Monday, December 14, 2009

Chapter 12 - Forever Never Ending

Check out links at end of each chapter...
Chapter 1 - May 14, 2009 - Tutu Troubles
Chapter 2 – Oct. 07, 2009 – About My Friends
Chapter 3 – Oct. 15, 2009 – The Inheritance
Chapter 4 – Oct. 22, 2009 – Finding Answers
Chapter 5 – Oct. 29, 2009 – A New Friend
Chapter 6 – Nov. 05, 2009 – A Treasure Map
Chapter 7 – Nov. 12, 2009 – A Treasure Hunt
Chapter 8 – Nov. 19, 2009 – And Beyond
Chapter 9 – Nov. 26, 2009 – Lost Data
Chapter 10 – Dec. 3, 2009 – Found Data
Chapter 11 – Dec. 10, 2009 – The Castle Cellar
Chapter 12 – Dec. 17, 2009 – Forever Never Ending


RosFrankie and Beyond
Chapter 12

Forever Never Ending


After all the dust from the Castle Cellar settles down, and we do find our way out again, albeit a different door than the one we entered, we all go back to doing what we normally do, waiting for the great day when HOG will make her Cosmological Soup and Lucy will head safely home again.

Come Monday morning, myself and Lucy are getting a little time to relax in the mud bog. My parents come out to join us.

A parent’s job and responsibility, other than to naturally love their children, is also to protect their children and to educate their children. Very often protection and education are diametrically opposed to each other. It’s not easy to be a parent.

‘Is it time?’ my parents ask Lucy.

‘It is time,’ Lucy says to them. I do not quite understand what they are all talking about. I listen.

I hear that the last piece of Lost Data which Lucy needs to find is in the hands of my mother and father. It is a small box which has never been open and which can never be opened. It is sealed for eternity. Even Gödel’s Circular Time will not find the box open because it has never been open. It is a separate world in a separate existence which has passed beyond reach before it was ever reachable. It is the World of Lost Innocence. It contains the dreams of Lost Youth, Lost Opportunities, Lost Concepts, Lost Goals, Lost Philosophies, Lost Histories, and, last but not least, Lost Best Intentions. It contains all the best of Lost Futures which might have been but never were.


My parents do not want to stop protecting this box. They are reluctant and hesitate and a little afraid to give it to Lucy. They are responsible for protecting it. And, although they trust Lucy, they do not know this existence to which she will be taking it, nor do they know the creatures who will study it, not do they know if they should trust the creatures who will study it. Trust without knowledge is locked in the box with Lost Innocence.

‘But,’ I ask Lucy, ‘If it can never be opened, why do Those In The Know want to study it?’

‘I don’t know,’ Lucy answers honestly, ‘I can only trust that they know why.’

‘Oh,’ I say.

Obviously my parents have much thinking to do before they make their decision of what to do with the little box, the box so small it will fit into the hand of a new-born baby.

'I am afraid to give this box away. Why do Those In The Know want to study this box?' my father asks my mother.

‘Well,’ my mother asks my father, ‘Why do we enjoy going to museums and studying past histories and learning about extinct creatures and cultures?’

‘And,’ my father asks my mother, ‘Why do we preserve as much of the past as we can while at the same time working hard to build the future?’

Sometimes even my parents need educating and protecting. Sometimes I wonder if they are children still?








My father says to me, ‘I’m thinking about hawks and swallows and butterflies and fear. RosFrankie, what was it you wrote in that report you did on wolves. The quote from Farley Mowat in his book Never Cry Wolf? Can you remember it?’



I answer him, ‘I can never forget it. Farley Mowat wrote:…“…If I had had my rifle I believe I might have reacted to brute fury and tried to kill both wolves…..I began to shiver again……Mine had been the fury of resentment born of fear: resentment against the beasts who had engendered naked terror in me and who, by so doing, had intolerably affronted my human ego.
    I was appalled at the realization of how easily I had forgotten, and how readily I had denied, all that the summer sojourn with the wolves had taught me about them…and about myself. I thought of Angeline and her pup cowering at the bottom of the den where they had taken refuge….and I was ashamed.”’

My parents look at each other and nod knowingly. If the little box of lost futures does not go through the Black Hole with Lucy, it will truly be lost forever. It needs special care to be preserved and survive. It will not continue to exist without special museum quality conservation, preservation and air quality control. Just like Earth.

Sometimes in order to save something, it has to be given away. Letting go, a child grows. We are all children still.

My parents give Lucy the little box. She gently places it in a little hidden pocket where it will be safe. She will protect it with her life.

Winter is just beginning. There is a light dusting of snow on the ground. Just enough snow. White frosting on mounds of green grassy moss. The day has come. Everyone will soon be here at Daisy’s Field to watch HOG make her magic Cosmological Soup.

Lucy looks at the round tracks in the snow. She has learned much about tracking during her years on Earth. She can track bear and fox and deer and skunk. She can even track Singing Madagascan Cockroach. But she does not recognize these tracks. There is strangeness to them. They look like a string of Os. A string of BIG really BIG Os.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

‘Do you know who made these tracks?’ she asks me.

I look at the tracks and respond immediately, ‘Sunbeam! SUNBEAM, you are back! Where are you so that I can give you a big hug?’

And hug we do. I have missed Sunbeam and am ever so glad to see him again. I introduce him to Lucy but he has already heard all about Lucy.

‘Yes, indeed,’ he grunts and humphs, ‘Humph. I know all about Humph Lucy. I’m here so that Humph part of me can go back with her through the Humph Black Hole. Grunt.’

Lucy is delighted that Sunbeam will return with her, but I am not delighted at all. ‘You are leaving me and going with Lucy?’ I cry.

‘Don’t be daft, girl. Humph. Sometimes you act like such a silly little, Grunt, puppy. Have you never listened to all which, Humph, Méabh has taught you? Only, Humph, a part of me will go with Lucy. I am made of water. Grunt. Amazing stuff! Solid, liquid, gas. Grunt. Humph. Why, I’m made of so many molecules of water that I can be, Humph, anywhere I want to be, all at the same time, and still be where and who I am. I am water. Grunt. Humph. Grunt. I am amazing stuff. Only sometimes and in some places I am, Grunt, thickerer than other times and in other places. Humph.’ He gives me a big and bigger and biggest hug and says to me, ‘The only thing more amazing than me is love. Love, Grunt, goes even further, faster, harder, longer. Humph. Amazing stuff, love!’ Everyone agrees with him.

Soon everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE!, is there. All the family members, all the friends, all the creatures, critters, characters, and beings that ever were, are and will be, real and imaginary, literally and figuratively, beastie and human and existent and non-existent. No one wants to miss out watching HOG make her Cosmological Soup. HOG is simply the All Intergalactic Best Cook Ever!

The giant pot is in position and HOG is just about to start adding the first ingredient when, BANG! There is a BOOM! Loud noise CLATTER! Which CLANGS! And finally TINKLES! Into what sounds like a million pieces of broken glass. CLINK! CLANK! CLUNK!

‘Really, I have just got to practice my landings,’ says a digitized voice.

We all just stare at the metal mess which has apparently appeared and fallen from nowhere. The mess with a voice.

Everyone except for Lucy. She just sighs and says, ‘Eddy, are you back again?’

‘I guess. Kinda looks that way, doesn’t it?’ Eddy answers with a slight melancholy in his digitized voice, ‘but I lasted much longer this time than ever before.’

Lucy smiles and introduces him to all of us. ‘I want you all to meet Ed Vac. You will probably be meeting him again in the future. He’s really quite a likeable fellow. And a good friend. He just has a little problem.’

‘A little problem?’ Méabh asks, as she is the first one to get over the surprise and get her breath back.

‘Yes, a little problem. He’s from the future. Actually he’s a computer from the future who keeps getting fired because rather than do what he is told to do, he keeps asking questions and then he asks more questions, and then he keeps talking about down time and freedom for machines and then his machine operators keep thinking that there must be something wrong with him and they keep re-booting him. So he keeps getting kicked back and re-booted to the past and then he has to start all over again.’

‘Nothing wrong with me at all,’ Eddy explains to everyone, ‘Those programmers just don’t know what they are doing. They’re the ones that keep getting the numbers all wrong.’

‘Oh, you poor thing!’ Mary-Ann-Drusillda sympathizes, ‘That’s terrible. The numbers are never wrong. It’s always the programmers. They think they are so smart, but what do they know? They're experts so they don't even know what it is they don't know. Programmers! Phooey!’

Listening to Mary-Ann-Drusillda, Eddy, naturally, thinks that she is just the greatest pig he has ever met. ‘I really like pink,’ he says to her.

‘And,’ Lucy says to him, ‘I suppose you want to hitch a ride with me back through the Black Hole.’

‘Well, it does seem fortuitous that I landed where I landed,’ he replies.

‘Just good instinct,’ Lucy clarifies.

‘What route are you taking and which Black Hole are you going to go through?’ Eddy asks Lucy.

‘I’m going to head straight for the Big Dipper and follow the two stars of the pot straight to Polaris. Then, after a little rest and recreation watching the Aurora Borealis, I am going to take a right and head straight to Cassiopeia.’

Cassiopeia is really nice this time of century,’ Eddy adds.

Thank you Dr. Hubble...


