Because I Like Fight Scenes

Lately I've been developing a LARP, and in my research on LARPs, I discovered this fun video. It's technically an advertisement for museumreplicas.com, but the fight scene is pretty doggone epic, anyways.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Percy's Forge -- The Lance Blade

Technically, this is something that Dana came up with, but I'm putting everything weapons related under the Percy's Forge heading anyways so that things stay orginized.

The lance blade is actually a weapon created by Dana used by the Phinearans, a race of wolf shape shifters from Xystia.

  Elgon turned his attention to the peculiar swords occupying the rack beside him. “With only our knives and the crossbow, would it be permissible for each of us to carry one of these?”

  “Of course. I will provide you with the proper sheathes.” William drew the blade off his own back with a metallic ring.

  Elgon heard the quick sound of metal on leather as Andras flicked a knife into his palm in surprise at the Meerinoran’s action. Jheslin chuckled. Elgon forced his expression to remain the same.

  William showed them the weapon. “Six hands high on the hilt, and the blade slightly longer. The crossguard here is wide enough to block incoming blows. It is meant to wielded dual handed, as we strap our small shields to our arms.”

  Elgon nodded. “Understood.”

  He resheathed his weapon. “We depart in an hour. My Pack will assemble by the South Gate.”
[exerpt from The Land Between Time, Outlander Trilogy Book 1)

After Percy started making all his PVC swords, Dana came up with the dimensions for the lance blade. Both he and Percy made a lance blade while we were at the MacDonald house. Though I knew what they looked like in general -- I sorta had to, considering I included them in my book -- it was still quite impressive to see the weapon in 3D.

Since this is Dana's original weapon,
I convinced him to model with it for me
rather than having Percy do it.

Here are the measurements:

Blade -- 26"

Hilt -- 20"

Crossguard -- 2"

 

So that's the lance blade, an original Xystian weapon created by Dana MacDonald.

 

Dia duit,

~Penny

For The Greatest Good -- Part III (Penny)

Part III -- Account by Penny Kearney

“You have your gift.” Dana said, rolling up the map. “You’ll find it someday, even if you don’t think it exists.”

  I shook my head. “I’m just glad you aren’t dead. That’s good enough for me right now.”

  “So am I.” He smiled. “Now, when did you want to depart?”

  “As soon as Rex returns.” I said. “It should be a couple hours. Do you need some rest? You look like you do.”

  Typically, he shrugged dismissively, but then he swayed slightly, bracing himself on the table. “Well…”

  I fixed him with a stern look. “Go lay down.”

  He was certainly tired, for he put up no protest. “As you say, your highness.”

  After watching him depart into the cave to ensure he didn’t change his mind on the way, I also abandoned the makeshift table to check on status of the men assigned to the hunting party.

  For the rest of the day, I left Dana to his slumber. Since I did not see hide nor hair of him all that afternoon and evening, I assumed he remained asleep, and when I padded silently into the cave late that night, I discovered my assumption to be correct. He lay on his own out of the way of the rest of the infirmary a short ways from the mouth of the cave. Had the enemy attacked at this moment they would have mistaken him for a dead man, so soundly he slept. Pathseeker rested on the ground at his side, its red jewel glimmering in the moonlight that drifted in from outside.

  I knelt beside him, hesitating a moment, then reached out and shook his shoulder, whispering, “Dana.”

  He didn’t respond.

  I shook him a little harder. “Dana.”

  His sword flashed and he jerked upright with a startled yell. I pulled back to avoid being skewered.

  “Hey, take it easy!” I hissed, darting a glance about the cave to see if anyone had been aroused by his outburst.

  Recognition played in his expression, and he lowered his sword. “I’m sorry, just…” He sat up fully, calming his breathing. “Just dreaming.”

  I study him. Obviously not dreaming.

  He evaded my gaze and rose, straightening his cloak. “Are we ready?”

  I stood, also. “I am. Are you?”

  He sheathed his sword, giving a firm nod. “Aye. Let us free our comrades, then.”

  That was as good an answer as I had time to get at that moment, so I led the way out of the cave.  My footsteps made a gentle sound on the grass, and his slightly heavier behind me. The weight of RuneBinder in its sheathe on my back became more distinct as I thought of our mission ahead. We entered the cave across from the one we’d just left, and moved silently amongst the sleeping soldiers there towards the back, where the cave narrowed into a tunnel that slopes upwards. Darkness enveloped us at the first turn, and I navigated the tunnel by memory, running my hand along the wall as I walked. I listened to ensure Dana remained close. I guessed he did the same to keep from running into anything.

