Gobsmacked and Snowbound

Carolyn,

Right to the jugular ...... RIDDLES

 I was totally, utterly and completely out in left field. Frankly,  I was up in the last row of the  bleachers and gobsmacked by your riddle this time. I might as well have been back on Venus.   You'd  think I'd be psychologically  predisposed to get the airline carry-on bag thing right-off since I'll be making my airborne escape to the  land of geckos, iguanas, and other crispy critters pretty  soon.   Please note that I am not smirking while I write this ....ahh... honest!

I gotta say that our temporary trek south won't come too soon since we seem to be settling in to a more traditional Bruce Peninsula winter ( i.e. endless lake-effect snow streamers and daily dalliances with the snow-blower ) . We've had almost three feet of the white stuff in the last 36 hours.  Those pathological liars on television and radio who allegedly claim  to be "forecasting" the weather,  keep using mayhem and madness inducing  terms like " snow-squall warnings " and "winter deep freeze".  Jeez,  the depths these media-types will stoop to to pump up the ratings, eh! 

  I had to finally admit defeat and put the motorcycle into hibernation a couple of weeks ago. 

It is very cold and nasty  here.  Al Gore lied  !

 The whole world outside my windows is Christmas postcard scenery right now. Too bad I'm not a skier or boarder because there's powder aplenty. Owen Sound continues to show well in the snowiest cities in Canada sweepstakes - a top 20  finish year in and year out. Go Team, Go! 


Okay, done with whining, wailing and wimping about the weather ( wow, an orgy of alliteration! ) 


Your riddle this time is once again suitably inscrutable. I'll guess that its shoes or gloves - either one (or pair ) can protect you or leave you vulnerable.  The lace thing makes me lean towards gloves, but the vulnerable thing makes me think of footwear that totally sacrifices orthopedic efficacy  for style.  It's still a toughie - You have learned well young riddler !

As far as my last riddle goes, you socked it to me again. It was socks. I guess using the term "sock it to me" really dates one, n'est-ce-pas? Ah, the fickle finger of pop terminology. 





Here's mine:

Best space station entry and egress ever
Rhythmic routine in Tennessee and Austria
Whitman and Disney comprise two thereof.

Practised by Toreadors and Flowers

I followed your link to the So Write. Us site and on a quick perusal it looks pretty cool. I will be back there  to check it out in more depth. My own writing hasn't been front and centre but it hasn't been totally swept aside either. Every day or two I go back and add or refine a story point but there's certainly lots and lots and lots more to do. The smartphone comes in most handy to record stray thoughts on the run, too. I confess that sometimes when I'm at the wheel or behind the snowblower I jeopardize my concentration momentarily by thinking about " the story".  Smarten up, Don.

 I have a scribblers'  progress update  on my short list of upcoming entries here at
  Conversations at Wormhole Electric. 

Carolyn, you made the point that conspiracy  is a plot pillar  behind many classical works. I was lucky enough to have an English teacher in grade 10 who could make Shakespeare live for a room full of pre-occupied and even pre-possessed adolescents. - He brought the whole dramatic import of conspiracy as a plot element and character development catalyst to  life for me  via Julius Caesar.  I can still feel the dramatic force behind those words, even though they were in latin - "Et Tu Brute" ( Julius Caesar, 3.1.77 )

 It certainly heightened my  literary sensibilities from then on and allowed me to appreciate more fully, later classic works that play on this element, whether actual or imagined by the main characters for their greatest impact.

Oh,  there's the bell. School's out for today.

Don