Check out links at end of each chapter...
Chapter 1 - May 14, 2009 - Tutu Troubles
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 9
Lost Data
‘Well, I’ve either lost the Norns or else they have run away,’ Lucy answers.
‘Who are the Norns? And why would they run away?’ I ask Lucy.
‘They are Scandinavian Goddesses from Old Norse Mythology. The Fates. There are three of them. They are called Urđ, Verđandi and Skuld. They represent the past, the present and the future. What was, what is, and what will be. Or, rather, Skuld does not represent what will be so much as what should be. What can be. Potential. They are also described as that which we can not perceive, that which we can perceive and that which we can only perceive by logical deduction. The past, Urđ is always the color grey and is a deep thinker. The present, Verđandi is always the color blue and is very friendly. And the future, Skuld, is always the color green and very hopeful.’
‘They sound quite interesting. But why would they run away?’ I ask again.
‘They always are falsely accused of doing evil things and the humans blame them for everything which goes wrong. It’s much easier for humans to blame the Spirits for their own errors rather than take responsibility themselves. And the humans call the Norns terrible names, like anti-social and liars and tricky. I wouldn’t blame the Norns if they never show their faces around Earth again. What a loss! And now even the Norns are filled with so many misconceptions. That’s what happens when rumors and lies and mis-truths get repeated. No one knows what to believe any more and what one thought one knew for sure, one isn’t sure one knows any more. It’s all such a muddle! Truth becomes stories, and stories become myth, and myths become legend, and, then, legends get forgotten. But I must convince the Norns that Those In The Know mean them no harm. Those In The Know only study and discuss things. Forever. They never draw conclusions or make decisions.’
‘Oh,’ Méabh asks Lucy, with an exclamation mark rather than a question mark, ‘do they ever get anything done!’
‘Well, of course,‘ Lucy replies, defending her mentors from an assumed insult, because Lucy really is immune to assumed insults, and Méabh never insults any one. She just makes comments on her observations, which often do sound like insults, but they never are, really. Lucy continues, ‘They classify, and each classification is open to reclassification. In fact, each classification is expected and assumed to be eventually reclassified. But the classifications are only used as stepping stones to the future of understanding.’
Méabh comments, ‘That makes sense. Sounds like a good system,’ and then she continues, ‘It seems very unfair that the past, the present and the future get blamed for everything. Very unfair. Illogical. Sometimes, though, it’s more about misinterpretation and checking ones references. Sometimes humans are hesitant to say exactly what they mean, such as sometimes the humans will say someone works well independently, when the humans really mean they are anti-social, or the humans will say someone has a very active imagination, when the humans really mean they tell a lot of lies. Sometimes it’s hard to know what humans really mean when they say what they mean. Maybe the humans don’t mean that the Norns are evil but what they really means is that the Norns are different, thus the humans are afraid of them so the humans think they must be evil. Maybe that’s what the humans really mean.’ She pauses and notices that everyone else is looking at her like they expect her to continue. She continues, ‘It is important to be desensitized to artificial external stimuli, such as name calling, swearing and high heel shoes.’
I think I almost understand all that Méabh has just said and add, ‘My father says to never believe all of anything I hear or read and only half of what I see.’
Lordy, in all innocence, asks me, ‘Do you always believe everything your father says?’
I give Lordy one of my own looks. To his great benefit, I ignore his question and continue, ‘My father also says it’s important that we don’t listen to the voices of the false gods of childhood. But the Norns don’t sound like they are gods of childhood.’
‘No,’ says Lucy, ‘they are not even gods at all. They are Goddesses. I think there is a difference but I am not exactly sure.’
Everyone ponders for a while, each thinking their own thinks, and concluding their own concludes.
Finally, the spell is broken by the words of logic. ‘Much better,’ say Mary-Ann-Drusillda, ‘to just follow the numbers. Numbers never lie, even though critters will often misinterpret them. Have you tried talking to Gödel about the finding the missing Norns?’
‘Gödel?’ Lucy asks, ‘ You mean the critter who was friends with that other critter, Einstein who knew so much physics and proved so many things that were thought right were actually wrong?’
Kurt Gödel was a kid once.
‘Yes, Gödel. Einstein proved that there is no such thing as the present state of the universe with his space-time concepts. Gödel went a little further and said that time is actually circular, and that, like the water in a flowing river, which flows and evaporates and rains back into the river from where it started, time does the same thing. It’s like a big circle, so that the past, present and future are always all around us no matter where we are in the continuum. So maybe, if we do the math, we will find the lost Norns.’