  Up ahead, the sound of running water drifted into the passageway. The tunnel opened into a cavern riddled with stalactites and stalagmites. A mixture of bluish light and luminescent green light flickered along the walls from both an opening in the ceiling, and the glow-moss that lined the bottom of the river. The river itself was located fifty feet from the tunnel opening, fed by a waterfall cascading from a hole high on the right wall. It flowed at a steady pace into the yawning blackness of another, much larger tunnel.

  Dana took a deep breath, and murmured, “Good, we’re going the right way.”

  I glanced at him. “I hope you don’t mind boat rides in the darkness.”

  The boat in question rocked on the surface of the water; a skiff, moored to an outcropping of rock.

  Dana eyed it. “As long as it goes better than the last time you piloted a boat.”

  “That wasn’t my fault.” I climbed into the skiff, moving to sit by the rudder.

  “Maybe,” He stepped in, as well. “But I still remember three sailors going swimming when we rounded anchor point. And not voluntarily, either.”

  I remembered that as well.

  “I have no comment.”

  I untied the rope, and let the skiff drift into the current, which caught it and pulled it along deeper into the cavern tunnel. In the dank atmosphere, Dana pulled his hood up and drew his cloak about him. He drew his sword and a whetstone, beginning to slide one against the other to sharpen the edge of the blade, but as the sound echoed in the chamber, he stopped and sheathed his weapon once more.  I gave him a questioning glance.

  He shrugged. “Habit.”

  I returned my attention to the course ahead, my hand on the tiller. The darkness closed in, though this time instead of becoming completely black, a faint light could be seen at the far end where the tunnel opened once more. I guided the craft towards it.

  “Travel this often?” Dana asked after a time.

  “I’ve done it once fully,” I replied. “And once part way.”

  “Part way?”

  “There’s another stop just up ahead. It was going to be our regrouping point, should we need it. This river leads all the way out of the mountain, though.”

  As I spoke, we glided into the cavern in question, much larger than the first. Several skiffs akin to the one we occupied bobbed up and down by their moorings. They’d been left there after our last evacuation drill, but tomorrow some of the soldiers were meant to come and transfer them back to the first cavern. By then I hoped Dana and I would have our skiff back for them to use.

  Above us, a winding opening ran along the cavern ceiling, letting in the light. The water reflected like stars on the stalactites, and the sound of dripping water whispered through the air.

  The river forked. I turned the tiller to take us down the right branch. The ceiling grew lower once more, and the light lessened. A draft of fresh air wafted over us from ahead, and the water rippled silently in the wake of the bow.

  My thoughts drifted to the events of the previous month. I had avoided allowing my mind to linger over the details of the battle – or rather, retreat – at Campbell’s castle, but now I couldn’t help it. So many men had died because of the treachery of one. While it might not cost us the war, it still made an impact. I hadn’t even been able to see Percy and Seph when I got the order to retreat. They’d sent a messenger, and I just…

  I caught Dana’s glance out of the corner of my eye before he looked ahead again. “Our loss wasn’t your fault, you know.”

  I watched his back for a moment, realizing I had been frowning. Sometimes I wished my expressions didn’t show my feelings so obviously. Though at other times, I knew that could be a good thing. At least it meant I didn’t lie very well.

  “I know.” I replied at last.

  Neither of us spoke again.

  Ten minutes later, we glided into the open air. Behind us towered the mountain, and a thick forest lined the banks of the river. Abandoning my ponderings, I veered the boat against the riverbank, snagged the rope lying at my feet, and jumped out. Dana waited until I secured the mooring line around a nearby tree before climbing onto dry land, as well.

  “Best to hide it.” He said, reaching down and hauling the bow onto the grass. “We’re nearer the castle, and the patrols go wider than you might think.”

  I came to assist him. “We can sink it, and then haul it up when we need it again.”

  “In sunlight, that water is too clear to hide anything well.”

  “As you say.” I grasped the side of the boat and heaved until we got the boat out of the water, and amongst the forest underbrush well out of sight to anyone who passed by.

  “Besides,” He said, straightening and adjusting his cloak once again. “I’d rather not get my boots wet when we don’t’ have to just yet. Shall we?”

  I chuckled under my breath and headed along the bank, but my mirth faded with each step closer to Campbell’s castle that we took.
 

