Quotes from Lewis Carroll

These are the contexts of the quotes tweeted from @sueannbowling between May 29 and June 4, 2014. Note that the Lewis Carroll quotes (the first six) come from two different books. These books have been so mixed up in movies that it’s a challenge to tie the quote to the right book. How did you do?

“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.” Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice, just after she grows for the first time and is uncertain of her own identity.

“There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought!” Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice, expanding in the White Rabbit’s house.

“Beware the Jabberwok, my son!” Through the Looking-Glass. Part of the poem, Jabberwocky written in Mirror-writing in the room Alice first finds (the mirror image of the room in her home.)

“In most gardens they make the beds too soft—so the flowers are always asleep.” Through the Looking-Glass. The Tiger-lily’s explanation of why the flowers in this bed are awake and talking.

“The sea was wet as wet could be.” Through the Looking-Glass. Part of The Walrus and the Carpenter, recited to Alice by Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

“If you’ll believe in me, I’ll believe in you.” Through the Looking-Glass. Alice has just been introduced to the Unicorn, who considers human children fabulous monsters. When Alice replies that she has always thought that unicorns were fabulous monsters, the Unicorn suggests that they should both believe in each other.

“They weren’t really good at abstract ideas.” Sue Ann Bowling, Homecoming. Cinda is describing the human ancestors of 125,000 years ago.

Mints, Part 1

Most perennial mints aren’t perennial in Alaska. There is an Alaskan variety which is perennial (and it is, typically for the genus, wildly invasive) and the ginger mints (Mentha x gracilis, a hybrid of arvensis and spicata) occasionally survive our winters. Both of these flower in the axils, rather than at the terminus.The rest are annuals in our climate, though they can be transplanted to the garden far earlier than most plants, and continue growing until buried in snow.

I generally buy plants of named varieties and plant them in a raised bed where they have only each other to compete with. Here are a few of my favorites:

Corsican Mint (Mentha requinii.) It looks like baby’s tears, but has a very strong mint odor.

Strawberry Mint. I suspect this is a hybrid, and relatively new. It really has a strawberry overtone to its scent.

Variegated Ginger Mint (Mentha x gracilis.)

 

Variegated Pineapple Mint (Mentha suaveolens.) It really does have a pineapple scent.

Orange Mint (Mentha citrata.) More flowery than orange, to my mind.

North Pole Weather 6/2/14

The sun will rise this morning at 3:32, and set tomorrow morning at 12:11. Yes, we’ve crossed the line where the sun doesn’t set until after midnight. It’s now over 47° above the horizon at noon, but we’re only gaining about 6 minutes a day. Temperatures are now fairly reliably above freezing here, though mixed snow and rain is being forecast for the higher elevations.

It’s a little cooler in the daytime (upper 50’s) but that’s because it’s somewhat cloudy. We’ve even had a little rain, but the fire danger is still high. We might have some scattered to isolated showers, but I don’t expect much rain. I watered some this weekend, and will have to water more next week. I do hope to get the rest of the transplants in the ground Tuesday.

Most of the perennials are up, and a few are even blooming. The white violets and the strawberries have been blooming for some time, and I think the dwarf columbines will be fully open by midweek.  I think a couple of the annual strawberries have even ripened, but the birds got them. I put floating row cover over them today, in hopes I could get some. Definitely spring, and I just wish I felt more energetic. Thank goodness the radiation therapy will be over in about a week!

Weekend Writing Warriors: Tourist Trap

 It’s Sunday again, and time for Weekend Writing Warriors (click the logo above for links to other participants) and Snippet Sunday (click the logo below to links to other snippets. This will be the last snippet from the hang gliding scene in Tourist Trap.

Photo Source

The group had been together all morning, and the only thing Roi could find that seemed even remotely suspicious was what seemed a brief hiatus in memory while Timi had been seasoning the thick soup he had made from the first night’s leftovers. There was nothing unusual in that; people did wander off mentally while their bodies continued to work. But they had all slept very soundly last night. Could something or someone have drugged them, working though Timi’s body?

The one thing he was sure of, Roi decided as he withdrew from Timi’s mind, was that while Timi’s body might have been used, Timi himself had no part in the murder attempt. If he reported that he thought the glider had been sabotaged, his father would certainly order a detailed reading of the equipment. Any competent esper would pick up what he had, that Timi had handled the glider. And Timi would be in a very large amount of undeserved trouble.

