Who Goes There; A Repost From 2025

  

He saw Glacier Peak!

            Rather than posting an open thread, I thought it might be fun to post one of the chapters from Everybody Loves Ralph.        

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            Sometimes Ralph just walks around thinking. Many times, these excursions include Maeve, his philosophical confidant. It’s helpful to have a philosophical confidant, when pondering the world and all the infinite possibilities therein.
            It was just the end of summer and the whole forest was feeling a bit worn. Maybe everyone had had enough sunshine. It never gets really hot in the Great Forest, but it gets warm, persistently warm. There is almost a sound to it. Insects, yeah, but maybe another sort of hum.
            There is a resinous scent to the heated air. The forest duff when tossed by a listless toe smells faintly of another season, the season of mist, moss, and that ineffable slightly moldy smell of the PNW old growth forest.
            As Ralph paced the familiar forest trails, his toe did rumple the forest floor, as if ascertaining its identity. Ralph had a touch of the blues.
            “What’s up, Boss?” said Maeve, from his shoulder. She was feeling her age and the turn of the year some herself. Daytime fliers notice the shortening of the light.
            “What? My mind was somewhere else, Maevie,” said Ralph.
            “You’re being very quiet, Boss. It’s not like you,” said the big black bird.
            “You know I can kind of hear what the people say, if I pay attention. It’s like a sea of thought lapping at my mind. Most of the time I ignore it. But I keep hearing a thing. It sounds silly, but I hear it a lot,” said he.
            “That’s terrible,” said Maeve.
            “Oh most of the time it’s like hearing those bugs out there buzzing away. It’s just a buzz. But, coming clearly out of the buzz, I hear ‘who goes there?’ I think they’re talking about me, or someone like me. Their ideas are such a hodgepodge of fears and desires! What to do?” cried Ralph.
            “Do you have to do anything about it?” said Maeve.
            “I’d like to get above it for a while. I’m sure something would come to me,” he said.
            “What I do is go up over the tops of the trees, way way up, where I can see everything,” said Maeve. “It’s all quite small from up there.”
            “Can you see everything below the tree tops too, Maeve?” asked Ralph, with a glimmer of hope being born in his mind.
            “Yes, Ralph, I can. Would you like to come with me,” said Maeve.
            “Can I?” he said.
            “Of course you can. I will give you one of my pinions to hold!” she said.
            With that, Maeve chose one of her strongest flight feathers and she plucked it out, handing it to the King of the Great Forest. It was a good nine inches long, strong, shiny and deepest black, the very soul of flight!
            Maeve lifted up off of Ralph’s shoulder and took a couple of loops around in the sleepy warm air.
            “Come on, Ralph. Come up!” she shouted.
            So, holding the big black feather, Ralph became aloft. He followed Maeve up a bit, grinning like a kid having the best adventure he could imagine, and in real time.
            Maeve flew as slowly as she could, just barely staying airborne. Ralph just followed along.
            Up and up they went. They flew among the mighty trunks, and then burst through the canopy of fir branches, out into the massive blue of the late summer sky.
            At first when Ralph looked down all he could see were the tops of the multitudes of trees.
            “How do you bear it, Maeve? It’s overwhelming. It’s beautiful. It’s the land rolling on and on forever!” he sang out.
            “I’m a creature of this world, is how I bear it. But it is beautiful,” said Maeve. “Look down now!”
            Holding his feather, Ralph looked down. Through a break in the masses of trees he could see the Home Clearing as he had never seen it before. So small. So beloved. So perfectly just what it was.
            He saw the stone cliff wall with the green door built into it, and beside it  he saw the stone circle where Ramona kept the fire burning.
            He saw Ramona herself, grace in flesh, holding Cherry, and Blue crouched at their feet. He saw two great tawny cats lolling about the clearing like cats anywhere, indolent and sleepy! He saw his son, Twigg bringing in a pair of turkeys for his mother, and her happily receiving them.
            He saw the meadow, and Uncle Bob’s Stump House, and indeed, Uncle Bob and Aunt Suzy relaxing by their fire.
            A little further on, looking over toward the road, he saw Thaga and Ooog's tiny plantation, the rough slate roof of their stone house, the late summer garden, and even Ooog out there digging potatoes.
            He saw the river flowing westward to the bay in the distance. There was just a bit of Milltown over that way too.
            He saw the whole Cascade Mountain range.
            He saw the curve of the earth, the vault of the sky, and the nearest star over it all.
            “You see this every day, Maeve!” shouted Ralph, enraptured.
            “I do!” she called out.
            “Now, tell me, Ralph. Who goes there?” said Maeve. “Surely you know!”
            “I do! I do! I go there!,” said Ralph.
            “Yes, you do! Now we better get back down before Cherry sees us and tries to join us!” said Maeve.
            So, as gently as they had gone up, they went down, drifting softly down through the forest canopy, down among the trunks, and landing in the general area of the big cedar log.
            After Ralph sat there breathing for a few minutes, to settle down, he said, “May I keep the feather, Maeve?”
            “Of course, Boss. It’s your feather, to remind you,” said Maeve.
            “I will never forget,” said Ralph.
            “Evermore,” said Maeve, because she couldn’t help herself!