---------

Note: You'll have to bear with me. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep these segments short, but still interesting, and leaving the readers wanting to read more. I'm also working on the prose; it's a slightly different dynamic transferring skype history to prose format rather than just writing prose right from my head. Feedback is definitely appreciated on both scores.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Shameless Advertising and A Bit of Fun

By now all my friends are going "What, you're posting this somewhere else?" Let's just say that when I find -- and especially make -- something, I'm very keen to share it with everyone. So that's my excuse.

This here is a voice acting clip for LBT that a fellow writer kindly did for me. I adore it, as evidenced by the fact that this is the fourth or fifth time I've posted it somewhere. At least I don't have Facebook.

 



Alright, now for the bit of fun. This is a video my friend Katana Kaine sent me the other day, and I laughed so hard.

That's it for now. I'm working on the third section of For The Greatest Good, but I've been sick lately, so it's not going very quickly. Bear with me, though. It'll come.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Friday Music Post #9

I swear I'm losing track of what numbers to make these posts....

Anyway, here is a lovely Chinese flute instrumental. It has a wistful longing feel to it, laced with a sense of resignation.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Saturday Legend Post #9 -- The Six Swans

The fairy tale story of The Six Swans has always been one that I've admired. I'd tell you why, but I'd rather just show you.

It begins like any self respecting fairy tale with "Once upon a time...."

Once upon a time, a certain King was hunting in a great forest, and he chased a wild beast so eagerly that none of his attendants could follow him. When evening drew near he stopped and looked around him, and then he saw that he had lost his way. He sought a way out, but could find none. Then he perceived an aged woman with a head which nodded perpetually, who came towards him, but she was a witch. "Good woman," said he to her, "Can you not show me the way through the forest?" "Oh, yes, Lord King," she answered, "that I certainly can, but on one condition, and if you do not fulfil that, you will never get out of the forest, and will die of hunger in it."
"What kind of condition is it?" asked the King.
"I have a daughter," said the old woman, "who is as beautiful as any one in the world, and well deserves to be your consort, and if you will make her your Queen, I will show you the way out of the forest." In the anguish of his heart the King consented, and the old woman led him to her little hut, where her daughter was sitting by the fire. She received the King as if she had been expecting him, and he saw that she was very beautiful, but still she did not please him, and he could not look at her without secret horror. After he had taken the maiden up on his horse, the old woman showed him the way, and the King reached his royal palace again, where the wedding was celebrated.

Ah, but this new queen was beautiful, but wicked. The King had seven children from a previous marriage -- six sons and a daughter -- and out of fear for their well being, he moved them to a castle hidden deep in a forest. However, the wicked queen -- who, not surprisingly, is also a witch -- eventually discovered the castle. She sewed enchanted silk jackets, and rode to the castle without the king's knowledge. When the six sons rushed out, thinking the rider was their father, she threw the jackets over them, and they turned into swans and flew away.

The Queen went home quite delighted, and thought she had got rid of her step-children, but the girl had not run out with her brothers, and the Queen knew nothing about her. Next day the King went to visit his children, but he found no one but the little girl. "Where are thy brothers?' asked the King. "Alas, dear father," she answered, "they have gone away and left me alone!" and she told him that she had seen from her little window how her brothers had flown away over the forest in the shape of swans, and she showed him the feathers, which they had let fall in the courtyard, and which she had picked up.

 Though deeply distraught, the king did not think to suspect his wife of this evil deed. Afraid he might lose his last remaining child, he wanted to take his daughter back with him to the castle, but she begged him to allow her to stay one last night in the forest castle. The king finally consented, and returned home.

The poor girl thought, "I can no longer stay here. I will go and seek my brothers." And when night came, she ran away, and went straight into the forest. She walked the whole night long, and next day also without stopping, until she could go no farther for weariness. Then she saw a forest-hut, and went into it, and found a room with six little beds, but she did not venture to get into one of them, but crept under one, and lay down on the hard ground, intending to pass the night there. Just before sunset, however, she heard a rustling, and saw six swans come flying in at the window. They alighted on the ground and blew at each other, and blew all the feathers off, and their swan's skins stripped off like a shirt. Then the maiden looked at them and recognized her brothers, was glad and crept forth from beneath the bed. The brothers were not less delighted to see their little sister, but their joy was of short duration. "Here canst thou not abide," they said to her. "This is a shelter for robbers, if they come home and find thee, they will kill thee." "But can you not protect me?" asked the little sister. "No," they replied, "only for one quarter of an hour each evening can we lay aside our swan's skins and have during that time our human form; after that, we are once more turned into swans." The little sister wept and said, "Can you not be set free?" "Alas, no," they answered, "the conditions are too hard! For six years thou mayst neither speak nor laugh, and in that time thou must sew together six little shirts of starwort for us. And if one single word falls from thy lips, all thy work will be lost." And when the brothers had said this, the quarter of an hour was over, and they flew out of the window again as swans.

