Six Sentence Sunday

This is telling, not showing–I know it, but this and next week’s snippet are information the reader needs to have. Any suggestions for livening it up are welcome!

By choice, Roi was an esper Healer, an artist and devoted to his family. The Healing talent was a legacy from his R’il’nian father, the last survivor of the now-extinct R’il’nai. His creativity was a gift from the Human mother he could barely remember. His love for children and other small, helpless things might have come from his mother as well, though he thought it just as likely to have been learned from Marna, the R’il’nian stepmother who had taught him to use the Healing ability he’d been born with. His birth mother had also given him a gene that was far too dangerous to be passed on–on that, he agreed with the Genetics Board. Luckily Wif had been born before the problem was recognized and was not even a carrier, but Roi had no other children of his own.

Have a look at the other Six Sentence Sunday participants.

Ice Sculpture: Single Block by Daylight 2

Single block 2? Well, I couldn’t get them all in one post, so I split them up. Some of these were taken from the train (which bounced badly, so I hope they aren’t too blurred.) I’m going to use larger photos this time, in hopes they won’t change places!

This was 7^th place, “Giving Thanks to the Great Spirit.”

8^th place was “Dragontango.”

9^th place was “Spirits of our Ancestors. The shoulder and beard at the far left belong to the train driver.

10^th place was “Pegasus in Sky.” This one was definitely taken from the train.

“Entertainment” took the Artists’ Choice award.

“Your Move” is a hero-and-dragon theme, always popular.

“Unrest” really showcases the ice.

“Feather” is another that caught my eye. Notice that all of the single-block sculptures are set among trees, for protection from the sun.

No, that’s not all of the photos I took. Next week I’ll show the progress of the multi-block sculptures, which are sculpted from up to 10 blocks of ice, each 6’ x 4’ by 3’. The judging was yesterday evening, when the sculptures were lighted. Will I have any photos of the lighted sculptures? Depends on whether I can hitch a ride after dark.

Jarn’s Journal Year 2 Day 201

Year 2 Day 201

Flying turns out to be much easier than levitating and then teleporting to a landmark I can see. I just have to levitate to the height I want, set up levitation struts to keep me there, and then push backward on the ground. Memorized teleports at altitude work, too, but for exploration flying is wonderful. And I’ve found the perfect way to counterbalance!

I have been following the little stream that runs by my shelter. It almost disappears during the dry season, but it’s not hard to follow. It flows into another, and then another, and a few days’ flying downstream I would have to call it a river. Rather slow and broad at this season, but it is apparent that it runs far faster and fuller during the rainy season.

Near the end of the third day I thought I saw smoke rising, and at first I thought I was seeing another fire. It’s been getting pretty dry, and for a moment I almost teleported back to the shelter. What if fire was there, too? I haven’t set backfires to burn off the area yet. Still, a teleport to a spot nearer the smoke, to be sure what was happening, seemed a good idea.

It wasn’t a fire, but a waterfall — one of the largest I have ever seen. I almost forgot to keep my levitation struts steady, it was so overwhelming. Once I got into a position to study it, though, I realized that here was all the vertical mass movement I would ever need. Teleport water from the torrent below the falls to the top when I want to go down; teleport water from the top to the bottom when I want to go up. Momentum might still take some work, but the potential energy would be far easier to handle than it is using dirt.

Needless to say I memorized the feel of the waterfall and the surrounding area, and made sure I could tie into the water wherever I was. With that kind of counterbalancing available, I could fly above the tribe as they migrate, keeping track of them. Maybe next year, if they only come back, I can follow them to their gather.

Jarn’s Journal is part of the back story of my science fiction universe. Jarn is a human-like alien who was stranded on Earth, in Africa, roughly 125,000 years ago. His story is being transferred to my author site as I write it.

Ice Again: Single block by daylight 1

"Treasure Hunt Blue Marine" won first place in the single block competition.

"The Quest" took second place.

I’m splitting this into several posts, mostly photos. I got to the ice park Monday, and walked around part of the single-block competition. It wasn’t too cold — a little above zero, and I was warmly dressed. But I was walking with a cane, and the way the ice was broken up on the paths (I suppose to keep it from being too slippery) made sure I really needed that cane! Holding onto a cane while taking pictures with mittens on …. Well, I had to pick the cane up off the

"Acrobats" took 3rd place

path several times, first carefully placing my feet so I didn’t lose my balance. I came back after OLLI classes in the afternoon, and took the train (painted plywood cars pulled by an off-road vehicle) through the single-block exhibit. I’ll post those photos Saturday.

"Hudson Hawk" took 4th place

In the single-block competition each team is provided with a single block of ice, 8′ x 5′ by 3′, with the 3′ being the depth of the pond ice. Some sculptures are made by cutting and stacking the single block, but that’s the amount of ice the sculptor has to work with. If you want to see larger versions of any of the pictures, just click on the photo. Sorry I can’t seem to get WordPress to put the pictures where I want them.

