Category: Stories

Armadillo of Legends!

We now return to “The Armadillo of Legends: The Revenge of the Polar Bear!”.

Though surrounded the Armadillo is ever quick on his feet. Quickly turning around he threw his grappling hook and swung out of the fray. Recovering from their shock the Polar Bears turned to face the Armadillo in his new position. But the advantage of surprise had faded. The Armadillo stood before them with drawn sword. Quickly the Armadillo advanced toward their leader. The Armadillo jumped through the air slashing at Marcus, the leader of the Polar Bears, but Marcus flipped aside.

“I have learned some new tricks since our last meeting Armadillo,” he growled, “Alright guys, lets take him out.”

The Armadillo saw Gunter snarling to the right of him (Gunter fought like a beast gone mad, and no one knew if he just fought like he was feral, or if he was actually  feral). Hearing Sharp and Steel closing the gap behind him The Armadillo of Legends knew he had to act quickly. He jumped six feet in the air (as only an armadillo can (look it up)), and threw a fistful of flash powder on the ground. In the ensuing confusion, he whirled about to face the two behind him.  He delivered a powerful blow, striking Marcus across the face with the flat of his blade.

Pulling his grappling hook once more off of his belt, he threw it, and with the expert skill that only years of practice can give, he snaked the hook around the head of Steel and caught hold of the neck of Sharp. Pulling hard on the rope, he drew their heads together with a loud crack.

The Armadillo knew he had little time before Gunter was upon him so he hurled his boomerang in front of him. Jumping in the air once more he saw the boomerang return and smack Gunter in the face.

Regrouping as best that they could the Polar Bears began to retreat. “You win this time Armadillo, shouted Marcus over his shoulder, but we’ll attack again when you least expect it!”

Thus once more the Armadillo stands in victory over his foes. But even as the Polar Bears retreat a shadow looms up behind the Armadillo of Legends.  

Who is this shadow? What do they want from the Armadillo? Find out next Thursday!

The Lawn

So today we weeded and mowed the lawn. It’s not very interesting but it’s what we did today. I also almost caught a butterfly for my bug collection, but it got away. Butterflies are REALLY hard to catch. Recently though I did get this beetle. I think the design on its back is supposed to look like a leech.

Longbow Playing at Tiger Town!

Unfortunately, we weren’t playing baseball, actually that was probably quite fortunate, since none of the family has even a modicum of skill at the sport (which suddenly strikes me as ironic since our family actually has enough children to make our own baseball team).

Instead of playing the sport, we were playing music, which for me was actually far more fun, so i’d like to extend a big thanks to the Kiwanis Club having us out yesterday!  We had a stupendous time and the Lakeland Flying Tigers were kind enough to video one of our songs and live stream it on their Facebook page!  You should really check out the video on their page, Lakeland Flying Tigers Baseball, not for my sake…well kind of for my sake, but also to show support for the Kiwanis Club and The Home of the Flying Tigers!

After our performance we watched Kathryn Koch and some other skilled dancers from Care to Dance. We had a great time clapping and stamping to the music.  They even let us join in the last dance!

Then we walked around the newly refurbished Joker Marchant Stadium.  It was truly a beautiful ballpark.  I’ve only been to a baseball game two or three times in my life (I know, I’m a terrible American), but this magnificent park made me nostalgic for the unique experience of baseball, the cheer of the crowd, the thrill of the game, and the taste of warm hot dog, an experience I’ve never had.  Here’s a picture Nicholas took of the park.

Nicholas also took a picture of us at the stadium (Veronica’s hiding behind the railing).

and one of us in the bleachers. 

Finally, here is one of the little four in the big sports chairs…I don’t really get the big chair thing.

In case you can’t tell from the above four paragraphs, we had a lot of fun and hope to come back soon to watch and maybe play there again some time, maybe we can play a game against the Tigers!…the team, not the real kind.

False Alarm

Remember that new plant in the park? Well there’s no need to worry it was just a false alarm. It was not actually a parasite or the fruit from the tree. It was a BIRD! Yep, it was a weird bird. I know because during the last thunderstorm it jumped out the tree and flew off to find a new home. If you wonder what kind of bird that was, it was the elusive plastic triangle bird. And I thought they were extinct.

PTO Shaft

Recently as Nicholas and Stephen were driving down the highway, they saw what looked like an axle for a car lying in the road. Thinking this would make an interesting blog post (if you lose an axle on your car you are definitely having a bad day) they brought it home with them. As we were looking at it Dad came over and told us that it is actually a PTO shaft, or a power take-off shaft. A PTO shaft is used on tractors and certain other farming equipment (and some industrial machines). It designed to be fairly easy to put on and take off, and is made to draw energy from the engine. So if someone dropped it accidentally they are probably still not having a good day.

Plant or Parasite!

Recently I found some strange new plant species growing in the park. I am not sure what it is yet, but I am currently gathering data on it to try to ascertain it’s origin. It is a yellowish color, and has rigid, somewhat triangular shape. It’s possible it is the fruiting body of the plant, however I am afraid it might be a fungal parasite. If anyone one has any idea what this thing might be, please contact me immediately! I would definitely not want this unsightly plant spreading.

The Tale of Mirrors and Shadows

A few days ago Veronica wrote a story called,

The Tale of Mirrors and Shadows

This is the (not) true tale of how Mirrors and Shadows came to be. Once upon a time, there was nothing but clear glass in which lived the Mirror-people. Then, humans began appearing which looked exactly like the Mirror-people. Soon, the Mirror-people could no longer tell which was a human and which was one of their own. A conflict rose between them. Thus began the Mirror-war. The Mirror-war lasted 7 days and 7 nights without stopping for food. And when the dust had cleared, there were about as many humans as there were Mirror-people. When you look in the mirror, or see your shadow, you are really seeing your Mirror-being. Only light and mirrors show them up. The End.

That’s exactly how she wrote it, I didn’t change a word. I do wonder a little why your shadow, and your reflection are both your Mirror-being, but it really doesn’t matter.

Happy Anniversary!

Hooray! Today is Mom and Dad’s anniversary! And I’m not just trying to be a jerk because it’s April fools day, it really is Mom and Dad’s anniversary. Today is the anniversary of when Mom and Dad met. I always celebrate Mom and Dad’s anniversaries with great enthusiasm, because if they had not met and been married I would not exist!

Cephalophore

Last Thursday Nicholas, Stephen, and Jonathan went to a Catholic trivia thing, and one of the questions was, “Which saint walked for six miles carrying his head?”. As it turns out St. Denis, after being decapitated, immediately picked up his head and walked about seven miles preaching about repentance.

St. Denis was the first bishop or Paris, (you know, before he was beheaded) having been assigned there by Pope Fabian. He and his two companions were converting people so effectively that the pagan priests became alarmed over their loss of followers and had St. Denis and his two companions arrested. Later St. Denis and his two friends were decapitated and, picking up his head, St. Denis became the first Cephalophore. Cephalophore is a Greek word which literally means “head-carrier”.

Though St. Denis was the first cephalophore there were many other saints who carried their head. In fact 134 were counted in France alone.