 Ah, so here we have our dillemma. Is such a feat even possible? Is this a story of triumph, or a cautionary tale?

But look here; this has to be my favorite line, and favorite section, in the entire story.

The maiden, however, firmly resolved to deliver her brothers, even if it should cost her her life. She left the hut, went into the midst of the forest, seated herself on a tree, and there passed the night. Next morning she went out and gathered starwort and began to sew. She could not speak to any one, and she had no inclination to laugh; she sat there and looked at nothing but her work.

That right there is what love looks like. Now, will she be able to fulfill her quest, or no?

When she had already spent a long time there it came to pass that the King of the country was hunting in the forest, and his huntsmen came to the tree on which the maiden was sitting. They called to her and said, "Who art thou?" But she made no answer. "Come down to us," said they. "We will not do thee any harm." She only shook her head. As they pressed her further with questions she threw her golden necklace down to them, and thought to content them thus. They, however, did not cease,

So now our heroine is in a quandry. The huntsman retrieved her down from the tree and presented her to the king, who, like many fairy tale men, fell in love with ber because she was so beautiful.

As she was so beautiful, the King's heart was touched, and he was smitten with a great love for her. He put his mantle on her, took her before him on his horse, and carried her to his castle. Then he caused her to be dressed in rich garments, and she shone in her beauty like bright daylight, but no word could be drawn from her. He placed her by his side at table, and her modest bearing and courtesy pleased him so much that he said, "She is the one whom I wish to marry, and no other woman in the world." And after some days he united himself to her.

Still the young maiden never spoke, and continued steadfastly on her task to save her brothers. It seems she has no luck with mothers, however, for the King's mother did not like her, and spread, lies, and planted evidence to convince the people and the king that the young queen was a witch. It took some time, but at last the wicked mother's scheme succeeded, for her victim refused to speak a word in self defense. Thus she was sentenced to be burned at the stake.

When the day came for the sentence to be executed, it was the last day of the six years during which she was not to speak or laugh, and she had delivered her dear brothers from the power of the enchantment. The six shirts were ready, only the left sleeve of the sixth was wanting. When, therefore, she was led to the stake, she laid the shirts on her arm, and when she stood on high and the fire was just going to be lighted, she looked around and six swans came flying through the air towards her. Then she saw that her deliverance was near, and her heart leapt with joy. The swans swept towards her and sank down so that she could throw the shirts over them, and as they were touched by them, their swan's skins fell off, and her brothers stood in their own bodily form before her, and were vigorous and handsome. The youngest only lacked his left arm, and had in the place of it a swan's wing on his shoulder. They embraced and kissed each other, and the Queen went to the King, who was greatly moved, and she began to speak and said, "Dearest husband, now I may speak and declare to thee that I am innocent, and falsely accused." And she told him of the treachery of the old woman who had taken away her three children and hidden them. Then to the great joy of the King they were brought thither, and as a punishment, the wicked step-mother was bound to the stake, and burnt to ashes. But the King and the Queen with their six brothers lived many years in happiness and peace.

I think the theme of this story is pretty obvious. The young maiden's love for her brothers very nearly cost her her life, but she was more than willing to let that be so rather than abandon them to their fate while there was still even the smallest thing she could do for them. Even if she had been killed, I don't think she would have regretted it so long as her brothers were freed.

Love and loyalty. My favorites.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Percy's Forge - Latest Inventions

Though I have done a miserable job of chronincling it, Percy has certainly not left his forge idle in the past couple of months. Indeed, quite the opposite, I'm excited to say. I always knew he was one for putting things together and so forth, and this PVC weapon making seems to have taken a firm hold of his imagination and creativity.

I bought him the red tassle from Jo-Ann's.

First he made the spear. It's a fairly easy design, which I have given the dimensions for in the post before this one, but cool noentheless. He and I actually started choreographing a fight scene between a spearman and a swordfighter. At present it is far too hot to go outside and continue it, but I'm sure we'll pick up again at a later date.