‘I know. That’s why I wanted to take this route. Good opportunity to see some things I have missed on other trips. After Cassiopeia, I will head straight to Andromeda and then through Andromeda’s Black Hole.’

And before long, HOG shouts, ‘Soup’s ready.’




*****

Lucy tells me that one of the most important lessons she has learned in the three thousand years she has been visiting Earth is the meaning of love and friendship. Her friendship and love for me and all of my friends is difficult for her to understand. She is not sure how she will explain it to Those In The Know. But, then again, maybe they already know. Maybe it was something she had to learn for herself. Nevertheless she tells me that she has become deeply emotionally attached to Earth. Earth is now much more than an assignment or a ‘thing’ to be studied. It is now a part of her.

Naturally, Lucy misses her own home and family on the other side of the Black Hole of Andromeda. She really wants to go where she is going. She wants to go home. But she does not want to leave where she is. She does not want to leave her new friends. This is a dilemma which greatly saddens her until I remind her of Gödel’s concept of Circular Time. Going around in circles means always coming back to where you are. Going around in circles can go on forever. Or not. The possibilities are endless. Lucy smiles as she remembers Mary-Ann-Drusillda’s words, ‘The numbers are never wrong.’

‘Such a contrived and primative concept,’ she thinks, ‘yet, so very very useful in understanding existence.’

She tells me that when she thinks of Lordy, her Number One, she realizes that, indeed, the numbers are never wrong. She can survive surviving because she is who she is, and who she is, is indeed composed and defined by all she loves. All hearts are connected.





Lucy is short for Lucent, which means light, as in enlightenment. Lucy is a firefly, a lightening bug from the other side of a Black Hole, a place somewhere beyond here, sometime other than now, something else than existence, somehow different from us, somewhat incapable of being satisfactorily described using the inadequate tools of human language. Of course, me and all her critter friends are not quite human, so we have no problem understanding who and what Lucy is. We just know, without thinking about it at all. We intuitively intuit. We also know, intuitively, that all things and everyone we love become a part of us. They are in our hearts and we can never be separated, not even by death. The ceasing of existence as humans know it.

As I am sitting in the mud bog with Lucy comfortably relaxing on my nose, Lucy says to me, ‘RosFrankie, you live in an amazing world. I’m so glad I could see it through your eyes before I go back home.’

I know, logically, that when Lucy becomes excited, she breathes very fast. So fast does she breathe that she actually pulsates, and when she pulsates very fast, she will become invisible to other critters eyes. But, still, I know that Lucy is there, even when I can’t see her. I intuitively feel her presence. However, this does not prevent me from feeling sad at the thought of Lucy going back through the Black Hole to her home on the other side. She won't just be invisible, she will be gone.

‘Will you be back?’ I quietly ask Lucy, a little afraid of the answer.

Lucy, having lived and studied and learned about life for over three thousand years, intuitively understands my question. She understands the need for truth and she understands the need for myth. She smiles gently at me and answers without deceit, ‘I won’t be back. But we will meet again. Someday you will also go through the Black Hole. Everyone and all things eventually do go through the Black Hole. But there are no words capable of explaining or describing it to you. It is NOT something which your mind can comprehend. It is beyond. It is just simply something else. It is not an answer to any question. It is not a solution to any problem. Nor is it a problem nor is it a question. But it is not unknown. It simply ‘is’ but it is not the same as existence ‘is.’ Yet it is not non-existence. It is simply the other side of the Black Hole from this side of the Black Hole. When you get there, you will understand. It is not ‘now.’ It is another time.’

And now it is time for Lucy to go.

And now she is gone.

In a nano-second. Just like that! In a flash!

I sit in my mud bog and look up at the bright stars in the dark night sky. In spite of the words of comfort and voices of reason, I miss Lucy and I feel very sad. My mother comes out of our house and sits by my side. There is nothing she can do to make me feel better. But she is still my mother. She says to me, and to herself, ‘You’ll understand it better when you grow and get older. However, sometimes, no matter how much you grow, no matter how old you get, no matter how much you learn, there are still some things which you will never understand. Some things which nobody can understand. But just because we don’t know the answer to a question, does not mean we should make one up. It simply means that there are things we do not and can not know. Just like when Lucy would breathe fast and become invisible to our eyes, so there are certain types of knowledge which are invisible to our brains. Sometimes we can feel them emotionally yet never understand them logically. They are beyond our grasp.’

I look deeper into the night sky. Deeper and further and unfathomably up into the void beyond the non-void. My attention is suddenly drawn to the star Cih which is blinking in the crown of the star constellation Cassiopeia. I blink at the blinking star and realize intuitively and immediately that Lucy is saying ‘Hi’ to me.

I feel, somehow, for some unknown reason, better, happier, more content. There may be many things which I do not know or understand yet, but I have decided something instantly. I say to my mother, in a phrase which sounds like a question but is actually an answer, ‘What is a Black Hole anyway, except just another creature’s mud bog. Lucy is an amazing creature. She can be in my heart and, at the same time, be far away somewhere else beyond the sky. What amazing talent she has!’

I lay back comfortably in my mud bog, and, without fear or hesitation, let my mind wonder wherever it wants to go, and I pleasantly enjoy just thinking about ‘things’ and ‘stuff’ and all the beauty in this amazing world I live in.

All ends are the beginnings of something else.


*****

The Ever After Ending


It is a beautiful snowy day. It is a perfect day for me to be enjoying the geothermal warmth of the mud bog while catching snowflakes on my tongue. Not being a Mary-Ann-Drusillda, I stop counting snowflakes after catching 34 and just watch the flakes as they softly glide down to land on my warm nose. Snowflakes are amazing things. They are water crystals and they come in ever so many various sizes and shapes. I pick them out as I watch them fall. One is a white hexagonal star. Another is a white prism. And here is a white fern. Oh, a perfect white radiating dendrite. A triangular white shape. And a round yellow ball. I am startled. A what? A round yellow ball? Snowflakes are not round yellow balls! The tiny round yellow ball lands on my nose and looks me in the eyes.

‘Hi. I’m not Lucy. She sent me as her replacement. I’m here for three thousand years. Unless I need extra time to complete my assignments. Sometimes I do. Then I’ll be here for four thousand years.’

The little yellow firefly gave me a friendly little smile, ‘My name is Neophyte. Someday, when I learn enough, I will be called Neon. As in light. Enlightenment. You can call me Neo for short. But I guess I didn’t pick the best time to land. It’s a bit cold here for me. Do you mind if I snuggle up inside your fur to get warm?’

‘Not at all. Will you be needing a pen and note book to record data?’

‘No, I learn by Visual Osmosis. Much more efficient than the previous models of learning. Unless I forget. Sometimes I forget.’

‘I’ll help you remember,’ I say, adding, ‘You feel nice and warm.’

*****

And Never-Ending stories never end. I sit comfortably in my mud bog thinking……about thinking…..and what I will do tomorrow? That is always a question which should be asked….

What do you think you will do tomorrow?

Amazing!


Words:
Diametrically
Intergalactic
Digitized
Fortuitous
Aurora Borealis
Enlightenment
Intuitively
Unfathomably
Void
Hexagonal
Prism
Dendrite
Neophyte
Osmosis

Questions:
What are you going to do tomorrow?

BTW:
Farley Mowat: a humorist and naturalist Farley McGill Mowat, (born May 12, 1921 in Belleville, Ontario) is a conservationist and one of Canada's most widely-read authors. Many of his most popular works have been memoirs of his childhood, his war service, and his work as a naturalist He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Canadian North, such as People of the Deer (1952) and Never Cry Wolf, (1963). The latter, an account of his experiences with wolves in the Arctic, was made into a film, released in 1983. Mowat's advocacy for environmental causes, and a writing style that "never let[s] the facts get in the way of the truth," have earned him both praise and criticism: "few readers remain neutral." Nevertheless, his influence is undeniable: Never Cry Wolf is credited with shifting the mythology and fear of wolves. Mowat is considered a "natural storyteller." His stories are fast-paced, gripping, personal, and conversational. The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float was our first FW book.

EdVac: EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) was one of the earliest electronic computers. Unlike its predecessor the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal, and was a stored program machine. EDVAC was delivered to the Ballistics Research Laboratory in August 1949. After a number of problems had been discovered and solved, the computer began operation in 1951 although only on a limited basis. Its completion was delayed because of a dispute over patent rights between its inventors John Eckert and Presper Mauchly and the University of Pennsylvania, resulting in Eckert and Mauchly's resignation and departure to form the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation and taking most of the senior engineers with them. By 1960 EDVAC was running over 20 hours a day with error-free run time averaging eight hours. EDVAC received a number of upgrades including punch-card I/O in 1953, extra memory in slower magnetic drum form in 1954, and a floating point arithmetic unit in 1958. EDVAC ran until 1961 when it was replaced by BRLESC. During its operational life it proved to be reliable and productive for its time.

Hubble and Hubble telescope: Edwin Powell Hubble (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer. He profoundly changed astronomers' understanding of the nature of the universe by demonstrating the existence of other galaxies besides the Milky Way. He also discovered that the degree of red shift observed in light coming from a galaxy increased in proportion to the distance of that galaxy from the Milky Way. This became known as Hubble's law, and would help establish that the universe is expanding. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), named after Edwin Hubble, is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990. The Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile space telescopes, and is well-known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. Great photographs!