Mary-Ann-Drusillda, of course, understands perfectly well what she is talking about. Everyone else, even Lucy, can best be described as befuddled. Being befuddled is a tricky thing to be. It makes critters believe things which they don’t understand just because some other critter, who is very confident and smart, says that these things are true.
While they all stand around with their mouths open staring at Mary-Ann-Drusillda, she does some math calculations in her head, and sometimes writes strange symbols on the ground with a stick, and then casually announces, ‘Lucy, you have not lost the Norms at all. They are just invisible to your eyes at the moment. It’s no different than if they were 0. Zero. Zero is nothing. It does not exist in the physical world. It is non-existence. But math can prove that zero, nothing, really does exists. Zero is in between positive one and negative one. I bet that if we don’t scare the Norns with false innuendos and rumors and speculations and outright lies, or blame them for things which don’t go the way we want them to go, then I bet that we will find the Norms over by the big old ash tree which grows beyond in the meadowy marshy clay pit on the other side of the Enchanted Wood.’
At this point HOG and Timmy return to the little group having the big discussion. When they hear the story, HOG says ‘Oh, I think I’m getting a headache,’ and she starts to roll up into a ball. She recovers just in time to hear Timmy say that he knows exactly where the Norns are because he talks to them all the time. It’s a wee bit of a ways through the Enchanted Wood and past the beaver pond and over to the meadowy marshy clay pit, but he would be happy to give us all a ride over to the big old ash tree.
And thus, in a flash, we are all on his back and off for adventure. Except for HOG, of course, who must stay home to bake cookies, tend to her herb garden, and, naturally, continue to dig holes looking for lost treasures.
We see the huge white tree from a far distance off. The shadows of the Norns are moving around beneath it. Because the Norns so trust Timmy, they have no fear of our group riding on his back. They simply stay in shadow without disappearing.
‘Just a mess!’ the Norns say in unison.
‘Exactly,’ Lucy says, ‘All data as perceived is perceived by individuals thus information exchange is dependant on individual powers of perception, which is why I collect and return all data, without drawing any conclusions, to Those In The Know. They have the best powers of perception and they discuss and question everything. They are perceptive enough to know that they don’t know enough yet to draw any conclusions. Besides, they are not artists so they can’t really draw very well anyway. Of course, I still observe and make decisions and draw conclusions, because that is what one has to do to survive in the physical world, but I must always be open to re-interpreting my conclusions.’
‘Is that your final conclusion?’ Méabh asks seriously.
‘No, I don’t think so,’ Lucy answers her, equally serious.
As for me, I am amazed when I look at the large ash tree which the Norns call Yggđrasil. It is very big. It’s over 200 feet tall. And very broad and very wide with roots which spread out equally wide around us all. The Norns tell us that the fantastic root system is very important to the stability of the tree. The bigger the tree grows, and the higher it gets, the more important it is that it stay rooted and grounded for stability.
‘Just like critters,’ I think to myself, ‘Roots and Wings. The more strength one has when one jumps, the further and faster one can fly.’
The Norns tell us, ‘Some believe that the ash tree connected the sky and the earth before there was space travel, because at that time they only had ladders which were not high enough to reach the sky. The wood of the ash is the toughest and the most elastic of any other tree. There is very little shrinkage when it dries. Because it retains its flexibility and strength, it is the preferred wood for making buildings, bows and witche's broom handles.’
‘Broom handles,’ I hear Méabh quietly note to herself. Méabh is always quietly noting things to herself when she’s not giving someone one of her looks.
‘Oh,’ says Mary-Ann-Drusillda, as she ever so slightly moves just a tiny wee bit away from the tree, because she thought she heard a thunder in the distance. But maybe it was just another Wooly Mammoth.
‘The tree is so white,’ I ask the Norns, ‘Is it a ghost tree?’
‘No, not at all,’ they answer in unison again. Then the Blue Norn adds, ‘It is white because we put clay on it to help preserve it and protect it. When the clay dries it turns white. White is a color which is very easy to misunderstand.’
The Norns are happy to share data with Lucy. I hear them say to each other, as we are leaving, ‘Truths becomes stories and stories told eventually become myth and myth turns into legend, and legends get forgotten. Unless there is a Lucy around. Then legends become the tools of enlightenment.’