Then, a little bit ago we watched the 2002 version of The Count of Monte Cristo. I personally really like that version (minus a couple of scenes for obvious reasons). The acting, cinematography, and especially the swordfights are all great. Soon after watching it, Percy decided he wanted to come up with a PVC Rapier design, and spent quite a bit of time contemplating how to do this before we actually went to Home Depot and bought the pieces he'd decided he needed. I must admit the result impressed me more than I thought it would.

Percy's first rapier.



Blue crusader coloring.

Obviously the basket hilt was the only hilt Percy could make using PVC. At least at the moment, with the tools he has. The one in the picture has the one and a half inch rim on the hilt, but he made another one where he sawed that rim off. Unfortunately, that one sufffered an accident (*cough*Seph.*cough*) and cannot make an appearance at the moment.

So! While we were on vacation, Percy taught Dana how to make some of the basic PVC swords, and in the process forged a broadsword. Since none of us really needed another weapon, he decided to have fun with the duct tape design on it. At the same time, Dana got creative with his sword's coloring, as well. However, I haven't gotten pictures of Dana's sword yet (or the Lance-Blade, another sword variant I'll discuss later), but if I can remember, I'll do it tonight.

And now for my favorite. I was browsing pinterest some while ago when I came across a tutorial for how to make a "Brave Little Miss PVC Bow and Arrow." It consisted of a very small, simple bow made of PVC that fired dowel rods tipped with giant wads of foam in the shape of arrowheads. Yeah. I told Percy about it anyways, he did a very brief perusal of the how-to, then went off and came up with his own design. Once again, I confess to not have had as much faith in his abilities as I should have. The bow he made not only looks awesome, but actually fires. I have an awesome little brother.

He's still figuring out how to make arrows that will fly straight, but I've learned my lesson by now and have no doubt he'll have a working prototype soon. There's a video I found on youtube for how to make functioning arrows for a modern recurve, so he's going to look into that. Plus I need to figure out (or ask Lynn to) how to make a quiver for when he learns how to do the arrows.

Have no fear! If and when he makes another bow, I'm GOING to make a tutorial for it because it's too cool for me not to. I'll do the same thing for the rapier, as well. Promise.

The stack of PVC weaponry in the corner of the boys' chambers is growing in both number and diversity. When we move back up to Illinois near the forest preserve, we are going to have a full arsenal for our Imagination Games.

I can't wait.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Percy's Forge -- Sword Variant Dimensions

So, yeah, I've done an awful job keeping up with chronicling Percy's inventions. But at any rate, here are the dimensions for the sword variants that can be made using the tutorial I posted up here a while ago.

Claymore

Blade - 39"

Hilt - 1'

Crossguard - 6" each

Wanderblade

(large arming sword)

Blade - 32" or 33"

Hilt - 9"

Crossguard - 3" each

Straight Sword

Blade - 26"

Hilt - 5"

Crossguard - 3" each

Short Sword

Blade - 18"

Hilt - 5"

Crossguard - 3" each

Spear

(can be made the same way as a sword)

Blade - 1'

Handle - 5'

Crossguard 2" each

I'll have pictures of the spear in my next post, as well as pictures of some of Percy's latest weaponry inventions.

Dia duit,

~Penny



Rosie's Library -- Book List #1

Rosie wishes she had a library like this in real life.

Here is Rosie's first book list. She completed it the other night, and I'm posting it here.


The Goose Girl
By Shannon Hale (Book 1 of the Books of Bayern)

The False Prince
By Jennifer A. Nielson (Book 1 in the Ascendance Trilogy)

Death Trap
By Sigmund Brouwer (Book 1 in the Robot Wars series)

Called
By Hannah Mills

Dragon's Egg
By Sarah L. Thomson

Dia duit,
~Penny

Friday Music #8 -- Wild Mountain Thyme sung by Penny

I just finished recording this song, Will Ye Go Lassie Go, and posted it to youtube. It's not the best version I've done, as the microphone I like was having issues at the time I recorded this. But I wanted to record it, so I just did it anyways.

So there's your Friday music. In case it starts to drive you mad, yes, the picture is in fact moving.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Saturday Legend Post -- Korean Myths

Man, writing 'Saturday Legend Post' looks so weird.

Anyway, I found a fun site that has a bunch of short blips on Korean Myths. I'm poking through it to find some of the more interesting -- and less strange -- ones to put up here. I personally have always found myths to be interesting. I used to love Greek and Egyption mythology, though now the blatant immorality annoys me enough to make me less of a fan as I might have been. Bible stories are exciting enough, anyways, and also true.