And this, friends, is the really important decision Roi must make: risk Timi by telling his father, or risk himself by staying quiet. No, I’m not giving the answer, but most of the rest of Tourist Trap depends on his choice.

Next week I’ll start something new, perhaps the opening pages of the book I’m trying to find a publisher for.

Science Fiction Romance Brigade: Both Sides Now

It’s Saturday, and time for Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents, a blog hop featuring 200 words or less from published or unpublished works. Click on the logo above to find other participants. This excerpt is from a WIP, tentatively titled Both Sides Now. Doc has just led Roi into a space in the hay bales occupied by a panicky little girl (who’s been raped and has broken her arm) and the woman attending her who is equally, though less obviously, apprehensive of strange men.

“It’s all right,” Roi said, pitching his voice deliberately high and making sure his emotional broadcast had nothing of “male.” “I’m not even going to touch you, except to put my hand on your forehead. You just relax and listen.” He modulated his voice into a singsong as he placed his distorted hand above the child’s eyes.

He’d have had a hard time doing this using the pure Jibeth tradition, with the muscle tension in the face giving him the feedback he needed to adjust his singing. Luckily his empathic sense gave him much of what he needed. It still took close to ten minutes of singing until the little girl was relaxed enough he could add the second component, moving his free hand in a complex pattern to catch her gaze. Finally he was able to move the hand toward her eyes, very slowly, as he sang the command to sleep. Her eyes closed, and her breathing steadied. He looked down at his distorted hands, and grimaced. There was no way he could set the arm himself.

“Keep her that way for a few minutes, can you,” Doc said, and proceeded to straighten and splint the arm.

Jarn’s Journal Year 10 Day 33

Year 10 Day 33

Most of the People have arrived, but the valley where I put the ice is not a place where they normally go. They have discovered the outflow stream, and there is a good deal of conversation about both its purity and its coldness, but so far they have not discovered its source. Until today.

Songbird, Giraffe and their children were with the group that came in last night, and I could not deny myself the pleasure of seeing how WildDog and Swallow reacted to snow. Quite a number of the others joined us as we followed the cold stream uphill, and more than a few enjoyed the novelty of walking in the cool water. I knew what was coming, so I kept my feet dry.

Only Songbird recognized the white coldness when it came in sight. “It’s snow! But how did it get here?” The rest of the People just looked confused. Hardly surprising, since she’d used the word I’d taught her for snow, which was a nonsense syllable to most of them.

“Is that what you’ve been talking about?” Giraffe asked her. “How did it get here?

“I brought it. This is what covers the ground in winter far to the north, and the tops of the mountains when they are white. It covers the ground in winter in my homeland too, and children play in it. It will melt soon, since it is so hot here, but it will give cool breezes and cool water for a while, and it will be something new for the children. Look.” And I gathered a handful of the damp snow into a ball, and then began to roll it along the snow surface.

WildDog’s eyes widened almost as fast as the growing ball. He seized a double handful of snow himself, patted it into a ball, and began to copy my rolling it. Soon others joined him, squealing with delight and surprise at the coldness of the snow.

Some of the more serious adults grumbled that the children should be doing something useful like looking for food, but most seemed to find the snow as fascinating as did the children. Torch Flower, to my surprise, looked as if she were thinking for once.

DIY Blogathon

Well, I did it again.

The 2014 Blogathon is a good deal more a DIY project than in previous years, but I’ve once again signed up to do a blog a day for the month of June. Since I have regular features on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, this just means I’ll be posting—mostly garden pictures—Tuesday and Thursday as well. Since there is no “official” badge this year, I might make one up myself. Am I totally insane?

Quotes from J.R.R. Tolkien

Here are the contexts of the quotes tweeted from @sueannbowling between May 22 and May 28. All but the last are from J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers.

Map of the Misty Mountains, from the original English version of the book.

“I could have been happy here, if I had come in days of peace.” Legolas, speaking to Gimli about Fanghorn Forest.

“I have forgotten much that I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten.” Gandalf, first meeting Aragorn’s group after his return.

