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Recently I read a wonderful book called Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and his Girl. Over and over my eyes filled with tears as I read their story and vicariously experienced the joy of Stacy O’Brien as she bonded with a beautiful, intelligent, and mysterious creature, a barn owl--a beautiful bird with a white feathered heart-shaped face. Given to her on Valentine’s Day when he was only four days old, he had been injured and could not have survived in the wild. She was able to keep the bird for nineteen years through all of his and her own life challenges. Always afraid that a well-meaning but uninformed animal activist would release her precious friend out into the wild, she kept Wesley a secret to most people, other than the researchers at Caltech where she originally was given the opportunity to be Wesley’s caretaker. She was a devoted mother and fed Wesley dead mice everyday, and kept packages of their frozen carcasses in her freezer that she purchased at pet stores. I can’t praise this story enough, but the most wonderful thing about it is that it got me in touch with the unique intelligence of our pets that we either take for granted or assume doesn’t exist.
I have been more tuned into my dog now as she is getting up in years, fifteen next October, and is going blind and is losing her hearing. But she has always been to me my angel puppy.I fell in love with her angelic presence when she was ten months old. I sat in a waiting room in the kennel where she lived and she approached me and laid her head on my lap. She looked up into my eyes and that was it! Although at the time we thought we had come just to look at the possibility of getting a Brittany, we left there with our precious Leah, the newest member of our household.
Oh how I love her! Her energy is so soft and gentle and loving and very sweet. She converts anti-dog people into dog lovers, but she’s still a dog and does dog things, actions that we humans may find distasteful. However it doesn’t matter because this actually makes her more perfect in her dogness. Her love fills my heart with joy.
Recently I’ve watched as friends have had to say goodbye to their beloved animals and know this may be coming soon for me. But in the meantime, since I work from home I have the great privilege of spending a lot of time with my precious Leah. And together we are enjoying this glorious spring. She tunes into the smells on an intense dog level and shares her discoveries with me; and I am her eyes and keep her from crashing into bushes and other possible obstacles as we walk. So for now all is well and life is a great adventure with sweet Leah by my side!
I wish you all the joys of this wonderful rebirth of energy that is the spring!
Blessings in this time of great creativity!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
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Sunset on the highway
Chapter 9 (cont'd)
Kahotep awoke first. He examined the back of her head, admiring her bountiful curls. Unable to resist, he wrapped one of her sweaty dark ringlets around his finger. Feeling the tug on her hair, she stirred and turned over to face him, gracing him with a sleepy smile. He returned her smile and whispered in her ear so as not to break the spell too quickly. “So, my Sweet Lady, what would be your pleasure for the rest of the afternoon?”
“Well, besides you…” she traced the outline of his hand that was now resting on her breast, “I would...like to drive the shuttlecraft!” A mischievous grin adorned her face.
“Well, it seems you are awake,” he grinned back at her. “So, do you have any experience driving?”
“Absolutely none,” she answered honestly. “I’ve only ridden the public shuttlecrafts. I’ve never had an opportunity to learn to drive. But I always wanted to.”
“Well, it’s time you get some experience then. All right, Lady, I will teach you!" They jumped enthusiastically out of bed, dressed, and raced to the craft.
Akana climbed into the pilot’s seat. Her chair seemed too big for her and she could barely see up over the control panel. Kahotep joined her in the seat next to her as her co-pilot. “The first thing you need to do is to sign in,” he began, “so tell the craft your name, that you are the pilot, and then instruct it to adjust to you.”
Excitedly, she complied. “I am Akana of Atlantis,” she told the craft. “I am the pilot of this shuttlecraft. Please make adjustments to accommodate for me.”
“Welcome, Akana of Atlantis! We will make our adjustments now,” a pleasant voice from the shuttlecraft replied.
Her seat moved slightly forward then back, then to the right and left. It raised up and down then finally rested in a position that greatly improved the fit of her chair, as well as her view out the windshield. Immediately, a seatbelt closed across her lap.