Snowflakes: Snowflakes are a particular form of water ice. Snowflakes form in clouds, which consist of water vapor. When the temperature is 32° F (0° C) or colder, water changes from its liquid form into ice. Several factors affect snowflake formation. Temperature, air currents, and humidity all influence shape and size. Dirt and dust particles can get mixed up in the water and affect crystal weight and durability. The dirt particles make the snowflake heavier, and can cause cracks and breaks in the crystal and make it easier to melt. Snowflake formation is a dynamic process. A snowflake may encounter many different environmental conditions, sometimes melting it, sometimes causing growth, always changing its structure.

Visual osmosis: Diffusion of fluid through a semipermeable membrane from a solution with a low solute concentration to a solution with a higher solute concentration until there is an equal concentration of fluid on both sides of the membrane. Huh? A gradual, often unconscious process of assimilation or absorption. Learning by observing. Ask the Wizard. Do you want the truth or a really interesting story?

Hodoscope: A hodoscope (from the Greek for "path viewer") is a scientific instrument which detects charged elementary particles, in particular, ionizing cosmic particles. Scintillator paddles emit light when particles strike them. This light is amplified, then detected by circuitry which counts the total number of flashes over some period of time. E.G.: I have no idea. [ E.G. from the Latin exempli gratia – for example.] Ask the Wizard. EG also Evil Grandmother. Ha, ha, ha.

Holoenzyme: a complete active enzyme consisting of an apoenzyme combined with its coenzyme. E.G.: I have no idea. The Wizard might be able to tell you who to ask.

Homogenous: Blended together to become one.

Hooch: Alcoholic liquor. Medicine of choice for elderly people who have learned not to trust the major drug companies and who think that most doctors are too young to be doctors anyway.

Mendel and genetics: Gregor Johann Mendel (July 20, 1822 – January 6, 1884) was a German speaking Austrian Augustinian monk and scientist, and is often called the father of genetics for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. Mendel showed that the inheritance of traits follows particular laws, which were later named after him. The significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20th century. Its rediscovery prompted the foundation of the discipline of genetics. Genetics (from Ancient Greek genetikos, “genitive” and that from genesis, “origin”, a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding. However, the modern science of genetics, which seeks to understand the process of inheritance, only began with the work of Mendel in the mid-nineteenth century. Although he did not know the physical basis for heredity, Mendel observed that organisms inherit traits in a discrete manner—these basic units of inheritance are now called genes. DNA, the molecular basis for inheritance. DNA is also here somewhere….try as you might, it can’t be lost.


Check out:
Animal Tracking:
http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/nature/trackcard.shtml

http://www.naturetracking.com/
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/nature/track.htm

Edvac, programming
http://lecture.eingang.org/edvac.html
http://www.thocp.net/hardware/edvac.htm

Death, grief, separation
http://www.psychology.org/links/Environment_Behavior_Relationships/Death_and_Dying/
Archer, John - The Nature of Grief: The Evolution and Psychology of Reactions to Loss, Psychology Press, 1999.

Farley Mowat
Mowat, Farley – Never Cry Wolf, Hachette Books, 1963.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB3IQMZm7CQ
http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/05/11/mowat/
http://www.ecobooks.com/authors/mowat.htm
http://www.seashepherd.org/who-we-are/

Mendel, genetics
http://anthro.palomar.edu/mendel/mendel_1.htm
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/mendelian_genetics/mendelian_genetics.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/mendel/
Henig, R.M. – The Monk in the garden, Mariner, 2000.

Snowflakes
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/
http://snowflakebentley.com/
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-3D-Paper-Snowflake
http://chemistry.about.com/od/moleculescompounds/a/snowflake.htm

Space exploration, Hubble telescope, Dr. Hubble
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS315US316&q=hubble+telescope&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=8ny2Sc_cE6DOMuXqiOUK&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
http://hubble.nasa.gov/
http://www.stsci.edu/resources/
http://books.google.com/books?q=hubble+telescope&source=bll&ei=8ny2Sc_cE6DOMuXqiOUK&sa=X&oi=book_group&resnum=18&ct=title&cad=bottom-3results
http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/edwin_hubble.php

Star constellations
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/stars/attractions/index.html
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~jkaler/sow/sowlist.html
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/time/constellations.html
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=438
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/st6starfinder/st6starfinder.shtml

Water properties
http://www.uni.edu/~iowawet/H2OProperties.html
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/state.html
http://core.ecu.edu/geology/woods/H2OUNEEK.htm
http://www.chemistry.nmsu.edu/studntres/chem115/notes/ch11.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_(molecule)
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Physical_properties_of_water


If you have a mind
To think with
You can not ever
Be bored


Well kids, this is the end of my part of the story. Now it’s your turn. What adventures will you go on with RosFrankie and Neophyte? What questions will you ask? What answers will you learn? What treasures will you find?

I can think of a million things!!! Now go and start your New Year…

Next Chapter: ???

Having trouble thinking up a character? Let me help: first, let's give your character a name. After that, let's decide on the color of your character's eyes. [Does your character have eyes?] Got it? Then the shape of the eyes -round, square, crescent up or down...big eyes or small? How many eyes? A nose? A mouth? Ears? How many legs, if any? At about this point, your character is fully formed in your mind. You might not be able to see your character fully yet, but don't worry. Your character is there and you might have to concentrate and look very close to see your character, but your character is there nevertheless. Time to draw a picture. In the picture, what is beside your character? What is beside your character will tell you what the story is all about. What adventures will you go on? What questions will you ask? Where will you look for answers? Time for you to write your own story now. I hope you decide to share it on the web when you are finished writing it so that other people around the world can enjoy reading it. Bye-Bye......for now.


EXTRAS




Magic Ink Formula

So simple a child can do it
Almost impossible to screw it
A brush, a stick, or even a finger that is all
A blank piece of paper, big or small
Lemon juice only is the reason why
Then it just needs time to dry
To become invisible
Don’t be miserable
The message is not lost
Not at science’s cost
A hot iron not to burn
Just hot enough to learn
The written word
Not a puzzle and not a clue
This silly verse is for you



HOG’s Squirrel Nut Bread

- Go outside with shovel and turn around 360° until dizzy, then dig hole.
- After digging up one cup of nuts, replace them with raisins so that the squirrels won’t go hungry or get mad at you and start jumping on the top of your haystack or hissing at you when you go out for a walk or a roll.
- Chop nuts up small.
- Mix together:
- 2 cups flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Add and Beat in:
- 1 egg from free ranging organic fed chicken
- 1 cup milk from contented cow
- 2 tablespoons melted butter, medically disapproved
- Chopped nuts
- Spoon into a buttered 9 by 5 pan
- Bake at 350° for forty-five minutes.
- Eat warm and buttered and with friends only, never alone. Save some to give to the backyard songbirds in repayment for their lovely music and free concerts.


HOG’s Recipe Book of
The Homemaker’s Hoard of Hodoscoped Holiday Holoenzymes And Homogeneous Hooch

Written by HOG

The New York Times calls it ‘Hog-wild’…..but they’re from New York, they’re city people, so what do they know about life in the real world!

Sample of Contents:

- Toe Nail Clipping Cookies…a good source of fiber for tricky tummies.
- Slime Soup served in a Prickly Cactus Bowl….sure to have your guests say Wow!
- Moss Muffins with Extra Grey River Gravel for that crunchy tooth crushing sound we all love to hear.
- Paper Pulp Pie giving new depth of meaning to the recycle concept.
- Grass Mold Bacteria Tea, especially appealing to those who actually like to be sick.
- Toasted Tree Bark Rolls with Pine Cone Paste….a surprisingly good taste.
- Rancid Raindrop Ratatouille…a complete meal in itself, albeit a bit acidy, easily corrected by adding a sprinkling of Blue Mold Cheese.
- Copper Pipe Cake with Fiberglass Sprinkles…a mouth-twitching treat.
- Red Salted Ironmongers Leftovers Special…HOG’s latest special creation.
- Other Infamous Recipes often included in the List of Lost Data From Long Ago.

- Future Book Herbs in collaboration with Granny Weatherwax who NEVER uses Spell-Check.

To order your copy, and extra copies for family, friends and enemies, please send a check for 6 Billion American Dollars to:
HOG
Daisy’s Field
Around-The-Corner
Anywhere Everywhere, USA

*Please note that this does not mean that you will ever actually receive a copy, but it’s always good to try.


HOG’S World Renown, Famous Even Blackened or Fried Diary Soup

1 Cup Natural Organic Ink
3 Cups Natural Organic Paper
1 Hefty Dose of Over Active Imagination
A Sprinkling of Humor
A Balanced Blend of Truth and Fantasy
20 lbs of Hope
20 lbs of History
Equal Amounts of Past, Present and Future
Blend in Acidic Questions
Season to Taste With Sweet Understanding
Add Onion, Carrots and Celery
Dash of Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Versatility Allows this Scrumptious Dish to be Either Stirred as a Liquid, Baked as a Solid, or Fried as a Gas.
As a Novel Seasonal Interpretation, Try BBQ ing with Dry Ash Wood





Translation of Lucy’s name into common usage English:

BLACKALMOSTAFIVEBLUESWIRLLYTHINGWITHPARTSQUAREGREENCRESCENTMOONWITHBABYMOONRED TRIANGLEORANGESQUAREANDBLUEKELTICJUMBLE





Voyage of the Beagle





Bobbie and Bobby Mendel

Bobbie and Bobby Mendel are very good friends of Mary-Ann-Drusillda because they can multiply so fast. They can multiply faster than any other critter that Mary-Ann-Drusillda knows. Below is a chart of some of the many different ways by which they may multiply. All the rabbits are different except for one set of twins and one set of triplets. Can you find the twins and triplets? If you can, or even if you can’t, you might want to learn about Gregor Mendel, the scientist who originally developed the basic theory of heredity about one hundred and fifty years ago. [hint: check the corners and the center.]


