Ducks @ MindSay 
wreck
The place where I bike frequently is surrounded by standing water because of the wet spring we have been having. I love riding by early in the morning and watching the dim light from the sky reflect of the surface of these miniature ponds. Yesterday when I went my usual route I saw three ducks. Their green wings were more beautiful than any emerald I have ever seen. If I could capture green like that into a stone I would have it for my wedding ring.
At any rate, all of this thought about color and water reminded me of a piece I wrote for my creative writing class and I decided to post it here. It is a practice in descriptive writing.
**************
The Sea
A constant pressure racked upon me, like being at the bottom of the ocean. The heaviness was not suffocating or crushing, rather just a strange constancy of my surroundings. A clinical feel was everywhere except for in the smell of this peculiar place, in the coolness of the air, the tidiness in every detail of the surroundings, and the smooth touch to every surface: nothing abrasive. Inhaling, I found the most clarifying scent such as that smell of clean air after a rain, but without the smell of precipitation. Looking out at the water, the sea of pale silvery black, I could see the reflection of the “ship” on its randomized mirror surface.
The entire structure was made of a wood colored a deep brown, almost black; I wondered at what kind of stain could produce such a color, but soon found out that wood itself excreted a sap that hardened into this luminescent glaze after the wood is cut and dried. There were no outlandish baubles or garnishes to the floating home. All of the detailing of the ship was done in simple wood carvings mimicking the shape of the waves. Leather covered soft poufs sat singularly and in groups and could be easily arranged to produce any seating arrangement one wished to have on the deck. Most of the time, however, three or four of us would curl up on the largest one set near the rear of the boat and watch the water we were racing away from rise and fall in its flow.
Though only a visitor to this sea and a passenger on this boat, I wore the same clothing as its inhabitants. The earthy-red pants and brown tunics were thick enough for those who lived there to feel comfortable in the cool environment, but I wrapped myself in sarong style with cloth of the same reddish tone. When I would fall asleep curled up in the cloth, I would awake to the scent of strange fibers, their natural and unprocessed smell. Even though the poufs were soft and luxurious, I still awoke with odd muscle cramps from sleeping rolled up in a ball. There were no beds to stretch out on, as the people who built the boat did not build it with the intent of sleeping: at most a nap of less than an hour. The hours of the day past half as fast as they do here, and yet these people would simply rest for a few moments if at all.
There were only two scheduled events a day: the meal and the song. Our meal consisted of a silver bowls with the same designs as the ships carvings full of the shimmering water of the sea. There was no need for further sustenance. Maybe it was the pressure of the air that kept the feeling of fullness all the time; but no matter what it was, there was never a physical hunger felt neither by the inhabitants of the ship nor by visitors of their sea. Fulfillment did not come in sandwich; it wasn’t scooped up with a spoon. Snuggling next to a warm friend, my fellow travelers, and just resting. That was the fulfillment one found on this boat, a resting, warm, oneness with the sea.
(c) M. E. Koenig
A Disney franchise just won the Stanley Cup.
I wonder if they used the Flying V to score any goals? Because that would be awesome.
iFeel: 
stressed-the-fuck-out
iTunes: head throbbing
Hello, all you out there in internet land. Welcome to yet another installment of Aaron's Attempt at Virtual Journal Entry. With this account, I think I have successfully started and then promptly neglected five full blogs, which has got to make me a contender for Record Blogs Ignored, if only because there can't be that many more to sign up for :-P. This time, however, stands to be different. No longer shall the impetus to write be left to my own devices--I now have a solid external force applying motivation; the inexorable power of the girlfriend. It's one thing to write for oneself and an anonymous fan base which may or may not exist (more likely the latter), but not only do I now possess an audience, however small, it happens to be one of the most rewarding of readers available to a humble scribe such as myself.
So join me, if you will, as I endeavor to once and for all make a constant effort at autobiography: dispensing with anecdotes of daily happenings, various pearls of wisdom, and general inanity in an attempt to keep this thing from completely stagnating. It won't be easy, and it almost certainly won't be pretty, but with a little luck (and perhaps a little friendly nagging) it will be done.
As for the actual introductions (which you might have reasonably expected from the subject of this post), I will leave those for another time. Let it be a test of your curiosity and interest to see if you're compelled to return and learn the identity of this mysterious toneless bard. In return for your continued attention, I promise to make it as interesting, or at least, not mind-numbingly dull, as possible; sure to be chockfull of ranting, raving, and genuine, bonafide rambling as any blog out there. Incoherence guaranteed, or your money back with interest. (I'll even throw in some 0% APR. That always works for car dealerships, right?)
