Eh, Oak, eh !

Hi Carolyn,




Well, alrighty then, as Ace Ventura would say. Things are pretty up in the air here right now. The delayed kitchen install has just been moved up two weeks because of another cancellation so we are scrambling about a bit. Like all good reno undertakings things have mushroomed almost uncontrollably and there will be five rooms to paint when all the dust finally settles. My LSBH and I have realized that we either have to each grow another set of arms or we should best look into some professional assistance for this, so I’m off the ladder ( and the hook ) for now.






Birthday wishes to pass on before going any further. Eric Clapton is 69 today. He is certainly at my head table of guitar greats. He's also the only musican to be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times - for his work with The Yardbirds, Cream and as a solo musican. I have to also thank him for introducing me to Bob Marley's music by way of his version of  "I Shot the Sheriff ". One last factoid about Eric. His father was a Canadian.

　

　






　

Spent the last couple of days finishing off the hardwood floor installation . I do like oak floors. We have, over the last twenty some years, converted pretty well all of the main floor of our abode to oak plank flooring. Not the clear, uber-expensive and characterless stuff, but the stuff with  all of the grain and color variations that make oak so , so  oakish !  I enjoy installing them. I get to play with air compressors and nailers and big hammers and the like.  But I’d forgotten just how much bending and kneeling and such is involved. My leg muscles, joints and hamstrings are clearly quite put off with me right now.

　

I grew up in a household where woodworking was always part of the mix. My dad built four different 18 to 21 foot wooden sailing boats while I was at home and all of my sailing until I got a boat of my own was in one or the other of them. He inculcated me with a taste for woodworking and woods. I sorta limited my efforts to refinishing furniture rather than actually creating my own. My older brother became far more skilled at pretty well all aspects of the craft. Somehow that same level of skill and feel for wood and woodworking has leapfrogged over to my son as well, I'm more than happy to say.





　

In fact I’d pretty well have to say that oak is my favorite of all hardwoods. It doesn’t have the warmth of mahogany, the burnished beauty of cherry, the unmistakeable elegance of walnut, or the handsome durability of teak. It does have an impressive pedigree, and aroma  all its own, though. What if there had been no oak to build those ships for Columbus, Magellan or Amerigo Vespucci or Henry Hudson ? What if there had been no oak for those churches, forts, and other buildings that housed the infrastructure of a burgeoning North America ?

 

 

 

What if there had been no oak to make the barrels that have held in ages past and continue to hold and age those wonderful wines and whiskies, ravishing rums, beautiful beers and charming champagnes - and don't forget the pickle barrels. 

 Hmmmmm, perhaps a future riddle could be dedicated to this wonderful and ancient device.

I can’t conceive of being surrounded by too much oak, whether in furnishings or flooring or whatever.

 

 

BTW, those shoes you included in your entry for March 9th were almost inconceivably ugly. If you are even remotely a shoe person and happen to be in Toronto sometime in the future, you should check out the Bata Shoe Museum. In fact you should check it out online if you have some idle moments.



 Although, Carolyn, it sounds like you don't have too many of them. Don't stretch yourself too thin, though.



The riddles, like James Bond, will return!



Don

 

All images sourced from Google Images

Fig. 1 - hqwide.com
Fig. 2 - cuteculturechick.com
Fig. 3 - scotiaflooring.ca
Fig. 4 - moesmarineservice.com
Fig. 5 - en.wikipedia.org
Fig. 6 - business2community.com
Fig. 7 - atravelinfos.com

Suntan Lotion, Hula Hooping, and Life in General

Good morning, Don. Sorry to hear about your broken pipes! And the dry wall, that is a big problem. I remember it happening to us – I think waiting for it to dry is the best idea. We didn't wait long enough and taking the dry wall out became a massive exercise in futility. And the irony of the cabinets isn't lost on me either. Look at it this way – you'd have a whooping water bill and more than just some dry wall to take out had you stayed in the warm south. Good luck with all of this!

My part of the tree is quivering right now with the last of the grading for the quarter. I finally got caught up yesterday, so I can catch my breath. I have 15 research papers coming in Tuesday with final grades due by Friday. It will be tight, but I'll get it done. I'll have a couple of days off, but the administration feels that my time can be better spent in workshops than in catching my breath and getting ready for the next quarter. Those who don't teach seem to think it is easier than what they do.

I'm finishing up the edits and formatting for Transport 30. Amazing! We have released 30 Transports, Don. I haven't stopped to figure out how many stories that is – but it is 8 individual books and 2 anthologies. I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I am honored to work with some of the best prolific writers! I'm looking forward to our Riddle piece in May!