The Norns now did have only one complaint left of their existence, which they told us before we left. They feel that the young upstart Columbus gets all the credit for discovering America when everyone knows it was discovered by Norse explorers first. Leif Eriksson’s team. But, critters being critters, the Norns also know that if Eriksson were to begin to get recognition for the discovery of America, then the old Chinese mythical gods would complain that the young upstart Eriksson gets all the credit for discovering America when everyone knows it was the Chinese crossing the land bridge over to Alaska on the Bering Sea. So the Norns just get on with their business and leave it at that. It’s not like America was the only thing ever discovered. The Grey Norn who is a deep thinker, the Blue Norn who is very friendly, the Green Norn who is very hopeful and the White Tree, surrounded by a deep well and giant boulders covered with a soft moss. The Norns really do have a lovely home. Home. Always such a precious word.
Well, Timmy decides it is time for him to go on his way home. As myself, Mary-Ann-Drusillda, Méabh, Lordy and our new found friend Lucy are walking home, Lucy suddenly stops and exclaims, ‘Do you see what I see?’
‘Oh,’ I say, ‘It’s KepStorey and his friend the snow leopard. I haven’t seen them in ages!’ I run towards them waving and shouting, ‘Hello! Hello! HELLO!’
‘But,’ says a rather befuddled Lucy, ‘That can’t be a snow leopard. Snow leopards don’t live in this part of the world. They belong elsewhere.’
‘Really, Lucy,’ Mary-Ann-Drusillda says to her new friend, ‘You must be careful how you say things. Critters can get easily insulted. I know because I am always insulting them when I don’t mean to insult them but sometimes it seems like they really want to be insulted. Sometimes it’s very difficult to say anything and not get into trouble. Don’t you agree Méabh and Lordy?’
Méabh says her usual ‘Humph,’ which always can be very difficult to translate.
Lordy however, also ever true to form, does not understand Mary-Ann-Drusillda’s feelings because he never seems to have any problem accidentally insulting other critters. Of course, he also does not want to insult Mary-Ann-Drusillda, so he sorta smiles in a scrunchy way and nods his head in a distorted strange manner which could mean either ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Mary-Ann-Drusillda does not get insulted but Lordy does get an ache in his neck. Lucy pays no attention to any thing which is said because she is mesmerized watching my interaction with the Herdwick sheep and the snow leopard.
As they catch up to us, I say, ‘Lucy, these are my old friends KepStorey and Mightnothavebeen.’ Actually they are not old at all and, I suppose, to Lucy ‘old’ is a very relative thing anyway. A matter of perspective.
Lucy smiles at them both and asked KepStorey if he is a Herdwick sheep herded by the Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter. KepStorey is very very nice. But he is not too way-too-smart and has a difficult time answering difficult questions even when they are not difficult at all. He looks at Lucy and says, ‘Mmmm…..I don’t understand your question.’
Lucy, slightly puzzled, says, ‘I don’t understand your not understanding my question.’ KepStorey just continues to stare at her and eventually she gets so confused she almost thinks maybe she never really did ask a question after all and it must have been someone else who asked the question. Finally, after a long silent pause, with everybody looking confused and looking at everyone else hoping someone will say something, Lucy says, ‘Mmmm….’
‘I think, maybe,’ I say, trying to politely clear the air, ‘that KepStorey knows Beatrix Potter as his herder but he does not know that she is famous for writing the Peter Rabbit stories. Yes, I think that is it. He only knows that she is a famous sheep herder. Isn’t that correct?’ I ask KepStorey.
KepStorey looks at me and answers, ‘Mmmm….’
At this point, Mightnothavebeen says, ‘Irrelevant. What’s that all got to do with the price of corn in Iowa?’
Everyone looks at Mightnothavebeen. They all look confused. No one says anything. Finally, I say, ‘Well, it’s been real nice to see you both again. Drop by the mud bog sometime for a nice cup of tea. Right now we have to head back to Daisy’s Field because HOG has found a diary which she wants us to help her read. Bye Bye.’
And everybody is happy and nobody is confused. At least, we don’t think we are confused, but we are really not too sure nor are we too sure whether it really matters whether we are sure or not. It’s the type of situation where, if HOG was with us, she would roll into a ball, and, after she unrolled, she would have a really bad headache. But she’s not here so we really don’t have to worry about whether we are confused or not and we all go happily on our way. Except that Méabh says, ‘Herdwick is a word which is derived from the Old Norse herdvyck meaning sheep pasture.’ This statement seems to settle everything and end all discussion until we get back to Daisy’s Field.
At Daisy’s Field, Méabh heads back to her castle or her tent or where ever it is she goes when she goes. Lordy heads off to work with one of his computers. Mary-Ann-Drusillda decides it is time to recount how many trees are growing in the Enchanted Wood. And myself and Lucy finally get to see the diary which HOG has found with all her hole digging looking for buried treasure.