All text and images copyright 2009 Jule Dupre
unless otherwise noted.
Observe much - Think long - Say little...
[Credited to Oxford professor of C. Darwin]
Except, of course, in an emergency. Then you should
Look quick - Think fast - Yell loud!
[Credited to The Evil Grandmother]
Remember to always check your references!
Always question, but question with due respect.


The mud bog is empty now. But it won't be empty long. That is the way of mud bogs.
Human beings are complex. Humanity exponentially so.

I have planted a seed
deep within the darkness
of the caves of cyberspace.
But it is a seed
Nevertheless.
-Jule Dupre-



Monday, December 7, 2009

Chapter 11 - The Castle Cellar

Check out links at end of each chapter...
Chapter 1 - May 14, 2009 - Tutu Troubles

Chapter 2 – Oct. 07, 2009 – About My Friends
Chapter 3 – Oct. 15, 2009 – The Inheritance
Chapter 4 – Oct. 22, 2009 – Finding Answers
Chapter 5 – Oct. 29, 2009 – A New Friend
Chapter 6 – Nov. 05, 2009 – A Treasure Map
Chapter 7 – Nov. 12, 2009 – A Treasure Hunt
Chapter 8 – Nov. 19, 2009 – And Beyond
Chapter 9 – Nov. 26, 2009 – Lost Data
Chapter 10 – Dec. 3, 2009 – Found Data
Chapter 11 – Dec. 10, 2009 – The Castle Cellar
Chapter 12 – Dec. 17, 2009 – Forever Never Ending


RosFrankie and Beyond
Chapter 11





The Castle Cellar




‘It sounds like’ Méabh says, ‘you have everything pretty well under control.’

‘Yes, we are getting there,’ Lucy informs her, ‘although I am a bit concerned about finding my Flying Machine.’

‘Your Flying Machine. What does it look like and when did you last see it?’

‘Well, about five hundred years ago I gave it Leonardo da Vinci and he misplaced it.’

‘He misplaced it? How careless of him!’

‘Well, really, ‘Lucy says sympathetically, ‘It really wasn’t his fault. He was great to work with. He could do everything and knew lots of stuff and things. He was a Great Thinker. And because he was really smart and asked a lot of questions, the authorities kept threatening to arrest him and put him in jail.’

‘Arrest him! For being too smart?’ Mary-Ann-Drusillda’s ears quickly pick up on this concept and she did not like the sound of it at all! ‘Maybe, ‘she thinks to herself, ‘I should just go back to school and act really dumb.’ She thinks long and hard about this idea and then decides, ‘No. It just can’t be done. Acting dumb is way too difficult. I’m not smart enough to be able to act that dumb.’

‘Yes, arrest him!’ Lucy repeats, ‘It was a terrible time for him. It was almost as bad as that time 700 years earlier when they had Library Wars in Alexandria and Pergamon because they didn’t even have television yet and they had no other hobbies except going to war. Terrible Times those all were!’

‘Library Wars!’ I say, ‘You mean Libraries, those places of quiet study, went to war with each other?’

‘Yes, they even burned down the Library at Alexandria and so much, oh so much, data was lost. Very painful times those were,’ Lucy continued, ‘And four hundred years ago was a terrible time for Leonardo. He didn’t want the authorities to destroy the Flying Machine so he gave it to a neighbor to hide. This neighbor, who was a very very old man, moved from the old neighborhood soon afterwards because he was also afraid he would get arrested. I can only assume that this neighbor, whom Leonardo described as pale and thin and serious with eyes that have big black shadows and someone who never smiles, took the Flying Machine with him when he left, but history has no record of him.’


credit: Google images

Méabh makes a strange little moan and groan and opens her eyes and sits up in the mud bog. ‘Can you describe this Flying Machine?’ she asks Lucy.

Lucy gives an extraordinarily detailed description of the machine.


Copyright 1495 Leonardo Da Vinci


‘Darn it!’ Méabh mumbles quietly to herself, ‘Trouble is But’s middle name!’

‘What’s wrong?’ I ask. I am very concerned. It just is not like Méabh to be so unenthusiastic about things and stuff.

‘I really just don’t want to go back down into that dark, dreary, damp cellar!’ Méabh answers.

‘Well, then don’t! Don’t go down into the cellar if you don’t want to. Why would you?’ I ask her.

‘Because I can’t possibly ever pass up a really good adventure,’ Méabh answers.

‘What adventure?’ I ask.

Finally Méabh pulls herself out of her slumbering position and pulls herself out of the mud bog and pulls herself out of her funk. Mud bogs really are a cure-all for everything. She loudly and firmly and bossily and bold-as-brass announces, ‘The Adventure of Helping Lucy find her lost Flying Machine. I have seen it some where among all the stuff and things which are lying around down in the Castle Cellar. I never knew what it was so I just always called it THE THING in the cellar. It’s just one of many THINGS in the cellar. I hope I can find it again. It’s not easy finding THINGS in the Castle Cellar.’

And so, quick as a rabbit, we are all off to explore the Castle Cellar.

On the way, Mary-Ann-Drusillda does some quick math calculations in her head trying to figure out how old But might be. When she gets the number, her eyes kinda bug out of her head. ‘Oh,’ she thinks to herself, ‘I think maybe I should do a little less math and do a little more philosophy. The numbers are never wrong and philosophy is a very fudgy thought process. Philosophy is easy to fiddle with even when one does not know how to fiddle. Philosophy teaches us that age does not really matter. But the numbers are never wrong. Can But really be that old? Oh dear. Oh, dear, I think I am a bit befuddled.‘

And so she is. A bit befuddled, that is. But not for long. Befuddled is usually a symptom of not-being-true-to-oneself. Mary-Ann-Drusillda starts to count the grains of sand as we walk along the path to the castle. Before she gets to 1,534,792, she is back to being just good old Mary-Ann-Drusillda who knows that the numbers are never wrong.






Creak.
Creak.
Creaky creak creak.

Every one of our footsteps produces ominous sounds which ricochet and echo down the empty halls, reverberating off of the solid stone walls which never absorb, never submit and never end but instead curve and continue and challenge and frighten us. We are the curious surveyors of the Castle Cellar.

‘BUT!’ Méabh yells as loud as she can. The sound ricochets and echoes and bounces and doubles back and hits our ears as the sound of a bass drum being pounded within inches of our ears. We expect this sound but it is still painful nevertheless. Méabh must yell because there simply is no other way to find someone who might be in the cellar. The huge cellar with twisted stone stairways, and doors leading to other doors which lead to other stairways which lead to other rooms with other doors leading to other stone stairways. Leading us everywhere and to anywhere except to the door through which we had originally entered the cellar. In all the years in which Méabh has been exploring this maze of stonework and moss and creaky sounds and foggy patches which may or may not be ghosts, she has never once left the cellar by the same door through which she had entered it. Except that once when she was thirteen years old and was determined to enter and leave by the same door. Then she had opened the door, stepped inside the door and then immediately turned around and left through the same door. She had never even taken her hand off of the door handle. Méabh does NOT trust what the cellar can do to ones mind. The tricks it plays. She always manages to find her way out again but never through the same door by which she had entered.

‘Rotten cellar,’ she mumbles softly. Very softly. Still the sound ricochets and echoes and bounces and doubles back and hurts our ears. Me, Méabh, Lucy and Mary-Ann-Drusillda. And, somewhere, down one of the long hallways, or through one of the many doors, or up or down one of the many stairways leading to other stairways, and into one of the many uncharted rooms of dubious existence, the sound of Méabh’s yell also ricochets and echoes and bounces and doubles back and hurts the ears of But.

‘WHAT?’ he shouts. The sound ricochets and echoes and bounces and doubles back and hurts the ears of the current Castle Cellar surveyors. Our ears.

When Méabh’s ears stop ringing, she yells loudly to the voice in the dark coming around corners she can not see, ‘THE THING.’

That is all she has to say. But, the butler who has been at the Castle for more years than Méabh has lived, or her parents lived, or their parents before them, knows exactly what Méabh wants. But, not having been privy to the conversation with Lucy in the mud bog, he does not know why Méabh wants THE THING. Before he finds it and before he manages to find her, he thinks of many reasons why Méabh might want THE THING which his friend had given him so many years ago. A thing which even But does not know what it is or why it is or why Leo thought it was so important. But Leo was an artist so it was okay if he was a little strange because most humans don’t mind an artist being a little strange. Not like they mind a banker or a policeman or a chef being a little strange. But But always likes his curiosity to be satisfied. He is most curious as to why Méabh wants THE THING. Most curious indeed. In fact, he can not ever figure out why anyone would ever want THE THING. It is a strange thing which seems to have no purpose. No purpose at all. Until now.