Back in the real world, I'm working with the web site developers to redo the web site. Our plan is to have it completed by August. I'm hoping that is realistic. I've cut back on the number of stories per month in the Transports so the guys can start on the changes. I talked toJim Bessey this morning from  sowrite.us.com about marketing and some of the changes we could make on the web site. I have a lot to do over the next few months, but I think it is all do-able. One step at a time and patience are called for at this time.

And I want to say Thanks to Jim and his writing contests! I've contacted 3 possible new writers for Wormhole. They'll start with us in August and September as part of the new roll out for the web site. Our own Tamara Narayan came to us through Jim's contests. Tammy's stories are extraordinary! Check out her latest in Transport 29.  Next time sowrite.us.com has a contest, Everyone enter! The contests are fun and easy and Jim takes into account audience approval. Check it out.

The most important thing I've done this week has been to grade papers. And, I was fortunate enough to have a student write about suntan lotion. As summer is coming, this topic is important to all of us. I mentioned suntan lotion in my book about Estrogen andMenopause. Suntan lotion is good, and bad. Find suntan lotion that does not have oxybenzone and or retinyl palmitate in it.

Recent research indicates that suntan lotion with oxybenzone is it is not all that good for you. It is an estrogen like product that is absorbed through the skin and finds its way into the blood stream and may cause hormonal imbalances. Men, it does the same thing for you...

Another chemical that suntan lotion may have in it is retinyl palmitate. It is a form of Vitamin A. Research indicates that this chemical may be the cause of the increase in skin cancer. When retinyl palmitate is applied to the skin that is exposed to sunlight, it may cause skin tumors and lesions. This applies to everyone. 

Both of these chemicals can be read about on the internet. Read about it! Make your own decisions. Suntan lotion is important! Use it! But be aware of what is in it.

The other paper that has influenced my life was about hula hoops. Yes, that old fashioned hula hoop that goes around and around the waist if you can keep the hips and legs moving. Apparently a hula hoop is good for core strength and development. So I made a bee line out to our shed, retrieved our very old blue patchy glittered hula hoop and started. I used to be able to hoop for many minutes. Now, I'm up to 40 times around before the hoop drops to the ground leaving me breathless and giggling – 40 times around is about 20 seconds of time – maybe 30 seconds...  

Anyway, hula hoops are good for core strength, leg strength, balance, coordination and giggles. When I take the dog out, I do the hoop. Thankfully, it is just me and the dog. He watched the first couple of times, shook his head and wandered off. Maybe by next week I'll be up to 50 times around! Wonder how long it will take me get to a minute? How many times around will it go in a minute? As 13 minutes of exercise seems to be the magic number for getting the most out of basic exercise, I imagine I'll be awhile working on this. I've started distance walking again, but I have to admit, it just isn't as much fun as hooping. I'd look really silly hooping and walking.  

Time to get back to tinkering with class assignments for next quarter. And the dog wants out - hoop is by the back door, just waiting. 

Have a great week, everyone!

Carolyn

Don! Riddles – we only have a month to put it together!

All images downloaded from Google images

Fig 1 – RF Wind Strom, clipart retrieved from www.clipartof.com

Fig 2 – Edit retrieved from google images

Fig 3 – Transport 29 Cover designed by L. Varvel

Fig 4 – Cruise Ship Coloring pages retrieved from www.yescoloring.com

Fig 5 – Sunburn retrieved from google images

Fig 6 – Cartoon girl with hula hoop retrieved from www.dreamstime.com

Reality Check Please?

Hi Carolyn,



Well I feel like a fair part of a lifetime has passed since I was last here at Wormhole Electric.


Yes,  we are back in the true north cold and frigid again and no I'm not adjusting well at all. However, this has truly been an epic winter - and is still with us here as there is a heavy snowfall warning out as I speak/blog - and railing and wailing about it will just make me part of the huge chorus, so enough of that.



The airport part of things was just fine this year. No blizzard to greet us as we popped out the terminal doors to grab a cab. Once we were all settled in for the ride to mid-town Toronto at my LSBH's sister place where we stayed that first night back, the ominous pieces began to fall into place.


 The cabbie hadn't even put his car in gear before he started making small talk about the coming storm. For two people who hadn't worn socks for the last five weeks this was horrific chit-chat, to be sure.


