the dainty little dichotomy of daily living

Here is a blast from my past. I wrote this three years ago, October 2004. Funny (and I mean that in the ironic way) how we come full circle sometimes. I still feel like many of the things I talked about here are relevant. My life is still full of dichotomy...

So now, for your reading pleasure...

dichotomy-noun-division into two usually contradictory parts or opinions. A division or forking into branches.

Okay, so I'm a huge sci-fi fan. I love to play the "What If" game (even to my mental detriment). The idea that every choice we make, every word we speak, every muscle we move, puts us on one possible path of all the choices we had fascinates me.

And then it comes down to reality. When Dichotomy is staring you in the face, like the allegorical figures of old, and he is wielding his very sharp, double-edged sword in your direction, fear and panic wash over and you long for simplicity. Black and white, right and wrong. You wish the Gamekeeper would hand you the rule book and explain exactly what you can and can not do. But the Gamekeeper doesn't come, and you are left there to face down Dichotomy with whatever weapon you have mastered (or worse, whatever you find at your disposal).

While facing this menace, it's easy to feel all alone, confused and unsure of everything you do. To look into the face of a friend and see a stranger, to be expected to offer help when you have no idea that there is a need, to know a person's heart yet hear them speak something that is against all you know about them. You know something so solid in your brain but what you see and feel doesn't line up. In the end, it comes down to faith and trust... just like Peter Pan said. Sadly, I don't think we have any dust... pixie dust.

So, me of little faith has a big journey ahead of me (and truth be know, so much behind me as well). I should be excited, and I am, but I'm also a bit nervous. I've read the stories, I heard the tales, and I know that not every story has a happy ending. It does, however, have the right ending. That's just a hard pill to swallow for the hopeful romantic.

Well, I guess that's about all today (as if that doesn't give you a ton to chew on). I guess I'll just continue down the road... thanks for being there as part of this crazy journey we call life.

as the year rolls by...

Can you believe that it is October already? I am having a hard time with that. Lots of reasons, none that I want to go into right now, but still- October?

I applied for a job at the library. Good hours and great pay. Haven't heard back but they said it would take them a week and a half or so, and it has only been a week today. Putting out a few other applications. Lots of places are hiring for the holidays so maybe I can get in on that and be wonderful enough that they will want to keep me.

In other news, I got lots of new books to read!! A family from church blessed me with a gift card to Target as a thank you for helping their adopted daughter acclimate to life in the US (she is from China and was adopted in March). I thought that was sweet. She was in my class when she first came to the US and I worked with her parents to help her get used to being left in the nursery. I did it because they needed the help and I have experience. I wasn't looking for thanks, but it was nice to receive it. So I bought a Jodi P book, Plain Truth, with part of my blessing. Then, today Miss Pottenger invited me in to peruse her collection and let me borrow several. So I snagged another Jodi P book, the first Dresden Files, and a few others.

I'll have to hurry up and read to make my goal of 75 this year. It is the only resolution that I'm anywhere close to keeping, so I feel very motivated to keep it fully. I have 45 titles in my done pile, but there are a few of those I haven't actually finished. I either need to delete them or finish (which might require a complete re-read at this point- yikes!).

Also, I've been writing a slew of new poetry. This is a result of mentoring on CleanPlace and doing the poetry challenges. I figure I can't challenge the teens to do something I haven't done- so lots of new poems are coming out of me. It is kinda nice to know I can still write a decent poem once in a while. I'll post more of them soon.

And I entered the Family Circle Short Fiction contest. I thought my story was good, one of the best I've written. Just waiting for the end of the month to see if it goes anywhere.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you are up to!

the hunt is on...

Yep, job hunting. I start in earnest in the morning. Oh the joy. And since I find the whole topic rather depressing, here's something I do like. More poetry :) I gave the challenge to write a poem with the final line "because the heart of the plum is a stone". Thanks to Miss Pottenger for helping me come up with that line. And here it is...

The Core

Balance the knife over
the red belly- cut clean
to release the star-
“Fruit holds such mystery,”
you say as you hand over
the apple.

He bites into the crisp flesh without
noticing the hallowed points. “Granted,
some fruit doesn’t hide its enigma
at the core,” you continue- louder
to be heard over his crunching. “Like
strawberries- seeds on their coats
for all to see- a cave in the middle.”

He looks up from his breakfast
“Where is the mystery in a plum?”
he asks as you pull apart
the orange phases of a moon.
You shrug as he swallows the last
bite of apple and says,
“because the heart of the plum is a stone.”

(c) SDD 2007

for the want of a blowhorn...

The wilderness would be so much nicer if other people stayed out of it...

That sums up my feelings at the moment. I spent the entirety of last night awake, listening to the other people who chose to come to the woods. Not fun. There was the party just across the road who decided to blast country music until 3 AM. And then the people who drove up the road at midnight and another car at 3 and another at 5 (that one stalled twice, lovely grinding of the engine to keep you awake). Or we could talk about the people who drove OUT at 1 and 4. Honestly, these are not the sort of roads you should be traversing in the dark.

I may have fallen asleep a few times, but I never stayed asleep for more than a few minutes at a time.

Why do these people come to the woods? I mean, if you aren't going to enjoy the wild, why go? We (I'm talking humanity as a whole) are very bad about imposing ourselves. We take our noise and announce our presence. Maybe we all need a lesson in how to blend in to our surroundings.

adventures in camping...

So yes, I just recently returned from my nine day camping trip near Yellowstone. And yes, I'm going again. This time it is only one night and I'm taking my friend, Jake. He is 10 and he loves to camp. We are trying just one night because I've never been camping with him before and I've only ever camped on my own (i.e. without my super camper father) once. But Jake is up for the adventure so I'm willing to give it a try.

I'll let you know how it goes when I get back...

that is, IF I get back!