Jarn’s Journal Year 11 Day 45

Year 11 Day 45

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Some images stay in your head forever.

I think I will always remember WildDog, sitting on the ground next to the snowfield I teleported in for the Gather, with Patches’ head in his lap. I knew she was failing, but she so obviously wanted to go with WildDog that I didn’t even think to object. I don’t think WildDog encouraged her to overdo, it, either. It was just that her time had come.

Death is nothing new or strange to the children of the People, and WildDog looked up at me with tears running down his face, but with complete understanding that his companion was gone. “She just laid her head in my lap and died,” he said.

“She was old,” I told him. “I think she hung on to see you again, and I believe her last moments were happy.”

He looked down at Patches’ head, and gently stroked her half-bald ears. “Can we bury her?” he asked. “Or is that just for people? Because she’s sort of people too.”

Yes, the People buried their dead, but my own people teleported their dead into the sun. I couldn’t manage that; my esper skills weren’t up to it. But I could wait until night fell and send her body toward the stars, and that somehow felt right.

So I told WildDog to look for Patches in the stars, where she would be guarding him as she had done since his birth.

Quotes from J.R.R. Tolkien

These are the contexts of the quotes tweeted from @sueannbowling between August 28 and September 3, 2014. The first six are from The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

“A wild beast cornered is not safe to approach.” Gandalf, as they approach Saruman trapped in Orthanc.

“The guest who has escaped by the roof will think twice before he comes back in by the door.” Gandalf, when Saruman tries to invite him back into Orthanc.

“He cannot be both tyrant and counselor.” Gandalf, speaking of Saruman at Orthanc.

“I grieve that so much that was good now festers in the tower.” Gandalf, after Saruman has refused to work with them, and chosen instead to remain a prisoner in Orthanc. This is from the book, not the movie.

“Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.” Gildor’s saying, quoted by Merry to Pippin when Pippin is curious about the palantir.

“Do not then stumble at the end of the road.” Gandalf’s advice to Aragorn as he gives him the palantir.

“I took a fresh look at the consequences of what I believe, and I didn’t like what I saw.” Sue Ann Bowling, Tourist Trap. Penny’s thought, after a discussion with Roi on the effects of a local law she had taken for granted.

North Pole Weather 9/1/14

Plastic on the squash bed

The sun will rise this morning at 6:31, and set 14 hours and 36 minutes later at 9:08 this evening. We’re now losing about 6 minutes 43 seconds a day. It’s starting to feel like fall, though, if not quite like winter. The official airport temperature hasn’t dropped below freezing yet, though it reached 33 °F Saturday morning, and I’m pretty sure it was colder out my way.

Frost nip on the pineapple sage

I’ve put the plastic cover on the squash, put row cover on the potted mints, and started bringing the rest of the potted plants into the garage overnight. I also separated the hoses from the outdoor faucets. Even “frostproof” fittings can be damaged by freezing if the hoses are left attached. So far the only actual frost damage I’ve seen was discoloration of the growing tips of the pineapple sage. The forecast suggests slight warming next week, but lows are still forecast in the 30’s.

It’s dried out a little, though it’s now official: 2014 was the wettest summer in nearly a hundred year of records in Fairbanks. Certainly it’s the first summer I’ve had to do almost no watering!

P.S. September 2: already in September we’ve had more precipitation than is normal for all of September, and frost is predicted for Wednesday night.

Weekend Writing Warriors: Rescue Operation

Sunday is the day for Weekend Writing Warriors (click the logo above for links to other participants) and Snippet Sunday (click on the logo below.)

I’m following on from last week with Rescue Operation.  Here Roi is speaking first.

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Source: Hubblesite.org
“Wif and I weren’t there, but who else was missing? Derry and Kaia? Where—oh, no. Possible interspecies contact, and Derry’s the best xenotelepath we’ve got, and nobody else can touch Kaia on communications problems.”

“Get them back,” Emeraude said. “You can contact them, can’t you? Wif, too.”

Roi nodded.

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But can they do anything?

Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents: Both Sides Now

It’s Saturday and time for Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents, a blog hop where we share about 200 words from something we’ve written. For rules and links to other participants, click the logo above, but it may not work today. SFRBP seems to be on a hiatus, though I’ll continue posting.

I am still posting from Both Sides Now, a WIP that blends science fiction, adventure, politics and a touch of romance. Kevi’s hands are too badly injured to allow him a normal grip on a marker, so Coralie has wound bandages around one to give him something to grip.

This time Kevi was able to grasp the roll of bandage, though he was clearly unhappy with his final result. “And I used to call myself an artist,” he said disgustedly. “I think it’s recognizable, though. Those are the symbols for medical supplies, food, clothing and shelter. They should be on the outer boxes. The medicines are the most important. If you can spot something with these subcodes, those are the general codes for painkillers, anesthetics, and antibiotics—but they’ll likely be in smaller packages inside the large boxes.”

“Can I borrow your horse, Doc?” Coralie said as she headed for the door. When she was gone, Doc turned to Kevi. “You’re willing to do this?” he asked.

Kevi met his eyes squarely. “Humanitarian aid.” he said. “Perfectly legal, even if Zhaim hadn’t started this. Weapons or ammunition—maybe, if those predators move in. But you’d be stupid to attract attention by using them on Confederation troops.”