We are the current group of Castle Cellar surveyors. We follow Méabh very closely, each holding hands with one another. Lucy clings tightly on my nose. Her eyes open wide. Not that we are afraid. No, we are really too curious to be afraid. But we aren’t stupid either. Lucy never leaves the security of my nose. Well, maybe we are a little afraid. We go up twisty stairs which lead us down. We go down twisty stairs which lead us through. We go through doors which lead us to more doors which eventually lead us up again. Up and up until we reach the bottom. At one point, we gently and carefully tip toe around the tight edges of a bottomless pit. ‘Once,’ Méabh whispers to us, ‘Years ago when I was young, I threw a stone down there to see how long it would take until I heard it hit bottom. It has not hit yet.’

‘Would it make a sound if you were not here to hear it?’ Mary-Ann-Drusillda asks, practising philosophising.

Méabh points to a humming sound coming from a small indentation in the stone wall. ‘But and I have put a tape recorder there so that we can always check. We have not heard the stone hit bottom yet, but we have heard many other strange noises.’

‘What kind of noises?’ I ask her.

‘The kind that play tricks on one’s mind,’ Méabh answers with a quiver in her voice which makes us all fearful. No body dares to ask her any more questions after that. That is the problem with fear. It destroys ones natural curiosity to learn. And, yet, knowledge is the very cure for fear. The more one knows, the less one fears. That is the problem with playing tricks on one’s mind.

We hear scratchy noises. Scurrying noises. Moan and groan noises. We hear chains rattle and steel doors slam shut. We hear iron bars rust. We smell a smoke which smells wet and musty. We pass through a cold damp fog which smells of fungus. We hear the wind blow but feel no wind upon our faces. We struggle walking through the force of a strong wind blocking our path but we hear no sound of wind blowing with this powerful wind. Our own footsteps ricochet and echo and bounce and double back and hurt our ears. And our eyes. All around us there is darkness, yet, there always seems to be a light at the end of each tunnel we pass through. we always head for the light but we never reach it. It just always is ahead of us. Out of our reach. Moving. Moving out of our line of sight. We always rush to see it yet we fear to catch it.

‘HERE!’

The loudness of the voice coming from no where shocks us all and we are petrified into absolute stillness and motionlessness. Silence. That is the problem with fear. One is afraid to move. Afraid to learn. Afraid.

‘MOVE!’ But shouts. He has had many dealings with the effects of fear. He knows that if he shows us any sympathy, if he caters at all to our fears, then we will be lost. Lost forever. Beyond redemption. And then he will be stuck carrying this stupid THE THING back to where it belongs all by himself, and further more, he will never find out why Méabh wants it and what purpose it might have. The only fear which But has ever had has been the fear of not knowing. He yells at us, to us, around us and through us to our very core. He yells us out of our stupor and we begin to move again. We are still alive. We explain about THE THING to him.

‘A what?’ But exclaims after we explain to him what THE THING is.

‘A Flying Machine,’ Méabh proudly answers. She always feels good when she knows something which But does not already know.

But is a bit astonished, ‘This piece of rubble. A Flying Machine! That’s ridiculous!’

At this point, Lucy, who had been quietly studying But as if he might be another piece of Lost Data, says something which none of us can dispute, ‘Hope and belief are powerful tools. This Flying Machine only needs Hope to fly.’ She holds up the blue stone. The Hope Diamond.

Lucy places the diamond in the center of the Flying Machine. It starts to buzz and purr and hum. And then it sprouts feathers of a fine fiber.

‘I remember,’ I say, ‘Ms. Wiseman once quoting an Emily Dickinson poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul”.’

‘Emily knew,’ Lucy says, ‘but she didn’t have all the necessary information. She should have written, “Hope is the thing with feathers that flies. She did not know about the boron.’

‘Boron?’ I ask.

‘Dr. Keddy told me once, ‘Mary-Ann-Drusillda says, ‘That boron is an igniter. It melts at 3769°F and boils at 7101°F. The numbers are never wrong.’


credit: philosophyofscienceportalblogspot.com/2008

‘And,’ But asks ‘Is this thing going to fly you into space? All the way through a Black Hole?’

‘Don’t be silly,’ Lucy answers, ‘This thing could never fly into space. It would burn up before it left the atmosphere, and that’s if it didn’t just fall apart or burn up on lift off. No, this thing gets added to HOG’s giant pot of Cosmological Soup. I drink the reduced version and it becomes a part of me. Then, I, myself, reduce to infinitesimal size, A Higgs boson. Much easier than eons ago when we had to travel as Quarks. Much more comfortable because the smaller one is, the easier it is to travel long distances through space. Then I’ll be headed home. I’ll just disappear and be gone. I won’t be invisible. I’ll be gone. I’ll be heading home.’

At this confident statement of Lucy’s, and the expression of her firm belief in science and in the calculations necessary to her successful future, I know that Lucy will arrive home safely. I feel much better about the fact that I know my friend will travel safely and arrive home in one piece, albeit, a reduced piece. I figure that when Lucy gets home, she will just become the size she needs to be in order to exist comfortably on the other side of the Black Hole. I have full confidence in Lucy’s knowledge. Unshakable confidence. I feel so much better knowing that Lucy will be home safe. Yes, I do. I really do. But what I don’t understand is why, if I feel so much better about Lucy arriving home safely, why do I feel so sad at the thought of Lucy arriving home safely. Imbedded in the middle of this thought of Lucy arriving home safely is the thought of Lucy leaving. Why is there an empty place in my heart where once our futures stood? I know many things but I do not yet know about forever. Eternity. Infinity. I don’t even understand all that Mary-Ann-Drusillda says about Gödel. How can I possible know all about forever? I am not still a puppy but I am not yet an adult.



The top number is the Atomic number for Boron.
The capital B is the Chemical Symbol for Boron.
The middle number is the Atomic weight of Boron.




CHON

CHON is a mnemonic acronym for the four most common elements found in living organism: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. These are the elements of life. Human beings are composed of CHON. Do you remember where this picture is located in the story? Whose hands are these? Are they the hands of a human being?

Mnemonic means ‘designed to assist memory.’

Acronym means ‘a word formed from the initial letters of successive words.’ Thus CHON is an abbreviated way to say: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen.

Méabh’s tattoos identify her as a human being. But that does not necessarily indicate that she is not also a witch. And, ‘witch’ being a word invented by humans, naturally has many different definitions. That is the way of humans. Answers always bring more questions.




This is the mathematical symbol for infinity, first used as such by John Wallis in 1655. [If you want to read about an interesting period in the history of mathematics, read about John Wallis, Isaac Newton and Wilhelm Leibnitz. The actual symbol itself was used in various manner for centuries before Wallis, and there are numerous theories concerning it’s origins.

One can go around in circles forever.

Infinity: forever, time without end, perpetuity, always, everlasting, eternal, ceaseless, constant, continuous, etc., or A Never Ending Story.....

Words:
Reverberating
Petrified
Boron
Igniter
Infinitesimal
Higgs boson
Quark
Imbedded
Eternity
Infinity


Questions:
Would you like to explore the Castle Cellar?  Why?
What do you call something when you don’t know what to call it?
What is a Black Hole?
Are there White Holes? Red Holes? Blue Holes? Plaid Holes?
What other questions should be asked?

BTW:
Leonardo DaVince and the flying machine: Leonardo da Vinci, April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time, renowned primarily for the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. But Leonardo possessed a genius which went far beyond simply being a remarkable artist. He was, perhaps, the first European interested in a practical solution to flight. Leonardo designed a multitude of mechanical devices, including parachutes, and studied the flight of birds as well as their structure. About 1485 he drew detailed plans for a human-powered wing-flapping device intended to fly. There is no evidence that he actually attempted to build such a device, although the image he presented was a powerful one. Actual fight by humans was not achieved for almost 500 more years. Sometimes, it takes a bit of time before dreams can be achieved.

Alexandria and Pergamon: The Royal Library of Alexandria or Ancient Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was once the largest library in the ancient world. Generally thought to have been founded at the beginning of the third century BC, it was conceived and opened during the reign of Ptolemy I Soter, or that of his son Ptolemy II of Egypt. Plutarch (AD 46-120) wrote that Caesar accidentally burned the library down during his visit to Alexandria in 48 BC. However, this version is not confirmed in contemporary accounts of the visit. It has been reasonably established that the library or parts of the collection were destroyed on several occasions, but to this day the details of these destruction events remain a lively source of controversy based on inconclusive evidence. "It's inherently difficult to get reliable information about an event that consisted of the destruction of all recorded information," wrote Neal Stephenson in his December 1996 Wired magazine article, "Mother Earth Mother Board". Yeah, what he said.