Well, he was  frickin' right. The next morning at sunup a glance out the window was like looking into a big bunch of Kleenex. The storm was supposedly just hugging the lower Great Lakes and we figured we could pop out of it once we got north of Tranna.  

 It didn't turn out that way and the usual 3 hours from our abode to the airport was a white-knuckle adventure of about twice that length. A good deal of it was in the shadow of phalanxes of snowplows, too. I used to be an absolute four season gonzo road-tripper, but I seem to be losing my mojo for this particular kind of  rip-roaring adventure.




The homestead looked just fine from the outside as we approached. Once we got in, though, I discovered that the super-cold-snap had popped a couple of water lines in the furnace and storage room area in our absence. Curse that automatic thermostat that I had set low for the time that we were away. Little did I realize that doing so was just playing into old man winter's hands.  The first welcome home gesture was to flip the water off so that the leakage could be halted. That nice hot shower and the other accoutrements of north-American uber-civilized living were shelved until a plumber could be found.

 

 

 

 

Well, the cold snap had snapped up all the plumbers. Broken water mains, water lines and such were epidemic in these here parts as I have subsequently discovered. We did get one a few days later, and he looked pretty bedraggled, too. But we got the water thing fixed and I've decided to let the saturated drywall  simply dry out before I remove it. It's a fair bit of a mess though.

 

 

 

 

 

Once we got that initial item behind us we got in touch with the kitchen folks who were originally slated to begin installing our new kitchen upon our return. There was a fire at the cabinet factory and our kitchen install has been bumped back at least 4 weeks. Karen and I looked at each other upon hearing this and realized that we only came back this early to be there when the install was to originally take place.

We had been keeping tabs on the weather et al from down there and were half considering sucking up the rescheduling our flight thing fee and staying a couple more weeks. The  irony was not lost on either of us.




Anyhow, my LSBH has determined that since at least half of the main floor is inoperative this is the time to repaint the other adjoining rooms.

She's really excited about the prospect. I'm the ladder jockey, though.


I'm quite capable of droning on for hours about such domestic minutiae  but I know they are the same for us all in varying degrees.



Okay, enough about this end. What's shaking in your part of the tree?



Don



All images sourced from Google Images

Fig. 1 - digitaljournalist.org
Fig. 2 - dailykos.com
Fig. 3 - workersatyourservice.com

back now more later

Hola/Hi Carolyn,

Back now, we are, as Yoda would say. It was a bumptious trip and lotsa fun upon our arrival. Details to follow.


The weather both upon our return and prior to that has thrown us a couple of interesting curves.


Nobody was hurt, but a lot of drywall got wet.

Don

Tinkering with Time, ugly shoes, and insects for dining

Good Morning, Don!

Glad to hear that you got the tees off your chest. I'm not a fan of tees with advertisements on them. But I admit that I have several that have incredible pictures on them. I'm almost afraid to wear them because I'm not sure how they would take being washed and dried. I love the picture of the vw – I'd think that once I got over the shock of seeing someone wearing my car on their chest, I'd take it as a compliment. I have to admit, I hadn't thought of them being an ice breaker. I'll have to remember that.

Insects are amazing! One of my students did her research paper on the value of insects. She talked about the insects that we could do without, and which other insects can help us get rid of the unwanted. I was most surprised to hear that the only value of a mosquito was as fresh food for almost all other carnivorous insects.  I'm not that much into watching the little buggers, but I just might take it up this summer. Even here we keep certain foods in Ziploc bags – we have armies of little sugar ants and I don't want to entice them into the house with "easy food." I think one of the things I really didn't want to know was how nutritious bugs could be. And, believe it or not, they could be the answer to a food crisis.

And in answer to your question of did I watch the 50 year salute to the landing of the Beatles in North America – Yes. I talked about this several blogs back. Sorry you didn't get to see the Mexican Beatle Tribute Band. We had a concert this weekend with John Adams, a man from the Netherlands who does John Denver. Incredible! It reminds me of Gomer Pile – you just don't expect such beautiful sounds from such a different source.

You mentioned going from lizards to blizzards – read an article about El Niño. Apparently we should expect one to take control of our weather come summer. It will mean a warmer summer, but the winters will be less severe, especially in the north east. Hopefully it will bring rains to California and most of the southwestern states that are in drought. That includes Colorado. It could mean harsher winters in Europe. Southern China will be warmer too. I'll remember not to go there during the summer months.  