Doc nodded. “That’s what Mik and Terry keep telling us. Hide and be quiet. It’s not easy advice to follow, especially for the younger men. Did I tell you Mik’s hoping Terry will marry Coralie? He’s the one man she doesn’t seem afraid of.”

Predators? They’ve run into pumas on the trek to rescue Kevi—and pumas (or other large predators, or any felines at all) were not included in the terraforming of Horizon.

Jarn’s Journal Year 10 Day 345

Year 10 Day 345

Credit: Kevin Schafer/UC Davis photo

It’s a good thing I’ve learned to check the weather at a teleport destination, and set an automatic “return home” if I feel any danger. In nine fivedays I’ve actually managed to fly all day southward on no more than a handful of days.

Other days? Well, Patches has good days and bad, and when she has good days and her memories of favorite places touch my mind, I take her to those places. She doesn’t do much but lie in the sun, but she feels happy.

I never teleport into a lightning storm. That’s a lesson I learned years ago. But I decided that if I never teleported into cloud or wind, I’d never get very far south. Yes, the northern oceans are stormy, but not like this!

I’ve reached about 50° South, and with no sign of ice or land. I did, amazingly enough, see a bird today. It was soaring, rather than pumping its wings in flight, and it didn’t look as if it needed to land very often. It seemed to be getting its food from the water, which was teeming with life. Could it really be that far from land?

Quotes from Andre Norton

These are the contexts of the quotes tweeted from @sueannbowling between August 21 and August 27, 2014.

“Who can swear certainly to anything of the Power?” Andre Norton, The Warding of Witch World. Frost, refusing to promise something she is uncertain of.

“No two Powers are alike—just as no world copies another to the last blade of grass.” Andre Norton, The Warding of Witch World. Frost, again saying she can not be sure how the Power will work.

“Always the Dark will rise—for it cannot be entirely driven from any world of man.” Andre Norton, The Warding of Witch World. Koris, at the last great conference after the Warders have returned.

“We must always strive to learn more and put what is so learned to proper use. Andre Norton, The Warding of Witch World. Koris again. And this sentiment, especially the second part, is very appropriate for today.

“He had a right to be alive, hadn’t he?” Andre Norton, Storm over Warlock. Shann Lantee, feeling as if he has been somehow blamed for being the only survivor of the Terran camp.

“There is no reason for us to advertise our being alive.” Andre Norton, Storm over Warlock. Ragnar Thorvald, pointing out that taking a Throg weapon, useful though it might be, would alert the aliens to possible survivors.

“That sort of thing just isn’t supposed to happen.” Sue Ann Bowling, Tourist Trap. Penny, speaking to Roi after his carelessness with the warnoff has brought on a puma attack.

North Pole Weather 8/25/14

The sun will rise today at 6:10 and set 15 hours and 24 minutes later at 9:34 pm. I can no longer drive places in the evening without checking the time, and we now have astronomical twilight (sun between 12 and 18° below the horizon) for about 2 hours just after midnight.

We’ve had a few more showers, but we still haven’t reached 2” for August. We are almost half an inch above normal, though. Temperature has also been slightly above normal, but that’s still mostly in the high 60’s in the daytime. As far as the forecast is concerned, mostly cloudy with chances of rain and normal temperatures for the next week.

I’m thinking more of house plants now, and couldn’t resist an orchid. Hope I can get it to rebloom.

Weekend Writing Warriors #IAN1 #8Sunday #snipsun

It’s Sunday, and time for Weekend Writing Warriors (click on the logo above) and Snippet Sunday (click on the logo below.) I’m still quoting from the opening of Rescue Operation, and this is a continuation from last week. Emeraude speaks first, replying to Keishala’s statement that some planets (including Central, where they live) accept slavery. The second speaker is Roi.

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Source: Hubblesite.org
“Yes, there are planets that accept slavery, but Horizon doesn’t and never has. Anyway, people will accept things from their own governments that they’ll go to war to keep from having imposed on them from outside. Roi, was it a full binding vote? Can it be broken? Fast?”

“Eleven to nine, so twenty voted. That’s five-sixths of the Inner Council—all that’s needed. Wait a minute.”

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Short sentences, but excited people can talk that way.

Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents: Both Sides Now

It’s Saturday and time for Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents, a blog hop where we share about 200 words from something we’ve written. For rules and links to other participants, click the logo above.

I am still posting from Both Sides Now, a WIP that blends science fiction, adventure, politics and a touch of romance. Doc has just mentioned his frustration that though they have access to stolen Confederation supplies, they have no idea what they are.

Kevi was suddenly alert. “Do they have the Confederation codes on them?” he asked.

“Yes, but we can’t read them. We don’t even know if any of them are medical supplies.”

“I know the codes,” Kevi said thoughtfully. “If you have a marker and something I can write on I’ll show you the top-level symbols for medical supplies, food, and shelter. No telling what drugs are there until I see the boxes, but I’ll know how to use them and if there are things we need.”

We need? Coralie grabbed a marker stick and pad off the counter that served Doc as a desk, but Kevi was unable to grasp the narrow marker. He tried, frustration clearly growing, but his hands were simply too distorted to handle something so small.

“Maybe it’d work better if I just looked it over and picked out the boxes with medical supplies,” he said finally.

Doc snorted. “Other side of the valley, on those feet? No way. Not if I have to sit on you.”

“Give it to me,” Coralie said sharply, snatching up the marker. She selected one of the cloth rolls from the bandage shelf and began re-rolling it around the marker stick. “Try that,” she said when she was finished.