💙

One Of Those Days & An Open Thread

 

 

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           I bumped into this old photo and was thinking about how things have changed. For one thing, the rest of the cards have darkened and don't look like that anymore. The photo was dated Feb. 1, 2023. Three years!
            I might need to design a new one. I have to wonder what I would have to put on there.

            Yesterday was a funny day. I felt a lot of pressure from unfinished projects. I did a little editing of the Everybody Loves Ralph text. I looked at my painting on the big easel each time I walked past it. But that's all. And I thought about writing some new material, but didn't. 

            The editing doesn't even take that long. It's mostly rereading and checking for blunders and setting the pages up right. Then I will need to produce a cover. 

            Didn't even knit much. 

            I was a lazy girl yesterday! 

            Suzy and Mr. Baby say it's the only way to be!

            You may assume my best wishes to you all today!

🌿

Ralph And Ooog Take A Morning Meeting

 

            One day, when the crows were discussing things loudly amongst themselves and the snow was nearly gone, Ralph thought it was time to get busy building Twigg and Leely’s house. Ralph had been thinking all during the cold times. He knew this house would be a new thing in the Great Forest. “But, heck,” he thought. “A new thing is a good thing if it’s done with love and it’s right.”
            He decided that it was time to go see Ooog, who had promised to help build the house. There were lots of decisions to be made, to do this new thing. “Well,” he thought, “Partly new, partly old.”
            “Mona,” Ralph said suddenly, “It’s time to get started. Bending trees takes time, and I need to talk to Ooog. I think I’ll go on up and talk to him.”
            He had been sitting, staring into the fire for a while. It was a good place to think during the cold months. His log was covered in melting snow, after all.
            “Yes, it’s time to start,” she agreed. “You’re right, Baby.”
            “I’ll see you later, Mona,” he said and wandered off to the Neanderthal’s cabin. There was still a lot of frozen snow on top of the grass out in the open, but it didn’t slow him down any. It was still morning, but of course, Thaga and Ooog were up doing their winter morning thing. There was lantern light in the window, and smoke rising from the chimney. Ralph could smell something rather delightful on the breeze. Thaga was a great baker, and he knew he was probably in for a treat.
            Ralph knocked and waited on the stone steps for a moment. Ooog came to the door and let him in. It was very warm inside the kitchen, and the sweet smell of cinnamon met him on the doorstep before he even stepped inside.
            “Well, Ralph,” said Ooog, “I believe I know what’s on your mind today. Spring is nearly here and we need to get moving on this project”
            “That’s it,” said Ralph. “I’ve been thinking about bending trees into a dome shape. Twigg’s first idea was to make a living house out of saplings. But I’ve gotten a better idea. Those saplings would have a lot of growing left in them, and whatever we built using them would be destroyed in time.”
            “You’re right about that,” agreed Ooog. “Let’s go sit at the table. Thaga’s baking cinnamon rolls. Smell good, don’t they?” Ooog winked because he knew that Ralph was born hungry and had stayed that way.
            “It sure does smell good! I’ve never had a cinnamon rolls before! Ranger Rick often has doughnuts, but nothing that smells this great!” grinned Ralph. It was that yeasty sweetness. He found it exotic and compelling.
            So, Ooog sat at the head of the big wooden table, and Ralph took the big chair Ooog had made for him, and they got down to their design meeting while Thaga pulled the rolls out of her wood fired oven and set about icing them. She made coffee too, since coffee goes with cinnamon rolls.
            “What I’m thinking,” said Ralph, “is that we find a group of alders of their full height and use those, so they won’t get taller. They will get thicker, but not a lot, and as time goes by, we can make adjustments if we need to.”
            “OK, said Ooog. We just have to find the right trees. Probably closer in to the firs where they’ve been growing longer.
            “I’ve been thinking about how to finish out on the inside for Leely and Twigg. Of course it would be strange to  him, except that he has probably been living in human rooms in Mak’s palace way out there in space, wherever it is!
            “Once we get the trees to meet at the top and secure them there, I’m thinking of filling in the outside walls with mortared river rocks. And if the trees eventually crack that stone wall, it’s fixable. I think it would take years. Also, I’d like to make a plank floor inside, up off the ground on blocks. Another idea I have is to install a small wood stove, of course, cause Leely won’t know how to cook on an open fire like Ramona does so well. The pipe could go through the stone wall! I could build some cupboards and even make beds! What do you think?”
            “What I think,” said Ralph, “Is that I knew you would have it all figured out, except for the trees! It sounds perfect! I think we should let berry vines and ferns and wild roses root in the roof. Maybe we could weave the trees branches to make a tight roof too!”