6th place; "Space Dog."

5th place, "Birth of Matter"

Mercedes Lackey Quotes

Late breaking news (9 am): Tourist Trap not only took first place in science fiction in the Reader Views literary awards, it received the Garcia Award for the best fiction book of the year! I’m in shock!

The first six quotes this week were again from Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey.

“It walls you in as well as other people out.” Darkwing is trying to explain to Tremayne about the barrier around Iftel, and how it has affected the people within it.

“I would rather have a bloodless victory than any other kind.” Tremayne, on realizing that the gryphons will probably fight by dropping object through thatched roofs.

“No one has ever dared to claim…that the cause of warfare was rational.” Firesong to Karral, discussing how Karal feels about Vanyel. Firesong is thinking about adding Vanyel’s ghost to their company. The complete quote included prejudice as well as warfare, and the whole thing refers to the fact that Vanyel was considered a demon in Karse, due to his being the premier fighter on the Valdemar side in a war centuries earlier.

“No side is always in the right.” Firesong approving Karal’s answer to his question about Vanyel.

“The sword is saying that we need an edge. How appropriate.” Firesong is being a bit sarcastic about Need’s advice, Need being a talking sword.

“Gossip and rumor, opiates of the dull, can for the clever be the stuff that dreams are made of.” Melles has been talking with his tame poet and propagandist, and the poet makes this remark.

“Some of the mammals here think they are going to eat me!” Sue Ann Bowling, Jarn’s Journal. Jarn is just beginning to explore his site of stranding, in Pleistocene Africa.

Second Campaigner Challenge: Dreams.

I don’t usually post twice a day, but after mulling over Rachael Harrie’s second campaigner challenge overnight, I came up with this:

Dreams
©Sue Ann Bowling

How did we come here, sheltering from the storm beneath a crumbling bridge,
leaning against its rusted girders?
Once we had dreams.
You kicked a soccer ball along this very bridge;
I yearned to hold the ocean in a wooden spoon.
Now your hair is wet with rain,
and my leg is cut to the bone by the trash we pick.
Our lives are no more than smoke.
But does not smoke make fantastic patterns in the air?

I was going to post this Thursday, but I have more than enough ice art photos for Thursday and Saturday both, so I’ll get my entry in now. See the original post for the prompts–and this is not my usual genre!

Ice Art Championships 1

The Ice Art Championships are underway! I’ll show some of the competition pieces next Saturday. But I did pick up a season pass and have a look at the kids’ park. If the weather cooperates, I hope to get some photos of more than just this bit close to the entrance.

This one's very interactive--kids (including some quite large ones) can get into the dish and be spun around.

For a while we were afraid we’d lose the World Ice Art Championships. They’ve been held for years on land owned by the Alaska Railroad. Something happened last year—I think the railroad raised the rent, but I’m not sure, and for a while the organizers were frantically hunting a new site. Well, they’ve found a permanent home and while it’s still rather raw, it promises to be as spectacular as the old one.

This one is actually a slide. Sorry there isn't more contrast with the sky.

As I said, I only got to see the kids’ park Saturday, but I did take a few photos. Even the slides and the sculptures to climb on are pretty neat. The train sounds like a good idea once I figure out where the station is. I went again on Monday, and got some more photos of the kids’ park, plus took enough more for several more posts. Watch for them.

Isn’t our Alaskan ice beautifully clear?

Note: you can click on any of the photos to see larger versions.

The sabertooth cat can be ridden, but you'd better have insulated pants!

This dragon is saddled and ready for kids to ride.

More slides

Guess who sponsored this one!

North Pole Weather 3/5/12

Ice bird carving in front of the hospital lab.

The sun rose at 7:43 this morning and will set at 6:22 for 10 hours 39 minutes of daylight. Spring may not be here officially, but sun on snow was almost too bright to look at Sunday. My snow stake agrees with the official snow depth: 20”. That’s actually not too bad for this time of year; not so much that it will take forever to melt, but enough to insulate the ground from getting any colder. Regretfully, I’ll be back to “sun will rise” next week—this post goes live at 8 am my time, and daylight savings will once again put sunrise before I get up. Only for the one week, though. We’re gaining 6 min 45 sec a day, and by March 19 I’ll again be getting up after sunrise.

It’s been on the cold side—temperatures above zero in the middle of the day but well below zero at night. No sign of melting yet, and I’m going to try to photograph the ice sculptures before they start thawing this year. (Watch for tomorrow’s post.) They are, however, beginning to accumulate snow. Never very much at a time, but we seem to get a fraction of an inch a day rather often this year.

The commonest real birds this time of year.

