Today, the forest comes alive. What does this mean? What happens next?
Spruce Nogard
Attributions:
Showing posts with label Trees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trees. Show all posts
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Creative Complex: The Forest Comes Alive
Hello, Dryads.
Today, the forest comes alive. What does this mean? What happens next?
Today, the forest comes alive. What does this mean? What happens next?
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Walk 30 Days
Hello, Friends!
A few years ago, Nadine Brandes, author of A Time to Die and the rest of the series, started this thing called Walk 30 Days. Basically, it's a challenge to walk every day in May. I really needed to start exercising, so when I heard about it this year, I was excited. One thing that's suggested is taking pictures and posting them on social media with #walk30days.
Anyways, I took so many pictures today that they would be a pain to put on Twitter, so I decided to put them on On the Breath of a Dragon's Wing instead.
Feel free to share your #walk30days pictures in the comments!
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3: No pictures--sorry!
Day 4:
Spruce Nogard
A few years ago, Nadine Brandes, author of A Time to Die and the rest of the series, started this thing called Walk 30 Days. Basically, it's a challenge to walk every day in May. I really needed to start exercising, so when I heard about it this year, I was excited. One thing that's suggested is taking pictures and posting them on social media with #walk30days.
Anyways, I took so many pictures today that they would be a pain to put on Twitter, so I decided to put them on On the Breath of a Dragon's Wing instead.
Feel free to share your #walk30days pictures in the comments!
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 4:
 | ||
| This is a mom duck and her babies. (Sorry it's hard to see. :) ) |
Day 5:
 |
| A pretty flowerbed. |
Even though creeping charlie is a weed, to see someone's entire lawn covered in tiny purple flowers looks wondrous.
Day 6:
Day 7:
Day 8:
Day 9: This is more of an auditory one. You see, it was raining, and if you stood still, you could hear the rain against the leaves, and it sounded really quiet and pretty.
Day 10: Sorry, no pictures. :(
Day 11: Isn't spring lovely?
Day 11: Isn't spring lovely?
Day 12:
Day 13: Skipped. Oops.
Day 14: No picture. Sorry!
Day 15:
Day 15:
 |
| Isn't this plant growing in a tree root cute? |
Day 16: Skipped yet again. Ah well.
Day 17: Another skip, but I probably walked just as much as I would on a normal walk while volunteering. :)
Day 18: Beautiful flowers, beautiful sunset. :)
Day 19:
Day 20: Does running errands count?
Day 21: Missed
Day 22: I always find this tree so fascinating.
Day 31: Sorry! I kind of stopped recording my walks after this point. I walked a lot, missed a few, and have overall improved my health quite a bit! (When I first started walking, my legs would ache every day, but they don't anymore. :) ) Did you do this challenge? What did you like? What didn't you like?
Day 22: I always find this tree so fascinating.
Monday, April 24, 2017
On My Mind: Change
Hello, Friends.
How many of you love change? You get bored with the dull monotony of everyday life, always looking for something different and exciting to happen, love the unexpected, and enjoy suddenly changing your schedule, your life. . .
How many of you strongly dislike change? You would love it if things would stay the same forever, and are reluctant to accept change even if it's change for the better. You'd rather do the same thing every day because of habit, even if it would be easier to adjust your schedule.
These are two extremes, but there's a wide range in between.
I am in the latter group. With the end of the school year coming up soon, I'm starting to realize how different next year will look. Some people I work on homework with won't be in my classes, and some of my friends I won't get to see every week anymore. Even though I really am trying not to be too sad about it yet, I'm going to miss this year.
Which camp are you in? Are you looking forward to the end of the school year or are you sad about it?
How many of you love change? You get bored with the dull monotony of everyday life, always looking for something different and exciting to happen, love the unexpected, and enjoy suddenly changing your schedule, your life. . .
How many of you strongly dislike change? You would love it if things would stay the same forever, and are reluctant to accept change even if it's change for the better. You'd rather do the same thing every day because of habit, even if it would be easier to adjust your schedule.
These are two extremes, but there's a wide range in between.