            “I could make a water tight ceiling inside too, and then it would all grow together and it would be a Living House. A new thing in the Great Forest, Ralph!” crowed Ooog, with his hands kind of itching to get on with the job, because that’s the kind of guy Ooog was.
            “When it’s all done it will be a part of the land, like it grew there, but better,” said Ralph.
            Then the cinnamon rolls were cool enough to eat. Thaga brought a platter of them to the table, and they were a sight to behold. They were fully 8 inches across and full of raisins and nuts, and iced with cream cheese icing. Thaga has her sources!
            She brought her big coffee pot and three stoneware mugs made by Ooog to the table, with three plates, and took a seat herself.
            Things got quiet for a while except for happy munching noises.
            “So good, Thaga,” said Ralph happily.
            “Thanks, Ralph. I’ve done this a few times,” and she laughed. “I’ll send you home with some for Ramona and Cherry and the cats and the wolf!” She looked quite pleased at the compliment though.
            “Tomorrow, Ooog, can we go out and find the right trees? We can look at them and kind of dream this thing into existence. I think it’s going to take a lot of powerful dreaming, and a lot of hard work too!” said Ralph.
            “Let’s do it,” said Ooog. “Right now I’m too full to do anything but take a morning nap, but tomorrow morning for sure, Ralph.”
            Thaga found a clean little box in the back of the kitchen, which she had saved from something. She lined it with an old kitchen towel and stacked in some of the big rolls for the Home Clearing. “Be careful, Ralph! They’re soft,” she said.
            Both Ralph and Ooog realized that building supplies would be needed, but since both of them were total optimists, they figured they would get to that when they got there. Something like that!
            “Thanks, Thaga! Ramona will love these rolls!” said Ralph, as he set out for home.

☕

Love Lives On

 

His best portrait. 

His was truly a Joyous Configuration!

🤍

Five Brothers Went Camping Together

 

            Once upon another time and in another place, there was a family with five sons. Three were singletons, and two were twins. Their ages spanned 18 years down to 6 for the twins.
            Jack was 18, Denny was 15, Georgie was 11, a redhead, and the twins at 6 years were Samuel and Benjamin. Both golden haired with curls, angelic.
            One evening Jack said to his four brothers, “Tomorrow let us gather up all our camping gear and spend a night in the woods up by the Woody River. We shall build a fire to gather around.”
            The next morning, early, with their doting parent’s permission, they loaded all the required into Jack’s old third hand white Taurus. A noble beater. Into the trunk went the tent, the bedrolls, the food and drink, and this and that as desired. Jack brought his old flashlight. Georgie had a radio. Denny forgot his pocket knife and the twins brought their bears.
            The twins sat in the back seat with Denny, and Georgie sat beside Jack as he drove the handful of miles to the Woodsy River. It was not an official campground; it was just a place near a river under tall firs and some leafy trees.
            When they got to their spot, Jack wisely parked the Taurus facing out. He didn’t lock up either. Sometimes seconds count.
            It was a perfect day. The river muttered in the distance. The sun dappled the ground, shining through alder and maple leaves. The wind came by and made the fir trees sigh a little. There were crows, and jays chattering.
            Jack sent the younger boys off to find something to burn. He sent Denny to the river bank to find some handily-sized rocks to make a small fireplace. It took Denny two trips to get the rocks. Georgie and Sameul and Benjamin took a long time finding fuel, but finally came back with some dead fallen branches and such. Jack broke them up to useful lengths.
            As you can see, all proceeded well. Jack and Denny set up the tent. The five folding chairs went around the fire. The hot dogs were roasted; the pop was drunk.
            Evening came. The forest became dark. The brothers sat together by the pleasant fire.
            But then something very odd happened.
            Denny saw a man, a very big man, walking just beyond the light of the fire. He watched long and carefully before he said a word. “There’s someone walking out there between the Woodsy River and us, boys,” he said.
            Jack directed his flashlight’s beam where Denny pointed. “I see a bear walking away,” he said. “I think your head is full of old men’s tales, Denny!”
            Georgie said, “No. It’s just a big deer. It isn’t a man or a bear. I see a brown haired rump there.”
            Samuel said, “Someone is talking!” And, indeed, there was a chattering sort of a sound.
            Benjamin said, “It’s the river. The river makes a lot of noise.” But he was afraid.
            Said Jack, “Guys, let’s put it all back in the trunk and go sleep in own beds.” For he was responsible for the lot of them, and Benjamin was crying anyhow. Samuel agreed solemnly, and Denny and Georgie giggled, but did as Jack said.
            Thus ended the camping trip.
 