Anyway, I still like looking thorugh myths now and then. Mythology really does give one significant insight to the culture and mindset of the people who created these myths in the first place. I and my family lived in Korea for a couple of years, and I've been doing a lot of British, Scottish, and Irish legends already, so I decided to hop over to the Land of the Morning Sun for a bit.

Dragon Carp
In Korean mythology, a poor fisherman once caught a gigantic carp but he set it free when it begged for mercy. Later it turned out the be the son of the Dragon-King, the ruler of the Ocean, who rewarded the fisherman richly.
Carps are revered in Japan and Korea as the symbol of youth, bravery, perseverance, strength, and self-defense; all qualities much admired, especially in warriors. The Koreans also regard it as a symbol of wealth. The Dragon Carp lived for a thousand years.

Samseong Myth
This myth tells of the first settlement on Cheju Island, located off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. In the beginning, before any people roamed the land, three demi-gods (Yangeulla, Koeulla, Pueulla) emerged from the ground. They wandered through the land and hunted, making clothes from the skins and subsisting on the meat. One day they discovered a large wooden chest on the eastern shore of the island. They opened up the chest and a messenger wearing a purple robe and red belt emerged. Also in the chest was a stone box, and inside were three girls wearing blue clothing, a calf, a colt, and the five grains (barley, rice, soybean, foxtail millet, and millet; in Korean folk literature these five grains represent all of agriculture).
The messenger announced that they had been sent from Byeongnang (some sources indicate that the messenger and girls came from Japan, which makes geographical sense). The king of that land had sent the girls to be the brides of the three demi-gods. After delivering his message, the messenger returned to his land on a cloud. The three demi-gods each married and went their separate ways, founding each their own village.

Tangun
The legendary founder of the first Korean kingdom, Old Choseon, in 2333 BCE near modern P'yeongyang. His full name was Tangun Wanggeom, which is actually more of a title than a name; Tangun means "high priest" and Wanggeom means "king," symbolizing the spiritual and political power invested in the ruler. His father was Hwanung, son of Hwanin, emperor of heaven, and his mother was a bear who had been transformed into a woman. It has been speculated that the bear-woman transformation story indicates that the woman was from a bear totem clan. On a more symbolic level, though, the bear's passing of the test shows how highly early Koreans valued perseverance. It was not the strength and impetuosity of the tiger that helped the Korean people resist attacks from both China and Japan, but the determination and perseverance of the bear.

Heo Hwangok
First Queen of Kaya. According to legend, while Hwangok was a princess in Ayuta (in central India) she had a dream of King Suro. In her dream she learned that Suro had not yet found a queen, and both her parents agreed that she should go and become Suro's bride. She arrived in Kaya on a ship with a red sail and red flag, bearing treasure and gifts. When she was presented to the king she told him of her dream and the king knew immediately that this was heaven's chosen bride for him. They were married immediately, and the queen was greatly loved by all the people.

[all exerpts taken from http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/asia/korean/articles.html]

I'd look up something more adventurous and action packed, but I am, in fact, sick. And life doesn't have to be all explosions and swordfights, right?

Dia duit,
~Penny

PS
Here's the music for yesterday.

Real Magic

Magic

/'majik/ (n.) When the wonder of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; the complex beauty that cannot be explained as of this world fully, but also of another.

To deny God's design in creation is to deny magic, and without magic, life is a dull and dissatisfying thing. Without magic, there is no wonder, no intrigue, no curiosity, no adventure. Without magic, what is life but a bothersome span of time between birth and death?

I wrote that in my notebook while we were on vacation. I'd gone down to the little patch of woods next to the MacDonald house and sat right in the middle of it, leaning back against the trunk of a large tree. It was early morning, and the sunlight shone through the treetops, softly lighting the colors of the trees, bushes, and dirt path not far from where I sat. I ran my fingers through the loose dirt beside an exposed root, and tilted my head to listen to the breeze rustling the leaves and the birdsongs filtering through the air. I've always loved forests for this reason. The calming yet inspiring atmosphere has magic. You can't explain that feeling by pinpointing the one thing that makes a forest so wonderful. It's everything together, and everything together makes it more than any one of those elements could be alone. Greater than the sum of its parts. Magic.

Ocular Athletes

(n.) People who have trained their eyes to see the wonder around us.

(definition given by Mark Wilson at the OYAN 2012 Summer Workshop.)

Have a little curiosity and look for the magic.

Dia duit,

~Penny