P.S. This thing has been steadily updating itself with earnest, but entirely unhelpful suggested tags as I've been writing. While "blog introductions" is fairly appropriate, if rather general, I don't really have use for "make money", "make money quick" (I knew that APR was a good idea), or "make time". But when it came up with the gem of "pretty poem thing", I couldn't resist. Whatever bizarre and overly complex algorithms they employed for this thing, I tip my hat to their engineer. Simply, rawk.
P.P.S. Can someone tell me why the hell Word doesn't have "bonafide" in it's spellcheck dictionary, but Google does? I mean, seriously. Major business level word proccessor and document creator, or search engine....actually, when you think about it, you could probably make a case for the latter needing better spell checking....but not by much. Shame on you Microsoft, shaaaaaame.
I personally gave up on Valentines Day a long time ago. But for those who are lucky enough to have someone who acknowledges the day .... YAY! for you.
Took the opportunity while the sun peaked through the clouds yesterday to do a bit of geocaching. Dave's woodcutting plans got squashed so I took advantage. The goal was to make it up to Ashland to get a Travel Bug and a Micro Geocoin sent on their way.
The first cache we went looking for was one we tried to get in December but the snow had hindered us. This time the road was free and clear of ice and snow and the cache was accessible.
The "Kidder" cache. Kidder creek is a creek that provides locals with lots of cool swimming holes in the summer. I love it back in here. The cache was just down the road from my favorite hole. This was just about 8 miles from home. I picked up a Coast Guard Geocoin here and will move on sooner or later.
The next stop was in Ashland and on the way to the cache we stopped and watched some search & rescue going on at this small air strip. It's hard to see but dangling from a rope attached to the helicopter are two people. The helicopter would pick them up give them a ride around the immediate area swinging at the end of that rope then set them down and off they would go again. Group of people standing to right of red lights were the ones going for the ride.
This cache was at a Veterans Memorial Cemetery in the rolling hills of Ashland. Beautiful out here. Behind me in the background is a horse ranch. It's hard to get a grasp on how massive it really is. Dropped the microcoin off here.
The plaque at entrance of cemetery. Someone had been out and put fresh flowers on all the graves. It smelled soooo good there.
Geese in the pond as you exited the Cemetery.
The pond.
This pond was at the next cache. "North Mountain Park". There are a couple of wood ducks in there, you may see them if you look hard enough. I'm not going to post the cache photo from here .... don't what Dave was doing .... but it wasn't a very logical photo. Yes .... logical. It made no sense. The park was nice. I didn't have the paperwork with me on this cache but had coordinates in the GPS. We still found it without the description or clue. **pats self on back**
This cache was called "Zia" after the road in was found on. I finally got the camera away from Dave and got his picture ..... he found this one .... so his pic goes up! This was in the middle of some really serious sticker bushes. I'm still finding stickers ..... dropped the One Cool Ice Cream Truck TB here. Close to the freeway.
This cache was called "Styraurus". I'm holding a plastic dinosaur. His under belly had been cut and a film canister put in with a log. It was a cute find. Different.
We set out to find another and had no luck. Not quite sure what's going on with this cache. It's been found only once and according to my GPS and the coordinates given ..... there is no way it can be where they say it is. The description doesn't match the hint makes no sense. I googled earthed it and we were in the right spot. Nothing was right. Very confusing. So we decided to make the journey home after a quick stop at the Wal Mart close to Ashland.
As you come over the mountain pass and drop down into the valley here there is an older homestead that I swear the people who own the place have to be close to their 100's. They always have plenty of deer in their pastures and also wild turkeys. We were lucky enough yesterday to see the turkeys and one old Tom was showing off big time. The pictures aren't the best but they are what they are .....
He was chasing this one ..... thinking he may have wanted to get hold of his valentine ..... ?
Wild turkeys ..... not much else to say .... one thing for sure, the Tom was awesome. The sun would hit him all fuzzed out like that and he would glisten. Actually quite a pretty bird.
I posted an invitation on the geo site. I called the invitation "Who Are You" and posted coordinates to the Round Table Pizza in Yreka. I'm hoping that some of the local cachers will show up and that way I'll have the chance to meet a few. It's taking place Wednesday the 7th of March. I asked for rsvp's cause if no one wants to come then I'll cancel the event. Don't like calling it an event. Anyway I'm purchasing some cheap "geo-trinkets" to give to the ones that come and plan on having one larger door prize. Of course everyone will have to be responsible for their own food and drink. So we will see what happens. Hope someone wants to come.
Once again Happy Valentines Day. Hope everyones day is / was a good one. I haven't been able to keep up with my "things I need to do today". Seems to be my M.O. of late .....
Peace. J.
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