            Now, The Forest Man and the Forest Woman, left alone at their midnight fishing spot, were free to make some observations about the differences in perceptions among forest visitors.
            “You saw it, you heard it, my Dear, did you not?” he said.
            “I did,” she said, as she sat watching the man as he fished. It was a simple process of slipping underwater and catching a fish or two by hand while they drowsed in the dark water.
            “It seems as if each heart brings its own eyes and ears to the forest,” he said. “One will see us as we are. One will see something that proves the first one wrong, for the sake of his own state of mind.
            “It’s a mystery to me, and yet it is we who are the great unknown, so called,” said he.
            “I think, though odd, it’s for the best, my good man,” said she. “For we must share the world, to a certain degree, with mankind, the Relatively Hairless,” she laughed, it was an old joke among her people.
            “Perhaps mystery is a wall of separation for them and for us,” said he, coming up from the water with a fish in each hand. One for her, one for himself.
            “I believe that you are correct, as usual,” she said, taking his arm as they walked through the paths of the forest together to their own resting place.
 
            Then, only the softly sibilant river moved on over its bed of pebbles. Small creatures sighed in their sleep in burrows and nests, and the wind came looking and then left the stage itself. For the wind is very restless and curious above all things.

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Her Bubbles Fly Over The Imperial Sand Dunes

 

I had to look the place up to see where it was!
So, it's a sandy place in the bottom of California.

Perhaps this is the first time bubbles have flown there!

An open thread, of course.

Best Purrsday wishes to all!

💙

The map is a little hard to read, but you get the idea.

It's Just Like Flipping A Quarter

 