“Push the green button that is lit up here on the console between us,” her co-pilot instructed. This she did. A holographic map of the area appeared at a forty-five degree angle in front of her.
“You can see where the cabin is—here.” Kahotep pointed to the three-dimensional version of the cabin. Now if you touch it thus,” he touched the image of the cabin on the map and it immediately enlarged, “you can bring it in closer. Touch it twice and it’ll return to its former size. You can do this with any part of the map. Now—where do you want to go?”
“I’d like to explore the area first, until I get used to piloting.”
“All right then, let’s map out a small path. Lightly trace the direction on the hologram where you want to go then hit the blue button on the console. This will lock in your program.”
She drew about a five mile trail around the trees in the forest then pushed the glowing blue button.
“OK, now what?”
“Now you need to use voice commands,” he said. “Tell the craft to follow your plans.”
“Please follow the path I have indicated,” she told the computer.
Gently, the craft began to rise. It slowly followed the directions that she had just mapped out. Then it gently landed back on the shuttleport.
“Well done! Now, do you want to drive without programming it first, Kana?”
“Of course. What do I do?”
“Use your voice commands to get the craft to ascend, then trace the path you want it to follow with your finger.”
“Now?”
“Sure, I think you’re ready. And I’m here to back you up.”
She took a deep calming breath. “Ascend!” she commanded.
Slowly, the craft rose up as directed. It hovered high above the shuttleport and turned southwest as Akana traced her outstretched palm through the holographic map. To speed up, she merely had to trace faster, so she experimented. The movement was a little jerky at first, but she quickly assimilated her new skill and smoothed out the ride. She let out a big hoot as she sped the vehicle around in ever tighter concentric loops.
“So you’ve never driven before, you say?” Kahotep asked in disbelief.
“Not ever, and was that a mistake!” she replied. “This is great!”
“So where are we heading, Speedster?”
She grinned. “I want to see the crystal cave.”
“Oh, nothing like a little challenge for your first flight out, is there, dear?” Kahotep laughed.
“Not at all,” she replied.
The shuttle was now heading toward the active volcano on the northeast corner of the island. She touched the map and an enlarged view appeared. She found what she was looking for—a shelf along the inside rim where they could land the craft. She decreased the size of the volcano on the map back to normal then smoothly guided the craft to a safe landing onto the ledge.
The door on the craft lifted up and they carefully emerged. After assuring themselves they were on solid ground, they both looked around. The ledge was packed down smoothly, apparently used over the years as a landing strip for others wanting access to the cave. Over the ledge, very far below, lava flowed freely. The smell of sulfur permeated the air.
They made their way to the inside edge of the rim, up against the wall of the mountain, to the opening in the cave. She had pilfered a couple of lightsticks from the craft and handed one to Kahotep.
She got on her hands and knees and easily crawled through the cave entrance. Kahotep crawled in after her. Once they made it through about a three-foot tunnel, they stood up. Their lightsticks illuminated the way as they stepped carefully down a softly sloping path. After about two hundred feet it opened up into a large cavern. Their lightsticks revealed a grotto encrusted with jeweled crystal treasures.
“Oooh, Kahotep! I’ve heard about this cave, but I never would have imagined this!”
The cave was actually a huge geode that had been formed millions of years before from cooled molten lava. The walls were thickly covered with a wondrous display of sparkling crystals. Even more astounding were the long spear strands of quartz crystals that stretched across the entire cave, each about the width of a grown man. Akana approached one to examine it more closely; she was dwarfed by its size.
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2 comments:
Wonderfully written, Paula. I feel the same about our beautiful Corky, now 15 and a half. I know this will be his last spring, and it hurts so much, yet I too love his "dogness" as we walk - slowly now - and see and smell all the sights in the yard. Give Leah a hug from me. Cynthia
When one buys a beautiful teacup, it is so pleasant to have tea in it. One day that cherished teacup will break. If one can see early that the teacup will break someday, every sip from it becomes significant and special.
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