So the biggest news here is Day Light Savings Time starts Sunday. I remember when it started back in the 60s.  My cousin, who was farming at the time, really complained that it screwed up his milking times. Not sure how that happens, but I also remember a cartoon of Nixon cutting an hour off of the morning side of a 24 hour strip of day and sewing it onto the evening side while saying "This is how we get more time..." Someone made a comment that Americans just have to tinker with time...

I actually found an article on day light savings. Apparently it was originally hoped that day light savings would actually help say energy. Over the years, it has increased the amount of time used to air condition, so whatever saving there were has been wiped out. And not all states have to observe it – We give credit to Ben Franklin but in reality he was poking fun at those who slept all day and played all night - it would help with the cost of candles if one got up with the sun... 

Over all, the most important suggestion for keeping day light savings is for fighting obesity. People are more active outside during the summer because of the increased day light. TV viewing actually goes down 15% during the first weeks of day light savings. Movie theatres also experience less people. Keeping that in mind, there is an increase in the number of barbeques sold and the amount of barbeque food sold. A solution to obesity – really?

Congratulations to gold-medal Canadian goalie Shannon Szabadoes. She's signed a contract with the Southern Professional Hockey League's Columbus Cottonmouths. About time someone noticed that women are just as good at hockey as men.

And I ran across a strange one sentence advertisement: there is a talk show for pot smokers. As there aren't too many places in the US that are friendly to pot smokers, I'd think a talk show would be a bit risky.

The other strange thing I ran across is photos of the shoes for Fashion Week inEurope. I've included the url – not sure that shoes are something people should be tinkering with – at least not without a doctor on hand: http://shine.yahoo.com/photos/those-are-shoes-fashion-week-s-strangest-footwear-1394217113-slideshow/julien-david-photo-1394216127073.html

Have a great week, everyone. Don, when do you travel back north?

Carolyn 

All images downloaded from Google Images

Fig 1 – Thai Insects popular snack food retrieved from importfood.com

Fig 2 – John Denver's Greatest Country Hits retrieved from www.seekacover.com

Fig 3 – Daylight savings Continuum Cartoons retrieved from www.jantoo.com

Fig 4 – Shannon Szabados Canada Hockey retrieved from olympicgirls.net

Fig 5 – Kristen Szanto Creative – Ugly shoes retrieved from www.kristinszanto.com

Ants, Beatles and T-shirt diplomacy

Hola Carolyn,

First of all :

It only occurred to me after I posted the last entry that figures like Capitan Yack Hays and Sam Houston and the whole Texas Rangers phenomenon etc are probably almost household figures to you south of the border just like  Mounties, Radisson and Groselliers and Louis Riel are familiar to me.  In my academic stabs at History I spent far more time with European and Ancient history than American stuff, so lots of this was news.  Long before  University, though,  I got a fair dollop of it through the Hollywood filter.  The Disney Effect has been homogenizing and respinning continental history for me way up here in the Great White North all my life just as much as for my American neighbours - golly, Pluto!



Also, does that part Commanche bloodline  you mentioned last time mean that at some point, were you to find yourself in a situation that threatened your immediate survival, or the survival of a loved one, you could morph into a focused and formidable warrior - Commanche prowess as mounted adversaries was not limited to the men, I read. Do you feel instinctively comfortable and at home on horseback?  Could there be a storyline in that?  Or is it already out there, somewhat subliminally, in the Tracker stories perchance?



　

　

So here we are in the final few days before we must go from  lizards to blizzards. Ominously, we are today having the rare experience of being rained out. In the last 3 winters we’ve spent about 75 days in total on the Yucatan, all in Feb and early March ( the dry season) and have only had two days where overcast skies and rain were constants.

I have not forgotten the return trip last year and being ambushed by that early March storm. We're about 10 days further into spring in our return this time but the winter has been more relentless than has been seen in many a season in Southern and Central Ontario - so we will be travelling with a touch of trepidation, I'm sure.




　

Some ephemeral observations about our time here this year.



　
No Wigs for me in 2014.


　
I missed being able to see them here in Merida last year because we were leaving a couple of days before their scheduled performance but I was told they would be back this year about the same time. Well, they weren't and I will have to hope for next year perhaps. I was just so curious to see what a Mexican Beatles Tribute Band would be like.


In this, the 50th anniversary of their first appearance on Ed Sullivan ( please, don't tell me you missed it! ) I'm glad to report that the Fabs live on and offer the following forensic support.