Which camp are you in? Are you looking forward to the end of the school year or are you sad about it?
Spruce Nogard
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Creative Complex: Tree
Hello, Woodland Creatures.
By the way, if you were wondering why last week's Creative Complex was so open, it's because I wanted you to have no limitations, except that of your imagination. That way, you could write the first thing that came to mind, you could explore lands you might not get to if I told you: "Think of this part first, this part second. . ." and so on. Do not forget my friends, you are capable of more than you believe. (If you're wondering why I'm telling you this now and not last week, it's because I didn't want you to have an explanation. It's complicated. Maybe I'll write an On My Mind post about it.)
Sometimes, however, making specific steps for a Creative Complex does help, because it gives you a starting point, and maybe challenges you to think in different ways. I'm not saying one or the other is bad, in fact, they're both needed in writing.
Now, back to today, use a real tree or make up a species of tree that has magical powers. It can have healing abilities, be a character, have leaves of gold and silver like in "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," whatever you want.
As always, have fun!
By the way, if you were wondering why last week's Creative Complex was so open, it's because I wanted you to have no limitations, except that of your imagination. That way, you could write the first thing that came to mind, you could explore lands you might not get to if I told you: "Think of this part first, this part second. . ." and so on. Do not forget my friends, you are capable of more than you believe. (If you're wondering why I'm telling you this now and not last week, it's because I didn't want you to have an explanation. It's complicated. Maybe I'll write an On My Mind post about it.)
Sometimes, however, making specific steps for a Creative Complex does help, because it gives you a starting point, and maybe challenges you to think in different ways. I'm not saying one or the other is bad, in fact, they're both needed in writing.
Now, back to today, use a real tree or make up a species of tree that has magical powers. It can have healing abilities, be a character, have leaves of gold and silver like in "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," whatever you want.
As always, have fun!
Spruce Nogard
Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/old-oak-oak-old-bark-landscape-396389/
Monday, October 24, 2016
On My Mind: Walking
Hello, Friends.
Sorry for another late post.
I was just thinking about walking. Walking in the fall. Walking where your feet lead you. Talking to your dog. Thinking. Speculating. Getting slightly chilled in the tips of your fingertips.
Do you like to walk?
Sorry for another late post.
I was just thinking about walking. Walking in the fall. Walking where your feet lead you. Talking to your dog. Thinking. Speculating. Getting slightly chilled in the tips of your fingertips.
Do you like to walk?
Spruce Nogard
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Creative Complex: Climbing Trees
Good Day, Friends!
Today's creative complex is another writing prompt.
This time, you are climbing a pine tree. You climb higher and higher and higher, but you still don't get to the top. What happens next?
Today's creative complex is another writing prompt.
This time, you are climbing a pine tree. You climb higher and higher and higher, but you still don't get to the top. What happens next?
Spruce Nogard
Attributions:
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Creative Complex: Character Constructing: Baby Under Willow Tree
Hello, friends.
A baby girl is found under a
willow tree. Create her past. Who finds her? Why was she there? How old is she? How did she get there?
Spruce Nogard
Attributions:
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Books: Fairytales: The Robber Bridegroom, Fitcher's Bird, Bluebeard, and Mr. Fox
Sorry! I forgot to put this post up. Also, it's a really long post, so you can skip/skim the descriptions. Because the stories are so similar, you'd be fine just reading one of the story descriptions.
Is it story time, Noble
Nomads?
For today, we shall learn
the four similar stories of “Bluebeard,” by Charles Perrault,
“The Robber Bridegroom,” by the Brothers Grimm, “Fitcher's
Bird,” also by the Brothers Grimm, and “Mr. Fox,” by Joseph
Jacobs.
Before I post about them, I
should explain what the stories are about, and how they are
different.
If you want to read the
entire stories, here are links:
Bluebeard:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault03.html
The Robber Bridegroom:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm040.html
Fitcher's Bird:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm046.html
In any case, I shall indeed
give my Friends with no time summaries.