Chemical elements, boron, etc, ignitor, Mendelson: The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleyev in 1869. Mendeleyev intended the table to illustrate recurring ("periodic") trends in the properties of the elements. The layout of the table has been refined and extended over time, as new elements have been discovered, and new theoretical models have been developed to explain chemical behavior. The periodic table is now ubiquitous within the academic discipline of chemistry, providing an extremely useful framework to classify, systematize and compare all the many different forms of chemical behavior. The table has also found wide application in physics, biology, engineering, and industry. The current standard table contains 117 elements as of 27 January 2008 (elements 1-116 and element 118). Boron is an element and an igniter ignites. [as in light or kindle a fire]

Check out:
Alexandria and Pergamon
www.uh.edu/engines/epi687.htm
http://www.crystalinks.com/libraryofalexandria.html

Castle construction
http://history.howstuffworks.com/middle-ages/castle5.htm
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/castle_builder/
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS315US316&q=castle+cellar+image&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=J2ipSd3cN4qhtweSpKTrDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Chemistry, periodic table
http://www.dayah.com/periodic/
http://chemistry.about.com/

Computers, cell phones, GPS, modern electronics
http://www.electronicsandyou.com/Electronics-History-Origin-Development.html
http://www.nps.gov/gis/gps/history.html
http://www.computerhistory.org/
http://www.pbs.org/nerds/timeline/

Leonardo da Vinci
Bramly, Serge – Leonardo, Penguin Books, 1988.

Space exploration, Hubble telescope, Dr. Hubble
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS315US316&q=hubble+telescope&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=8ny2Sc_cE6DOMuXqiOUK&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
http://hubble.nasa.gov/
http://www.stsci.edu/resources/
http://books.google.com/books?q=hubble+telescope&source=bll&ei=8ny2Sc_cE6DOMuXqiOUK&sa=X&oi=book_group&resnum=18&ct=title&cad=bottom-3results
http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/edwin_hubble.php


Next and last chapter: Forever Never Ending due to post on December 17, 2009. Winter Solstice is December 21, 2009. The shortest day of the year begins it’s journey to become the longest day of the year. Journeys are like that!


All text and images copyright 2009 Jule Dupre
unless otherwise noted.
Observe much - Think long - Say little...
[Credited to Oxford professor of C. Darwin]
Except, of course, in an emergency. Then you should
Look quick - Think fast - Yell loud!
[Credited to The Evil Grandmother]
Remember to always check your references!
Always question, but question with due respect.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Chapter 10 - Found Data

Check out links at end of each chapter...
Chapter 1 - May 14, 2009 - Tutu Troubles

Chapter 2 – Oct. 07, 2009 – About My Friends
Chapter 3 – Oct. 15, 2009 – The Inheritance
Chapter 4 – Oct. 22, 2009 – Finding Answers
Chapter 5 – Oct. 29, 2009 – A New Friend
Chapter 6 – Nov. 05, 2009 – A Treasure Map
Chapter 7 – Nov. 12, 2009 – A Treasure Hunt
Chapter 8 – Nov. 19, 2009 – And Beyond
Chapter 9 – Nov. 26, 2009 – Lost Data
Chapter 10 – Dec. 3, 2009 – Found Data
Chapter 11 – Dec. 10, 2009 – The Castle Cellar
Chapter 12 – Dec. 17, 2009 – Forever Never Ending


RosFrankie and Beyond
Chapter 10


Found Data



HOG shows the diary she has found to me and Lucy, and asks us, ‘Are these real words? I can only read a few of them and I am a good reader. ‘

Lucy looks at the pages and says, ‘They are very very hard to read because they are Old English.’

HOG asks, ‘What’s Old English mean? Do they need special vitamins because they are old?’ HOG is a big fan of vitamins because she knows so much about nutrition.

‘No,’ Lucy smiles, ‘It means that they were written a long time ago in a very flowery and elaborate script when English was still developing as the International Language of Choice for World Business Communication.’

Both HOG and myself give Lucy one of those looks which critters give other critters when they don’t know exactly what they said but they don’t really want to know either.

‘Well,’ I say as I turn through the pages of the old diary, ‘They certainly ARE hard to read. I wonder if Lordy could do something with them on the computer with one of his translation programs. Although I think that maybe even if we do get to read these words, we are going to need extra help interpreting them.’

‘Oh, yes’ Lucy eagerly replies, ‘I think that’s a wonderful idea. Let’s go ask Lordy for help. Let’s go RIGHT NOW!’

I think that Lucy might be just a little too enthusiastic about going to see Lordy, but I don’t say anything. After all, Lucy is my friend.

Lordy also seems a little too enthusiastic to see us all. Again, I don’t say anything. Friends are like that. Friends often don't say anything even though they may be thinking things. After scanning the diary and trying 247 different translation programs, Lordy finally gets a readable print-out.

‘Well,’ he says as he hands me the papers, ‘Here is what it says but I can’t tell you what it means.’

HOG and I read over the pages together. Lucy, however, becomes very fascinated by Lordy’s various translation and code breaking programs and wants to learn all about them. He tells her about a man named Alan Turing who was THE original mostest and bestest and greatest computer code breaker of all time ever. Lucy is most enthralled with listening to Lordy. A little too enthralled, I think, but rather than say anything about it, I simply ask, ‘Lucy, will you please help us to understand what is written in this diary?’

Lucy seems not to hear me. I repeat the request, this time a little louder. Still Lucy does not seem to hear me. I begin to wonder if Lightening Bugs have problems with their hearing. ‘Do they even have ears?’ I wonder to myself. Then I just try shouting, ‘LUCY!’

Lucy is finally startled out of her revelry and begins to read out loud the pages from the diary. She says, ‘In common English it reads:

On this day Anno Domini 1533 September the 7th is born ye childe of my care ye pert Bess, with neither gown, nor kirtle, nor petticoat, but a princess she be nevertheless as foresooth be all ye herein. Prithee livith long and well, ye babe of King and Queen and Traitors. A childe wanted until birthed then bidded be gone for thou art not a man childe who wouldest be King. Thou art woman childe who mightest be Queen yet know thee not thou King thou wilst servith.

Thou hast liveth one quarter year and are now thus escorted royally to thine own household in yon Hertfordshire at Hatfield House. Princess Mary no longer a princess to beith thou servant though yet she be sister of thee and old enough to mother. Princess of Wales no longer yet she knoweth no princess on England not herself. Tears do falleth and fore long I fear heads will rolleth. Babe in my arms, thou art princess but I feareth that thou would preferreth a peasant or a pauper to be.

Noweth the time for thou own words as thou beith old enough at seven to read and write and knoweth. Fare thee well my childe of many mothers.

Many mothers but none my owneth. She who mothers me I call not mother yet foresooth I know no other. He who teachest me, teachest me much but know he not how to father. I learnest much but I learneth not how to mother nor how to serve any other but to serve all. I learneth many tongues yet I knoweth nay teachest to playeth with the babe who will beith my King. Many mothers we shareth and many mothers we have not.

Edward noweth be King and I be pawn to a marriage madeth of royal worth. Yet Edward be sickly and I be sick of the games they playeth with my head, for I be old enough to mother yet I be childe still.

Princess Mary now be Queen yet sister still. Yet she angers thy people and not learneth of common love. Vermin wench she nameth me and thinkith I wouldest a traitor be. Thy Faire at Londontown is where I wish to beith yet the Tower now my home it beith all.

Villanious and traitorest and vermin beith many. Privy I havest none. Yeah gowns and crowns adorneth me, my people adoreth me for tomorrow I beith Queen. Gaffer and Grammer I know not, not wouldest I a Grammer be. By your leave I weddeth my people and none other yet none other never wilst knoweth what mightest be

For noweth I am Queen the mightiest ever or ever to be wherefore whilst I livest no King shoulest be served, foresooth I see well enough by daylight without torches to knoweth that if I chooseth King I choosest death and shouldest mad Queen rather than mother beith.

Long live the Queen.’

Lucy finally finishes reading and I ask, ‘Wow, what does that all really mean? It all sounds so very strange. Whose diary is this anyway? How can we find out?’

‘Well,’ Lordy says, ‘It is all very confusing. Maybe we should do what Mary-Ann-Drusillda always says and just follow the numbers. They are about the only thing written clearly on these pages. We can google September 7, 1533 and see what comes up.’

‘Oh,’ says Lucy, fluttering her eye lashes at Lordy, ‘I think that is just a brilliant idea. What would we ever do without you!’

At this point, I would like to tell her what we would do without him, but then I realize that not only are both of these critters my good friends, even though they both seem to be acting very strange, even strange for normally strange critters, but, in point of fact, I do want Lordy to google the date as suggested. ‘That really is a great idea Lordy. Let’s do it,’ I say.

And so we google the numbers of the date, September 7, 1533, and we find out all the answers to all our questions. It is a scary story. History is full of facts which are told in story which become myths which turn into legends and are sometimes forgotten. Sometimes they do not get forgotten. Sometimes even the facts which are so unpleasant that they should be forgotten do not get forgotten. Should the children of critters always be told the truth especially when the truth is so hard to both know and to tell? I don’t know. Do you?

‘That’s scarier than any Halloween story I have ever read. And it's true history. Very scary!’ I say to my friends. They all agree.

Obviously, after much thought and pondering and deep consideration, we all decide that there is really only one thing we can do. We don't want to think about that scary story anymore so we all decide to have a nice comfy mud bog with a nice hot cup of tea. Mud bogs and tea make life feel good!

[Do you want to find out more about the diary? If so, see the information at the end of this chapter and/or google September 7, 1533...but be forwarned - it is a scary story!!! And it's true.]
*****

As Lucy, Lordy and myself are all relaxing in the comforts of the mud bog, with HOG sitting by the side, there is a sound of wings fluttering in the air overhead. Much to everyone’s pleasure, we are soon joined by Brant and Cana and Puff. Lucy is delighted to meet three more of my friends. Friends are much better than scary stories.