We were in the busy tour office downtown in Merida setting up the Celestun jaunt.  From the front, the doors to the main office area were open. One could hear a cheap tinny radio crackling away while fingers flew over keyboards and phones were answered in the cubicles.  " Can't Buy Me Love " came on and I could see two or three desk jockeys mouthing the words or jogging their heads to the beat. An old fellow in the vestibule along with us was sitting there trying to get the gist of a fancy pair of binoculars. He was singing along as well. What's more...  he knew the words to the verses and the chorus!

 

There are, I've discovered in my internet radio meanderings, at least six different all Beatles-all the time web stations. A couple have been on the web for over a decade.  One broadcasts out of Peru and another is part of a set of stations from Holland each specializing  in one artist ( Elvis, Beatles, Bob Dylan ) or one musical genre. You can have your American  disco with a Dutch wrapping 24/7/365 if you wish. Holland has got to be one funky country.



Finally, I'm an emblem t-shirt type.  Tee's are my main uniform and I just can't stand to have one on that's completely blank. I brought along a couple of Beatles tees, plus my trusty Montreal Canadiens item, a Beastie Boys shirt my son got for me at one of their shows - yes, all he got me was a lousy t-shirt - and others.  


I've had  this Shea Stadium number on twice so far in our time here and been accosted by people with a " Hola, Bee- talls "  greeting each time. One included a thumbs-up, and was in the grocery store.



 There have been numerous instances both here and elsewhere, where a tee has been a cultural ice-breaker. The Canadiens shirt seems to do the best job ( I even got a thumbs-up in Romania for that one ) and the Beastie Boys have also elicited a common-bond moment or two in foreign

 

 

 

 

quarters. Oddly enough, I also have a dark blue ( well, faded blue now.) tee with Spam  in the characteristic font.  Simple, yet elegant, I must admit. It got me a number of greetings here. Once it earned a very enthusiastic response from a middle aged-guy at a southern Ontario winery who waxed ecstatic about how there is this state-wide contest in Hawaii every year for the best barbequed Spam recipes. He did this in a resonant voice from about twenty feet away while looking at a display of three-hundred dollar corkscrews.

 

The one tee-shirt tale I have left is possibly the strangest but hasn't fully unfolded yet.

It's like this. When I was down here last year and really got the old v-dub virus bad, I remember putting this pic up on the blog because it was such a scroddy, scruffy and, I felt, evocative specimen. Well, I like it so much that I put it on a yellow Tee and have it with me this year. What didn't strike me initially was that, since this car lives only two doors down from our residence here - and is still chugging away BTW - there is a pretty good chance that I, an obvious complete stranger,  could run into the owner whilst sporting a shirt with a picture of his car parked on his street.

 What would I think if the positions were reversed ??
 

 

 It could be a tad surreal.
 

 

Okay.  Got the tee-shirt thing off my chest.  What's left? 

 Oh yes, the ants.



 

One of the first things you notice is that there is no shortage of insect life here. The climate is right for it all year, and the rooms are half outside by design. For those of us used to a sub-zero winter that freezes out the ants and bees and such for a good part of the year the constant presence of these extremely small but completely ubiquitous insects seems alarming at first. What I'm really starting to appreciate is how essential they are. Yes, you are well advised to put any opened food packages into ziplock bags or the fridge, but any other biological matter that would become garbage underfoot disappears with surprising rapidity. A small crumb of potato chip or a drop of wine is cleaned up under your nose by maids and butlers who are almost too small to see. My LSBH certainly does not share my benign fascination with these Borg-like creatures, however.

 

 

 

Okay, on to the last items for this last blog from Merida. Carolyn, I haven't been archiving my riddles since they are in the blog itself and can be  grabbed from there. I will, as soon as I get back, or maybe even a bit while I'm still here, go and gather them together and forward them. As far as a title or such, " The Riddle Cave " seems like a good one. Ill start thinking more on that, though.

 

There won't be one this time. Once we are back in our own cave to continue to get this new kitchen odyssey into its final stages, Ill get the riddle stick out again. The first one will probably be about something cold and forbidding or warm and appealing, I'm sure.



Okay, that's all he wrote.



Don




Davy Crockett - blogs.evergreen.edu
Beetles - loyalkng.com
Shea Stadium shirt - backwardglances.com
Spam shirt - forums.sherdog.com
Borg - manhattaninfidel.com


 

 

 

　

　

　

















　

　

　























　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for Traveling in America, Sarajevo and Transport 29

Good Morning, Don,

Glad to hear that you still have all your fingers! I can’t imagine being surrounded by thousands of moving pink flamingos! Do you have any other exciting day trips planned?