I ordered my bean and squash seeds yesterday. Rocdor (yellow) and Gina (Italian type), both of which I know do well up here, and are actually earlier than the regular green beans, are my bean varieties of choice; Gold Rush and Contender for zucchini. I enjoy visiting the local greenhouses too much to order seeds for herbs and flowers I know will be available as starts locally. Besides, I try to avoid pesticides indoors, and my seedlings almost always get bugs if I try to grow too many.

WriteMotivation:

My goals for March were:

1. Learn to use at least one legal method of getting images other than photos I’ve taken on my blog. (I’d love to have some shots of Africa on Jarn’s Journal, for instance.) Progress? Mostly looking up creative commons on Google, and finding a few pictures I’d like to use. I’ve also talked to a friend about using some of his African photos.

2. Continue to blog at least 5 days a week. (I’m doing 7 now, but I’ve signed up for a number of adult classes in March.) Progress? So far I’ve blogged every day and have posts lined up for 10 of the remaining 26 days.

3. Edit Chs 2 and 9 of my WIP to give more showing, less telling. Progress? I think I have Ch 2 done.

4. Participate in at least one Platform-building challenge–hesitate to commit for more without knowing what they are. Progress? I accepted the first Campaign Challenge and posted the result. Not sure if achieving this goal in February counts, though.

And I received notice that my second novel, Tourist Trap, is a finalist in the Reader Views Literary Awards contest! So I’m on track, at least.

Six Sentence Sunday

I’m skipping around a little in Rescue Operation, as doing it continuously just doesn’t give me good six-sentence fragments. This follows Roi’s explanation of the vote on slaving.

Keishala sighed as she picked up her music tablet. “Come on, Lani. If you’re going to finish that before the concert, we’d better go somewhere else. If it’s going to be politics, neither of us is going to be much help.”

“Anything I can do?” Emeraude asked.

She had seen immediately what the Inner Council had missed–how the citizens of Horizon would most likely react. Keishala and Lelani were dear to him, though right now they were best off preparing for Keishala’s next concert, but Emeraude might be a real help.

Visit the other Six Sentence Sunday participants!

And I know we’re not supposed to do this, but I just have to crow a bit: Tourist Trap is a finalist for the Reader Views Literary Awards!

Award and Medicare

Well, I’ve had a couple of good days. First was the email Thursday that Tourist Trap was a finalist in the Reader Views Literary Awards. Yes, that’s the same one Homecoming received last year.

Then I got a phone call from the clinic saying the box of replacement sets had arrived, and I picked them up Friday, thus ending a very nervous couple of weeks.

Replacement sets?

The other end of that plastic cord feeds into me.

I use an insulin pump. It’s about the size of a small stack of business cards, and it normally lives in my pocket. It contains a reservoir of insulin, which theoretically should be changed every three days. (I normally average about six, because that’s how long a full reservoir lasts me, and I have yet to see any drop in effectiveness after six days at body temperature.) The pump gradually pushes that insulin out very fine tubing a couple of feet long to a set, which is fastened to my body by a piece of adhesive and has a fine Teflon cannula piercing my skin and delivering insulin into the subcutaneous tissue. The set has a needle which is used to insert the cannula under the skin, and is then removed. The set has to be changed every three days – any longer than that in the skin, and scar tissue starts to build up and insulin no longer gets through. These sets are not reusable; in fact they become medical waste.

I’m lucky to have very good supplemental insurance as well as Medicare, and every 3 months I get shipped 30 sets. A couple of weeks ago the shipping company called me to check how many sets I had.

“Two. When are you going to ship them?”

“We did, a couple of weeks ago.”

I have them ship to my doctor’s office, because in my experience mail order pharmacies never adequately package temperature-sensitive medications being shipped to regions where 40-below temperatures are common, and in some shipments I get continuous glucose sensors which must not be frozen. So I called the clinic, which usually calls me when a package arrives for me.

They couldn’t find the box.

By that time the pharmacy was closed, so when I called back the next morning I got the details of the shipment. They insisted it had been signed for at the clinic and gave me the exact time and date of delivery.

I called the clinic back. I think it took about a day before they finally said that yes, they had received the box. The person who signed for it remembered it. So did several staff members. But they couldn’t find it, and they’d looked everywhere. They said they’d call the mail-order pharmacy back and pay for a replacement shipment. (This is stuff no local pharmacy carries.)

The mail order pharmacy said that Medicare rules did not allow them to send out a replacement shipment – never mind that it was the clinic, not me, that verified I had never received the sets that are essential to my life, or that the clinic was willing to pay for the replacement shipment.

The clinic combed the offices of the doctors that treat diabetes, and managed to come up with a few sets to tide me over. They also called the pump (and set) manufacturer. The manufacturer FedExed me a few more sets. Finally, Thursday, the clinic called and said they had the sets from the manufacturer, and I picked them up yesterday.

I realize that Medicare does have a huge fraud problem. But in this case the clinic was offering to pay for the lost shipment, so what kind of fraud did they think was involved? It’s not as if the sets were valuable to anyone else, but they are life or death to me.