Bluebeard: Bluebeard was an
incredibly rich man with a blue beard. His blue beard made ladies
terrified of him. Finally, a young woman was persuaded to marry
Bluebeard. Soon, Bluebeard left on business and gave all the keys of
the house to his wife. He forbid her from going into a specific room,
but she was too curious, and opened the door, where she found blood
everywhere and the bodies of Bluebeard's previous wives. She was so
scared she dropped the key, which got stained with blood. The stain
would not come off, and once Bluebeard got home and asked for the
keys, he demanded she die. She asked for time to pray before she
died, which he granted. Once she got up to her room, she asked her
sister to see if her brothers were coming. After a long, stressful,
time, her brothers were coming, and Bluebeard demanded his wife come
down to be killed. Right before Bluebeard was about to kill her, her
brothers came and stabbed him. She and her sister lived happily ever
after.
The Robber Bridegroom: A
girl was engaged to a man she didn't like, and eventually she had to
go to his house. He lived in the wood, and once she came to his
house, it was completely empty except for an old woman. The old woman
told her the girl's “fiance” really was a murderer and cannibal
and was going to kill and eat her. The woman hid the girl behind a
barrel, and the gang of robbers came in carrying another girl. They
cut her up, salted her, and were about to throw her in the cooking
pot when they noticed a ring on the girl's finger. They couldn't get
the ring off, so they cut the whole finger off. It landed in the
bride-to-be's lap. The old lady and the girl escaped. When they were
celebrating the wedding the next day, everyone was supposed to tell a
story, and the bride told her “dream.” She disguised everything
that happened at the bridegroom's house in a dream. At the end, she
pulled the girl's finger out of her pocket, and the town realized the
“dream” was true. They executed the robber gang.
Fitcher's Bird: A sorcerer,
Fitcher, disguised himself as a beggar, and went around kidnapping
women. He kidnapped a woman, and told her she would be his wife if
she obeyed him. Presently, he had to leave, and gave her the keys to
the rooms and and an egg. He told her to always keep the egg with
her, and forbid her from going in a certain room. She was too
curious, looked in, saw a giant bloody basin filled with dead women,
and dropped the egg. The egg got stained red, and would not get clean
again. Once Fitcher asked for the egg, he realized what the woman had
done and cut her up and added her to the basin. He got the sister of
the first woman, but the same thing happened to her. He got the
youngest sister of the women, and once she got the keys and egg, she
put the egg in a safe place and entered the forbidden room. There,
she assembled the parts of her sisters and they came back to life.
Fitcher got home, inspected the egg, and said she would be his wife.
Now, he had to do everything she asked him. She asked him to take a
basket of gold on his back to her parents, but she put her sisters in
instead of gold. She asked her sisters to send help for her. Then,
she invited all Fitcher's friends to the wedding, made a skull look
like her in an upstairs window, and covered herself in feathers so
she looked like a bird. Fitcher got back, and after that, the people
sent to rescue her locked Fitcher and his friends in, and set fire to
the house. They all burned.
Mr. Fox: Lady Mary was
engaged to Mr. Fox. She decided unexpectedly to visit Mr. Fox's house
for the first time. There, she found the bodies and skeletons of
women stained with blood everywhere. She was about to leave, but Mr.
Fox came dragging a girl. Lady Mary hid, and Mr. Fox noticed a ring
on the finger of the girl. He couldn't get it off, so he cut her hand
off. The hand landed in Lady Mary's lap. Lady Mary ran back home, and
when she saw Mr. Fox again, she told him everything she had seen but
presented it as if it were a dream. At the end, she took the hand out
of her pocket, and her brothers cut Mr. Fox up.
These fairytales are
wonderful, and you could write an entire book about them, analyzing
them, etc. However, I am going to focus on only one question: What do
you think the purpose of all the blood is?
Is it to show the dark side
of human nature? Is it to warn women about terrible men? What other
reasons could there be?
Spruce Nogard
Attributions:
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Creative Complex: Springtime
Hello, Friends.
Today, use all five senses to describe a scene in early spring in the middle of a wood.
(It doesn't have to be this scene.)
Today, use all five senses to describe a scene in early spring in the middle of a wood.
(It doesn't have to be this scene.)
Spruce Nogard
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