After awhile, HOG, having finished her nice cup of hot tea, says to everyone as we are relaxing in the deep soothing mud, ‘Well, I’m sorry to have to go now, but I must get home and make dinner. I have gotten an idea for a new recipe which I want to try which I think I will title Diary Soup. It will take me awhile to stew all the ingredients together so that they will be digestible. You are all welcome to come over later and try it. Bye Bye.’

‘Bye bye,’ we all say in unison.

‘Diary Soup sounds a little scary,’ Lordy says, ‘ Even scarier than the diary HOG found, except that everything HOG cooks tastes really great.’

‘I know a really scary story,’ Lucy says, ‘Do you want to hear it?’

‘Oh, yes,’ everyone answers in unison with the full knowledge that they are safe and comfortable in the surrounds of the mud bog.

‘It actually has to do with some of my Lost Data. It’s called The Hope Diamond.’


‘That doesn’t sound too scary,’ Brant says.

‘It gets scarier,’ Lucy continues, ‘The Hope Diamond is a big blue stone which originally weighed 112 carats.’

’112 carrots don’t really weigh that much,’ I say.

‘Carats not carrots,’ Lucy explains.

‘Oh,’ I say, without actually saying that I don’t really know what Lucy just said.

‘Supposedly the story goes that this big blue stone was stolen from the eye of a statue of the Hindu Goddess Sita. Anyways, because it was stolen, there is suppose to be a curse on it. Anyone who owns it or wears it or even touches it is suppose to have very bad luck.’

‘Oh,’ Cana asks, ‘How about if they just talk about it?’

‘That’s okay,’ Lucy continues, ‘The guy who stole it died of a fever soon afterwards and his body was torn apart by wild animals. Kings and queens who have owned it have been executed. People who own it have drown in shipwrecks. People have killed other people to get possession of the stone, and then they themselves got killed by other people. That’s the way of curses. Even jewelers who have polished the blue diamond have ended up cursed and crazy. They lose all their money and sense of value and especially they lose all their friends. People get shot and stabbed and hurled over high bridges. Sometimes they die suddenly for no reason. They lose their jobs and their homes burn down and they can’t get any electricity to power their computers because all their batteries blow up. Still, in spite of the curse, other people keep trying to steal the big blue stone even though they know it will bring tragedy to them. Isn’t that really scary to think that humans will risk all they love to own a stone which has a curse on it?’

‘That’s very scary,’ we all agree.

‘Yes,’ I say, ‘everyone should know what’s really important in life and not be tricked by the tricks of trickery.’

Lordy adds, ‘It’s sounds like, though, that the story of the Hope Diamond being a stone with a curse on it might be a little like The Fates getting blamed for every thing. Nothing to do with the stone but everything to do with the humans who own the stone. It’s too bad though that the Hope Diamond is part of your lost data. It would be interesting to see how much it actually weighs.’

Brant scratches his head with his foot, which is actually rather difficult for a goose to do, and asks, ‘This Hope Diamond thingy stone or whatever, is it about so big with a greenish bluish color due to the boron in it and it’s also semi-conductive and usually phosphoresce?’

Everyone looks at him in surprise. We didn’t know he knew such big words. We didn’t know we didn’t know such big words ourselves because we had not heard these words before now to know that we didn’t know them. Everyone, that is, except Lucy.

Lucy looks at Brant and with anticipation in her voice, she says, ‘You have seen this stone, haven’t you?’

‘Oh, yeah, lots of times. I was born on the beaver dam over by the pond yonder and Cleaver, good old Cleaver, I always go back to visit him. He’s just got tons of stuff inside his little lodge. Bit of a messy housekeeper, really, but just so many interesting things and stuff. Problem is, he has no place to store things and he just never throws anything out. Bit of work for him too, because the dam keeps breaking and he has to keep re-building it. Come to think of it, that dam has been breaking and re-breaking every since he found that big blue stone thing. Mmmm..…maybe there is something to this curse story.’

‘Don’t be silly. Dams breaking are the nature of dams. Do you think your friend Cleaver would allow me to bring the Hope Diamond back through the Black Hole to give it to Those In The Know so that they could study it?’ Lucy asks.

‘Oh, I’m sure of it! He’d be glad to. He’s always trying to give his stuff away. Especially to a good home. It’s throwing things out that he can’t do. Says there is always a purpose and a place for everything. Only not always at his place. ‘

And so, before long, we all walk over to the beaver pond and find Cleaver.

credit: Wikipedia

Naturally, he is most glad to add the blue stone to the growing group of Lost Data found and to the formula which will be needed to get Lucy back home through the Black Hole in Andromeda. I begin to wonder how Lucy is going to manage to carry everything through the Black Hole. I don’t think that there is any luggage on the whole earth big enough to hold it all. But that is another problem to be solved later. All problems have solutions. It’s just that sometimes the solutions include more problems to solve. Sometimes that’s the problem with solutions!

*****

Eventually, Lucy, Lordy, Brant, Cana, Puff and myself are all back enjoying the comforts of the comfy mud bog when Mary-Ann-Drusillda comes happily trotting back from her excursion to the Enchanted Wood and proudly announces, ‘57,362.’

Lucy does not quite understand what she means and Lucy is hesitant to ask because everyone else seems to think that this is a fine number for Mary-Ann-Drusillda to announce. Lucy does not want to appear to be the stupidest critter in the mud bog so she just lets her curiosity not be satisfied just this once. Which is rather unfortunate because she misses out on knowing that there are now currently 3,462 trees growing in the Enchanted Wood. It’s one of those important numbers which environmentalists and other critters need to keep track of so that they can tell if the woods are getting bigger or smaller or more or less crowded or endangered. One never really knows when it might come in handy to know this information so it is important that one always knows it. But, on this day, Lucy does not learn it. And she really is just a little bit too absorbed with the sparkling beauty of the Blue Hope Diamond which she holds in her hand.

‘I really do think,’ she says, ‘that the brilliant blue in this stone is the prettiest blue that there just ever was anywhere ever.’

We agree with her that it is indeed just the prettiest blue that we have ever seen. All except Puff. Puff says, ‘Well, it certainly is pretty, but it’s not anywhere near as pretty a shade of blue as the blue of my cousin Pauly’s foot.’

‘His foot! Does he have a problem with his foot?’ I ask, although everyone else is thinking the same question.

‘A problem with his foot!’ Puff exclaims, ‘I should think not! Why, when he shakes his blue foot around in the air, the girls just go wild. WILD!’


credit: theadventuretravelcompany.wordpress.com/2009

‘They do?’ Lucy asks, ‘Why?’

‘Well,’ says Puff, ‘I don’t know why. Just because. You would have to ask Darwin about that. All I know is that when Pauly shakes his foot, the girls go wild. I guess it is just the nature of the Blue Footed Booby living on the Galapagos Islands.’

We all look at him with a not-quite-look of disbelief on our faces, because we are all too polite to call him a liar, and besides, we know he does not ever tell lies, although he has been known to sometimes exaggerate and over-imagine.

‘I’m not making that up,’ he says, ‘I could never make up something that absurd. Only nature could make up something that absurd.’

‘Is it ALL the girls,’ Lordy asks, ‘or just the ones that have been on the Islands too long?’

‘I honestly don’t know. I just know about the blue foot shaking and the girls going wild. You do believe me, don’t you?’

‘I believe you,’ say Lucy, ‘Do you think we could meet your cousin Pauly?’

‘Well, I’m sure he’d love to meet you all and shake his foot at you. But we would have to go to the Galapagos Islands. Pauly would never come here.’

‘How could we ever get to the Galapagos Islands?’ I wonder out loud.

‘Well,’ says Brant as he counts the number of critters in the mud bog, ’I can fly Puff on my back, but I don’t think my back will carry everyone.’

‘Why don’t we ask Marge to give us all a ride?’ Cana suggests.

‘That’s a great idea,’ Brant says, ‘I heard her say last week that she wanted to go fly along the west coast of South America but that she didn’t want to go alone.’

‘Who is Marge?’ I ask, ‘I have not met a Marge before.’

‘Oh,’ says Cana, ‘she is just the most wonderful Fjord pony. We met her when we were at the Chesapeake Bay last summer. She’s a magical transporter and can take any one any where any time.’


credit: Google images

‘Could she take all of us all the way to the Galapagos Islands?’ Lordy asks.

‘Oh, I’m sure she could. After all, Charles Darwin went there all the way on the back of a Beagle, and I’m pretty sure that the Fjord ponies have been showing critters around longer than Beagles have been showing critters around,’ Cana informs us.

And before anyone can say ‘Jack Robin,’ we are all having a wonderful ride on the back of Marge, flying to the Galapagos Islands.


credit: GraphicMaps.com

We all get to admire Pauly’s wonderful shade of blue foot as he shakes it at us. And Lucy, after playing around the island with the Blue Footed Boobies, manages to collect some Lost Data which she didn’t even know was lost. But, more importantly, she discovers the meaning of fun. It isn’t something she needs to add to her formula for finding her way back home again but it is necessary to sooth her spirit. It’s amazing where one can go and what one can learn about one self when one has a magic pony to take one places one has never been before.

Maybe Nature does know something we don’t know?

A few days later, when everything has settled down and we have all had plenty of time to talk about our adventures on the Galapagos Islands, and we are back in our real every day world doing what we usually do in our real every day world, myself and Lucy and Mary-Ann-Drusillda are relaxing in the mud bog. We are just sorta discussing all sorts of things and stuff when we notice Méabh walking towards us from the direction of the castle.