 
            Milly had something on her mind. She usually did. She sat at her desk at the Milltown paper, tapping her pen on its surface. She was waiting for Maeve to check in for a morning chat at the window. The window was open even though it was winter and the air was pretty chill out there.
            Some guy in Arlington had written her at the paper about fairies, of all things. She thought he might be pulling her leg and had back-burnered that inquiry for the moment.
            She wanted to talk to Ralph about a YouTube program she had watched the night before. The guy had a theory about trees. These were trees which were turned upside down and jammed back into the earth at various places around the area. Milly knew that the man to ask was right out Highway 20. “Living in the woods, just like the song says,” she thought.
            Maeve hit the window frame with one of her theatrical thumps just as Milly was hearing the Amboy Dukes singing away in her memory.
            “Good morning, Milly,” said Maeve, tidying her feathers.
            “Come, in. Good morning. It’s getting cold in here,” said Millicent Price, newspaper columnist.
            Maeve obliged and Milly slammed the window shut. Maeve lighted on her desk where she could see the computer screen.
            “Look at this,” said Milly, who then turned on the video about the trees so that Maeve could get a preview of it. “I need to talk to Ralph. Would you set something up with him for tomorrow? I can drive out there. We haven’t had a lot of snow yet. I’ll bring lunch.
            “Let’s say noon, unless he can’t make it,” she said, knowing he probably could. “You can give me the word tomorrow morning. OK?”
            “OK,” said Maeve and Milly opened the window briefly so that she could take off.
            Therefore, after getting Ralph’s answer, Millicent went to the best local deli and bought a stack of corned beef sandwiches on rye with mustard and mayo. They had a display of chocolate bars, so she got half a dozen of those too.
            Thus prepared for the visit, she headed up the freeway to Arlington, took the 530 exit and so forth. There was a little snow on the sides of the highway, not much. If it didn’t start snowing soon, it was going to be dry downhill this summer for sure.
            When she parked, Ralph himself and Maeve, were waiting for her just inside the tree line. She had packed the sandwiches and chocolate in a big canvas bag, because she thought Ramona could use a canvas bag.
            She slung the bag on her shoulder and said, “Hey, Ralph! It’s been a minute hasn’t it?”
            “Anytime is a good time, Milly,” said Ralph and the three of them vanished from the sight of anyone passing, into the forest proper.
            Down at the fire, Ramona and Cherry were waiting.
            “I brought lunch, Ramona,” said Milly. “Greetings!”
            “It’s good to see you, Milly. Come and sit by the fire,” said Ramona.
            Ralph really liked the sandwich, so he had a second. Ramona thought it was great too. “Such exotic flavors!” she said. Cherry had hers cut in strips because it was a rather large sandwich. Blue had one too. Even Bob and Berry had a sandwich each, to be polite to the guest.
             Maeve liked hers so well that she had nothing to say. The chocolate was shared out, and Ramona made a pot of her cowboy coffee on the fire.
            While Milly was still finishing her sandwich, she said to Ralph, “I think you know what I was wondering about, don’t you?”
            “You saw a video by a guy who thinks he knows why trees get stuck upside down in the ground. What was his theory?” said Ralph. “I can’t wait!”
            “In the cold light of day, it sounds pretty far-fetched. In short, he thinks they are grub farms. He believes that the Forest Men crave grubs so much that they must be creating the conditions for the growth of more and more grubs, Ralph. In a nutshell, “ said Milly.
            Ralph laughed until he got lightheaded and had to catch his breath for a minute.
            Ramona smiled. “Some of us do eat grubs, but not like that!” she said.
            “That was pretty funny. I loved it. Poor guy doesn’t have a clue,” said Ralph.
            “OK, there are three main reasons for jamming a tree back into the ground upside down, Milly. The first reason a guy might shove a tree in the ground is to mark his area of influence. We don’t have boundaries, or own land, but we sure do have areas kind of like a target. Right at the tree is whoever central! Others respect these markers!
            “Oh, you know, it’s a thing young guys do to show off and prove how tough they are. A good toss that lands well is much admired among the young guys and the young girls too, I might add. Which relates to the third reason! This is probably the most important reason,” said Ralph.
            “Hang on, I’m writing,” said Milly, working away with pad and pen. “OK, go on.”
            “Sometimes a girl can’t make up her mind. Two young guys seek her hand in marriage, and a decision must be made. Like maybe, tossing a coin to let the Universe decide. Well, in this case the girl would promise to marry whichever fellow makes the best job of landing a tree upside down. It’s all about style, and plain success. The decision is final and no one may complain about the results. The contest is done in front of witnesses so it’s for sure. That’s about it,” said Ralph. “I can’t get over the grub farm,” he said, giggling again.
            “Ah, Hugh’s a nice guy. We like him,” said Ralph.
            “You’ve seen the video?” said Millicent.
            “No. We know Hugh, though,” said Ralph. “He means well, maybe some day I’ll tell him what gives.”
            “I gotta admit, that makes perfectly good sense,” said Milly.
            “Now I have a question for you, Ramona,” she continued. “So, did Ralph ever toss a tree for you?”
            “Well, no. I just went swimming one night in the moonlight. I had already made up my mind. No tree tossing needed!” said Ramona. “And in his wisdom, he took the clue! And now, here we all are!”
            “Absolutely!” said Millicent, with a grin. “Hey, Ramona I thought you might like a big canvas bag. It’s for you.”
            “I could use a nice strong bag,” agreed Ramona happily. “Thanks!”
            “I’m going to tootle on home now, and see what Colin’s up to,” said Milly.
            So, they said their goodbyes with promises to meet again soon.
            “Bring Colin some time,” said Ralph.
            “I will,” said Milly. Maeve followed her to the big green Escalade, just to make sure she got going OK, then flew back to the family by the fire.

🔥