Old Woman Creek Estuary.

Graceful Takeoff

Well maybe this was a bad idea. I haven’t seen any cats in the neighborhood since he got his wings…

Well who doesn't want wings?

I have always thought Gravity was a Bad Idea. Or at least, that it ought to have exceptions. Or at least exceptions for me. I know I am not the only one who thinks being shackled to the ground is occasionally a lousy constraint, or else there wouldn’t be so many people skydiving (though I can’t say I’ve tried that) and writing stories about superheroes and fantasy races with wings.

So in the course of finding like-minded material, I can only offhand think of two gravity-loss fictions:

One is the short story The Truth About Pyecraft by H. G. Wells, and the other is Birds Do it, a very horrible and forgettable Jerry Lewis comedy.

I just realized that if there are two stories out there (50% of which are actually a good read), there are probably others.

Can you think of any?

Hmm maybe I should read Mission of Gravity by Clement except who wants to live on a planet with 700 g ?

They are just as fun as I hoped they would be! The package came with a 4oz bottle of pink, and a 4oz bottle of blue. I didn’t open the “Presto Pink” Zubbles yet, though I did open the “Blazing Blue”. Many others are clearly shown on the site – just not for sale yet…

The zubble soap is very, very dark in the bottle. You can see where a few drops spilled in the photo below. But the color vanishes as soon as you rub it away.  The bottle’s lid’s rim is a bit leaky sometimes which would not be obvious except for the dark color.

Bottle of Blazing Blue Zubbles

Blue Zubbles in Action

They were “very expensive” I’ll just say, but I’m so happy that they are finally on the market that I plunked down my dollars so I could get my greedy hands on them.

And they are whimsical fun – if you like soap bubbles! I will take them tomorrow and let my Pre-K Sunday School kids mess around with them.

I’ve been watching this product called Zubbles with half an eye, since about 2005, because bubbles are one of the whimiscal things I find fascinating and dear.

FINALLY they have come to market, with a “Buy” button and everything. ( Thanks to Elly and Natalie for pointing them out to me. )

So, of course, I hit aforementioned Buy button. They cost at least an arm, if not an additional leg. The story is that the inventor spent $3 million developing them!

Further updates as Zubbles warrant. Hopefully with photos!

I feel pretty gleeful at the moment.  Tonight is craft night, so hopefully I will have more art to post later.

After the storm, comes the beautiful rainbow, promise of God’s love.

(Too bad all those power lines are in this photo. Photo taken looking out my front door.)

Spring Storm

I have decided I’m going to try to post more art here (as you can see from this week) even when I can’t come up with any great text to go with it (which is often).

I went (as chaperone) to a youth Bible conference yesterday – I’ll give a synopsis later. It was extremely convicting. We even (without planning) had the same message in church today! (Romans 12:1-2)

But for now I’ll just post some silly art. You will have noticed by now that if I’m not actually making an effort, everything I sketch ends up facing the same way. (And starting at the right since I’m left handed.)

Not all harpies are screaming, bird-woman hags.

But since most are, Heldra felt very alone. She tried so hard to find companionship in the lost travelers of the waste – but none would go near her; all fled when they saw the shadow of her outstretched wings. Her sweet voice did nothing to allay their fears: all knew that harpies and sirens were kin, and so many had heard the (true) tales of folks ripped to shreds.

She still sits often in a dead tree, singing to wyverns and birds. Occasionally a faun or dragon. But for the most part, she has the wilderness to herself – and her terrible kin.

Until she met the wizard.

The Beautiful Harpy

[I won't tell you how old this sketch is. It's really old.]