Words:
Scandinavian
Perceive
Zero
Enlightenment
Questions:
Can you make a face like Lordy made? It’s hard to do and has to be practiced a lot.
Mightnothavebeen is easy to pronounce if you break it down into 4 different words. Can you guess what they are?
Where is Scandinavia?
Who discovered America?
Have you ever petted a Herdwick sheep?
Do you like the Peter Rabbit stories?
Do you know how many years ago the Peter Rabbit stories were written?
Do you write stories?
What other questions should be asked?
BTW:
Norns, Scandinavian myth, Lord Of The Rings and JRR Tolkien: J.R.R. Tolkien, born 1892, was a professor of English at Oxford University in England. Most people know that he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but not many people know that much of what he wrote was inspired by Scandinavian mythology which he loved so well. LOTR was the first present the Wizard ever gave me when we first dating. I knew then that life with the Wizard was the life for me.
Gödel, Einstein, etc: For quite a few years, Gödel and Einstein were both at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Quoting from Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Aspects (Gerald Holton and Yehuda Elkana, editors):
The one man who was, during the last years, certainly by far Einstein's best friend, and in some ways strangely resembled him most, was Kurt Gödel, the great logician. They were very different in almost every personal way - Einstein gregarious, happy, full of laughter and common sense, and Gödel extremely solemn, very serious, quite solitary, and distrustful of common sense as a means of arriving at the truth. But they shared a fundamental quality: both went directly and wholeheartedly to the questions at the very center of things. Gödel did original work in relativity theory by finding a new class of solutions for the field equations of general relativity, the so-called "rotating universes" or "Gödel universes".
Herdwick sheep, Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit, Kep and Storey: Beatrix Potter, born 28 July 1866, was the writer and illustrator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other famous children’s books. With all the money she earned, she and her husband bought Hill Top farm in the lake district of England and she spent the rest of her life happily farming and specializing in the raising and preservation of the old breed of Herdwick sheep. Tom Story was her friend and the manager of her farm and Kip was her favorite collie dog.
Snow leopards: The snow leopard (Uncia uncia) is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia. It cannot roar. Snow leopards show several adaptations for living in cold mountainous environments. Their bodies are stocky, their fur is thick, and their ears are small and rounded, all of which help to minimize heat-loss. Their feet are wide, which distributes their weight better for walking on snow, and they have fur on their undersides to increase their traction on steep and unstable surfaces, as well as to assist with minimizing heat-loss. Snow leopards' tails are long and flexible which help them to maintain their balance. The tails are also especially thickly covered with fur which, apart from minimizing heat-loss, allows them to be used like a blanket to protect their faces when asleep. The total wild population of the snow leopard is estimated at between 4,000 and 7,500 individuals. In 1972 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature placed the snow leopard on its Red List of Threatened Species as "Endangered," the same classification given the panda and the tiger. There are also 600-700 snow leopards in zoos around the world.
Check out:
Beatrix Potter
Lear, Linda – Beatrix Potter, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007.
www.visitcumbria.com/bpotter.htm
www.visitcumbria.com/amb/hilltop.htm
Gödel, Einstein
Yourgrau, Palle – A World Without Time, Basic Books, 2005.
Goldstein, Rebecca – Incompleteness, W.W.Norton, 2005.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS315US316&q=godel+einstein&start=10&sa=N
http://forum.wgbh.org/lecture/companion-stars-einstein-godel-princeton
Herbs
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/herbs/herbs.html
http://www.dmoz.org/Home/Gardening/Plants/Herbs/
Herdwick sheep
http://www.herdwick-sheep.com/
http://www.visitcumbria.com/bpotter.htm
Scandinavian myths and folklores:
http://www.washington.edu/students/crscat/scand.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_folklore
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/language.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/myth.html
http://www.norway.org/News/archive/2000/200001lights.htm
http://www.oulu.fi/~spaceweb/textbook/aurora/folklore.html
Snow leopards
http://www.snowleopard.org/catfactsclassroom/catfacts
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/snow-leopard.html
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/snow_leopard.php
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Uncia_uncia.html
Wood qualities, ash
http://www.asknature.org/strategy/547dbeb778bd94c5d78eb0d18d39ccdc
http://www.woodbin.com/ref/wood/
http://www.timber.org.au/NTEP/menu.asp?id=80
http://www.woodmagic.vt.edu/html/Activities/wid1.htm
Next Chapter 10: Found Data due to be posted December 3, 2009.
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.
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