“A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying.” Gandalf, explaining that he is speaking to himself.

“That we should wish to cast him down and have no one in his place is not a thought that occurs to his mind.” Gandalf, speaking to Aragorn of Sauron.

“I have spoken words of hope. But only of hope. Hope is not victory.” Gandalf, speaking to Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli as they prepare to ride to Edoras.

“We are all friends here. Or should be, for the laughter of Mordor will be our only reward if we quarrel.” Gandalf, when the doorward of Edoras tries to bar their way.

“I don’t have to buy anything to shop.” Sue Ann Bowling, Tourist Trap. Flame, as she prepares to visit the ship’s store on the way to Faleron.

North Pole Weather 5-26-14

The sun will rise at 3:50 this morning, and set 19 hours 57 minutes later at 11:48 this evening. By next week, it’ll be setting after midnight. The rate of gain of daylight is slowing down by a few seconds a day, now.

It’s also warmed up at night, although cooling down in the daytime, as the air flow has shifted to the southwest, bringing moisture to the interior of Alaska. Not much precipitation yet, though we’ve had a few sprinkles and enough clouds to warm things up at night and cool them down during the daytime. With luck, it will stay above freezing now. With even more luck, the fire danger will ease off.

I’m crossing my fingers on the squash and basil, but we planted most of the garden Saturday. I still have the plastic up on the hoops, but I hope I won’t have to use it on anything but the squash. I’ve planted two of the raised beds with mints and herbs, surrounding them with flowers, and tried something new this year with strawberries. If it works, it should keep the berries cleaner and much easier to pick, but I won’t know for sure for a few weeks yet.

Weekend Writing Warriors: Tourist Trap

It’s Sunday, time for Weekend Writing Warriors (click the logo above) and Snippet Sunday (click the logo below.) I am continuing with the hang glider scene from Tourist Trap.

Photo Source

“What happened?” Timi was checking Roi’s pulse and breathing as he spoke, his mittens thrown to the ground beside them and his bare hands against Roi’s skin.

Roi had always hated the thought of invading another mind unasked, even in emergency Healing. Derik had insisted he learn the technique of such invasion, assuring him repeatedly that there would be times when it would be necessary for his own safety to know exactly what was in another’s thoughts. This, he thought glumly, looked like being one of those times. Hating himself even as he used Timi’s hands against his face as a focus, he slid into his friend’s mind.

Nothing. Timi had prepared dinner the night before, felt tired and gone to bed early with the rest of the group, and slept soundly all night.

A vacation with his three best friends from slavery and a manhood challenge: Roi is given the graduation present he has dreamed of. Dogsledding, hang gliding, a chance to see Pleistocene animals transplanted to a Terraformed vacation world, horseback riding, sailing … all the sports he has returned to with his recovery from paralysis, and a few new ones to learn.

They’re prepared for danger from weather, wild animals and extreme sports. But none of them realize that Roi’s half brother Zhaim, determined to recover his old position as Lai’s heir, intends to kill them if he can—and he’s decided that the dangers of the trip will make a perfect cover for his schemes.

How long will it take them to realize that the “accidents” they keep running into are more than just accidents?

Tourist Trap, the second novel of the Jarnian Confederation, won first place in science fiction and fiction book of the year in the 2011 Reader Views contest.

Reviewers say:

“Fans of Sue Ann Bowling’s novel Homecoming will not be disappointed with its sequel. Tourist Trap returns the reader to the world of the Jarnian Confederation—to Roi, Lai, Marna, and all of their friends and relations. The author does a stellar job of bringing these characters to life, allowing the reader to not only see their actions but to understand the culture and politics that motivate them. (ForeWord Clarion review; 5 star)

“Tourist Trap” is a great read for anyone that wants motivation and feeling to accompany the action in their sci-fi adventure. Alien beings and super powers are an integral part of Roi’s story but what makes this novel really shine is the heart. Nobody is good or evil just because that’s their assigned role. Just like in real life, everyone has their own motivations and desires, and Bowling does a great job of letting the reader see what it would be like to walk in the shoes of Roi, Xazhar, and even madman Zhaim. (ReaderViews review)

Tourist Trap (iUniverse, 2011) is available from:

iUniverse, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon, in dust jacket, trade paper, and e-book formats.