Sahara."

"You swam across the Mediterranean?" I was surprised to hear this latest twist in his tale.

"I am not a typical lion." he winked at me and smiled.

Viaggiatore stretched his legs out a little and wiggled his toes. "When I got to Marseille it was only a short distance to Lyon, France. I wanted to get to Shameless' place so that I could get into the writing circle. I have had such an incredible life, and it's only getting more interesting; the writing circle is just the place for me to share that, and it's good to have writing partners."

"You are definitely one of a kind, and I am so glad that you are with me now. Adopting you was one of the best things I've ever done." I said as I reached over and scratched his chin.

"We are a great team, you and I, and we are lucky to be in The Shameless Lions Writing Circle with so many other talented and wonderful writers. This part of our journey will be something wonderful."

Scarlett & Viaggiatore

Walk Not This Way, Wanderer

"Walk not this way, wanderer."

"But this is the way I want to wander!"

"This way is a long and difficult journey. Once begun, there is no other way to go, no turning back. You could go back now and save yourself the effort."

I peered into the distance, to try to determine the length and nature of the journey.
"I cannot see the way very clearly, it is shrouded!"

"It is shrouded. It is enveloped in possibility and opportunity, but do not let that fool you, for the road is long, difficult and unpredictable."

"I can deal with difficulty and the unpredictable. I want to go. What will it be like?"

"There will be pain and tears intertwined with laughter and joy, and all of it will be bound with love. There will be hate and anger, sadness, desperation, hope, exhiliration, passion and fear, and that also will be rooted by love."

"What else will there be?"

"You will be uncertain, but you must make your own path. You can make it any way that you choose, when you are faced with a decision, you will be able to choose the roads that take you from it, but remember, while it is important to know from whence you came, it is also important to have a destination in mind, although the likelihood of you reaching your desired destination is improbable, you may get close to it. Every single step of your journey will be one of choice, and your final destination will be the result of all the paths you chose to take."

"What if I choose poorly?"

"You will choose poorly sometimes. You will make good choices as well when you learn how to do that."

"Will I be able to make it to the end?"

"You will have no choice, once you begin, you must go until you reach the end.

"Will I have to travel this road alone?"

"No, you will have the company of others along the way, but they will each come to you and each will leave, none will be with you from the beginning of the journey to the end, save me."

"You will be there?"

"I am everywhere, always."

"Will you help me?"

"I always help any who ask."

I looked as far into the mist as I could. The path disappeared into it.
"What is the name of this journey?" I asked quietly.

"It is called life."

"I want to go, this is the way I want to wander."

"Wanderer, will you not walk this way...?"

...and I took the first step of the journey of life.