Because you have been traveling, I have been finding articles about great places to go, what sites to see and all. But the most interesting article I came across was written by Christy Karras on how visitors to America view Americans. Zack, in China, also read the article and posted me his favorites: 

“Americans really are as cheerful as they seem.” “Americans and Russians say different things when faced with the same situation. Seeing the man who had fallen in the street, an American asks, 'Are you all right?' Russians will inquire: 'Are you ill?' We see a victim of the incident; they [Americans] see survivors. Survivors are perceived as heroes. Where we 'aren’t sick,' they 'stay well.' We discuss the problem. They discuss issues and items on the agenda."

“Americans: they are a nation that truly feels happy. These people get used to smiling from the cradle onwards, so they do not pretend to be cheerful. The desire for a successful happy life is inculcated from childhood.”

My favorites include “don’t drink the water” (from Latin America); Germans point out that when Americans say “We should get together sometime,” they don’t really mean it; French pass on advise about “scrupulously respecting the speed limits, the constabulary of the United States is not kidding”; Italians have trouble with tipping; and India suggests that if you are visiting the US, bring everything basic need you will have. China states that “Americans are such strict rule followers” and Russians follow up with that by pointing out that bribery is illegal in the US and giving gifts can be construed as a bribe…”; women are seen as being uptight – “etiquette prohibits flirting” and could land you in jail.

I wonder how the world views Canadians. I think that on a Happiness scale of 1 – 10, Canada has the US beat hands down.  The view that a successful life is inculcated from childhood is correct. But from my view, happy isn’t necessarily included in the success package. Americans live sheltered lives. I remember a student from Afghanistan who was in one of my classes. The class was really complaining: everything was terrible, homework was bad, the bus late, there wasn’t any parking… one of those days. I asked my Afghan student what he liked best about being in America. He said he liked being able to walk down the street and not being afraid of being shot. The class didn’t complain after that.

To follow up on your comments about Sarajevo – did you know that if you were traveling to Europe in the 1900's, you had not been to Europe until you’d visited Sarajevo; it rivaled Vienna, Paris and San Francisco. 

 It was after Tito’s death in 1980s(?) that the Serbs decided to reunite the country under Serb rule and to do that, they created their own brand of Hitlerism. It wasn’t until the Cellist of Sarajevo that the rest of the world became acutely aware of what was happening in Bosnia.

There is a lesson here for the rest of the world. Bosnia is a good example of a country lost in post-traumatic stress. We have countries all across the Middle East, in Africa, Afghanistan, that are facing the same kind of stress, a kind of disconnect with the world – a lack of trust in humanity. Where was the world when they were being slaughtered? Unless we start helping these countries and their people, they, and eventually us, will continue to be pushed around by bullies. Sorry about the tirade.

I was reading your comments about the book Empire of the Summer Moon. I have some ancestry that was Comanche. My relatives never talk about that side of the family. I’ll have to ask Zack if he’s read anything about Capitan Yack.  

I haven’t done much reading on the Wired Generation this week. I’ll be putting in the time this afternoon. I did get the latest Transport 29 up on Amazon. T 29 is now available! And it is incredible! Tamara’s coming of age story, Ursa Major, is jaw dropping! In the end, you wonder who is really the hero of the story! The twist is absolutely ingenious. Jack L’s last installment of The Three Miracles of Djerzelez has all the standard good vs. bad, heroes, villains, and action. This is how Super Heroes are born!  Ariel’s part two of The Telepath’s Song, is all the delicious gossip set up needed to keep the story moving forward. It has been a delightful week spent doing the final editing and formatting. If any of you’d like to read a sample of each story, check out the Wormhole Electric website. Otherwise, jump on over to Amazon and buy the three stories! A month of reading – great entertainment!

I’m collecting the riddles, Don. So if you happen to have yours in a file, I’d appreciate it! I’m looking to publish them in May so I need to get started. How do you want to name this particular adventure?

Have a great week. Enjoy your travels and remember - don't drink the water! 

Carolyn

Karras, C. (2014). Don’t drink the water; visitors travel tips to America. Retrieved from http://travel.yahoo.com/blogs/compass/don’-t-drink-water-visitors-travel-tips-coming-194949993.html

 Images downloaded from Google images:

Fig 1 – Pink Flamingo retrieved from www.publicdomainpictures.net

Fig 2 – Every Day Justice retrieved from www.everydayjustice.net

Fig 3 – New Speed Limits retrieved from servicingstopblog.co.uk

Fig 4 – Exploring Your Debris Field retrieved from theexceptionalman.com

Fig 5 – Transport 29 designed by L. Varvel