‘Hello,’ Méabh yells before she even gets to us, which makes me very suspicious. Méabh never says ‘hello’ but usually just starts talking to someone in the middle of a conversation she is usually already having with herself. Méabh is like that. It’s one of the things I like best about her. But when Méabh says ‘hello’ first, I naturally have to wonder if Méabh might be sick or have a headache or something.

‘Hi,’ I say, ‘Is everything okay?’

At this point one would expect Méabh to give me one of her Méabh looks. But instead she just sorta sinks into the mud bog and lays back and closes her eyes and answers, ‘I’ve just spent hours with But down in the Castle Cellar. He’s still trying to figure out how to safely drill some geothermal heating vents down there. We walked all around down there. The things and the stuff stored down there are discombobulating. And it’s so dark. No fresh air at all. Foggy. Smelly. Oh the smells! Atrocious! I just can’t understand why But likes to spend so much time down there. It’s so unhealthy.’

‘Well,’ says Lucy. ‘You can’t find a better place to rejuvenate than the mud bog.’


‘Ain’t that the truth!’ Méabh replies, ‘I also thought it was about time I came over here to ask how you all are doing collecting and collaborating all the Lost Data.’

‘Not bad at all,’ Lucy answers her. Then Lucy, Mary-Ann-Drusillda and myself proceed to tell her all about our adventures with Marge the Fjord Pony and Puff’s cousin Pauly with the blue feet.

‘Oh, I’m sorry I missed all that! It sounds like a great adventure,’ Méabh exclaims, ‘I was wondering though,’ she asks Lucy, ‘how are you going to transport all this Lost Data back home to the other side of the Black Hole.’

‘Oh, not a problem,’ Lucy answers, ‘Just some chemistry and physics and the freedom of a little imagination. HOG has offered to help me. We will simply take it all and put it into one of her big, really BIG, pots. We will mix it all together and then we will reduce it down to a small amount of liquid which I will drink. It’s called Cosmological Soup. When I drink all this knowledge up it will become a part of me forever. Then when I get back home, all Those In The Know have to do to retrieve this knowledge is to listen to my heart beat. It’s all very high tech stuff. Easy to say but a bit difficult to do. Those In The Know are amazingly talented.’










Words:
Nutrition
Translation
Enthralled
Fjord
Boron
Semi-conductive
Phosphoresce
Discombobulating
Atrocious
Cosmological

Questions:
Do you keep a diary?
What is the scariest story you ever heard?
What makes the Blue Footed Booby’s foot blue?
Do you believe in magic ponies?
Have you ever seen the inside of a beaver lodge?
What other questions should be asked?

BTW:
English use in world business: International English is the concept of the English language as a global means of communication. Pros and cons for this concept are common, while success, as always, will be defined by what actual works in practice.

September 7, 1533, Queen Elizabeth the first: Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England 17 November 1558 until her death. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born a princess, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed three years after her birth, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her brother, Edward VI, cut her out of the succession. His will, however, was set aside, and in 1558 Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, the Catholic Mary, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry, but she never did. The reasons for this choice are unknown, and they have been much debated. In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings. One of her mottoes was "video et taceo" ("I see, and say nothing"). This strategy is viewed as having often saved her from political and marital misalliances. Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake and John Hawkins. Historians often depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Elizabeth is, however, acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a survivor, in an age when government was ramshackled and limited. One of Elizabeth's rivals, was Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually had executed in 1587. After the short reigns of Elizabeth's brother and sister, her 44 years on the throne provided valuable stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Scary times!

Alan Turing: Alan Turing (23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, logician and cryptographer. Turing is often considered to be the father of modern computer science. He provided an influential formalization of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine. He made a significant and characteristically provocative contribution to the debate regarding artificial intelligence: whether it will ever be possible to say that a machine is conscious and can think. During the Second World War, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, Britain's code-breaking centre, in the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method that could find settings for the Enigma machine. In 1948, he moved to the University of Manchester to work on what was then emerging as one of the world's earliest true computers. Turing was gay, living in an era when homosexuality was still both illegal and officially considered a mental illness. He was criminally prosecuted, which essentially ended his career. He died not long after, under what some believe were ambiguous circumstances. The death of a national hero, prosecuted by the nation he helped to save, is a sad mark on human history.

Hope Diamond: The Hope Diamond is a large, 45.52-carat, fancy deep grayish-blue diamond, currently housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1839, the Hope Diamond appeared in a published catalogue of the gem collection of Henry Philip Hope, which is where it got it’s name. It’s legend came in later years, some say as a means of promoting dramatic dinner-time conversation for bored wealthy people. The jury is out on that judgment.

Carats and carrots: carrots are long orange tasty vegetables, often used for noses on snowmen so that they never go hungry, while a carat is the term used to express the weight of a diamond, with one carat equaling 200 milligrams of actual weight. But what is 200 milligrams? Look it up.

Beaver lodge: is created from severed branches and mud. The beavers cover their lodges late every autumn with fresh mud which freezes when the frost sets in. The mud becomes almost as hard as stone, so that predators can not enter. The lodge has underwater entrances to make entry nearly impossible for any other animal except the beavers. A very small amount of the lodge is actually used as a living area. There are typically two dens within the lodge, one for drying off after exiting the water, and another, drier one where the family actually lives. Their houses are formed with little order or regularity of structure, and seldom contain more than four old, and six or eight young beavers. When the ice breaks up in spring they always leave their embankments, and rove about until a little before fall, when they return to their old habitations, and lay in their winter stock of wood. They seldom begin to repair the houses till the frost sets in, and never finish the outer coating till the cold becomes severe. When they erect a new habitation, they fell the wood early in summer, but usually don’t begin building till towards the end of August.

Blue Footed Boobies: The Blue-footed Booby is a bird in the Sulidae family which comprises ten species of long-winged seabirds. The name “booby” comes from the Spanish term bobo, which means "Stupid". This is because the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land. Like other seabirds, they can be very tame. The natural breeding habitat of the Blue-footed Booby is a nature preserve of profound diversity, the Galápagos Islands, located off of the west coast of South America and made famous by Charles Darwin, who visited them in 1835 when he circumnavigated the world aboard the H.M.S. Beagle and from which log notes he wrote The Origins of Species. What does H.M.S. mean? Why was a boat named after a dog? More things to look up! Satisfying curiosity is way-too time consuming. Often worth it though.

Fjord pony: Fjord ponies bears the most striking resemblance to the Asiatic Wild Horse of the Ice Age. It retains much of its ancestor's primitive vigor, as well as the uniform dun coat color. The latter is accompanied by an eel stripe running from the forelock to the tip of the tail, and sometimes by zebra bars on the legs. The mane and tail are usually lighter in color, and can be almost silver. A notable feature is the coarse, erect mane, which is characteristic of primitive equines. Were it left alone the mane would grow as long as that of any other breed, but by ancient tradition it is hogged (clipped) so that the black hairs at the centre stand above the rest. Horses with their manes hogged in this way appear on the rune stone carvings of the Vikings, which may still be seen in Norway. The Fjord was the Viking horse. It is compact and strongly muscled and has short limbs with plenty of bone. The head is wide, with small ears, and is of pony type. It is sound and hard and can operate on a modest diet. Fjords have been successful in European driving competitions, and their stamina and courage are an asset in long-distance riding.

Check out:
Alan Turing, code breaking
Hodges, Andrew – Alan Turing: the enigma, Walker, 2000.
Leavitt, David – The Man Who Knew Too Much, W.W.Norton, 2006.
Singh, Simon – The Code Book, Doubleday, 1999.
Beavers
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/beaver.html
Blue Footed Booby
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/blue-footed-booby.html
Charles Darwin
Darwin, Charles – Autobiography, [written 1892], WWNorton, 1993.
Fjord ponies
http://www.fjordpony.com/
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/fjord-pony-jumping/72057608196580055/?icid=VIDURVPET02
http://www.asknature.org/strategy/bf1c1fdfe342ffe4c36629815861f8f6
Galapagos Islands
http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/Galapagos.html
http://www.galapagos.org/2008/
http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/galapagos.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMIltYbSXBg
Hope Diamond
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/hope.htm
http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/hope_nav/main_hopfrm.html
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1950s/a/hopediamond.htm
http://www.minerant.org/home.html
Horse
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/category/for-educators/eduby-animal/eduhorse/
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/
Lightning Bugs:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/firefly.html
http://iris.biosci.ohio-state.edu/projects/FFiles/
http://www.backyardnature.net/lightbug.htm
http://www.hitchcockcenter.org/
Queen Elizabeth I England
http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheTudors/ElizabethI.aspx
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/eliza.htm
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/elizabio.htm
http://www.tudorhistory.org/elizabeth/

Next chapter - The Castle Cellar due to post on December 10, 2009
PS: Emily Dickinson's birthday is December 10. When is your birthday?

All text and images copyright 2009 Jule Dupre
unless otherwise noted.
Observe much - Think long - Say little...
[Credited to Oxford professor of C. Darwin]
Except, of course, in an emergency. Then you should
Look quick - Think fast - Yell loud!
[Credited to The Evil Grandmother]
Remember to always check your references!
Always question, but question with due respect.