Inspiration?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Ok, check it out. I mention a topic, or perhaps a question or a quote, and you guys write something inspired by it. Your piece can be anything, from a haiku to a short story.

Let's start with a broad topic for our first shot at this. I'd love to hear poems and stories that have to do with The Great Outdoors. Any climate and topography is fine.

Have at it - I'll throw something into the mix later.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

The title The Great Outdoors triggered this memory for me. I may have mentioned this to some of you before...hell, I may have written a story on it before.

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I used to work at an insurance agency.

Exciting, I know. I worked my first real good "I'm an adult" job at a small family owned/operated place in Calabasas. They took a chance on a kid with no experience who was willing to take anything after working at a Chuck-E-Cheese type place.

For me, it was exciting. I breathed paper dust and covered paper cuts with more paper cuts. I read the manuals to the fax machine and copier and was the only one who could replace the toner and find those elusive paper jams. I put things that were in disarray into order - I was in on the meetings - my opinion was valued and I was treated rather equally, even though I was 19. I bathed in the florescent lights and the constantly ringing phones.

Yet after a morning of this, I sure could use some air.

Money was short and every penny saved went towards moving in with the love of my life. I’d bring homemade lunches or cans of soup and Rubbermaid dishes to warm it in. I’d chat with the old agents, acting like goofy kids making faces at each other in the small, friendly break room.

Eventually I’d wander my way outside. The roads in Calabasas wind around the hills and leave pockets of quiet, even though you’re always close to the 101 freeway. Yes, the air wasn’t perfect, but an LA child like myself takes little notice of that. I remember there were nice breezes though, breezes in the tree…

We had a tree. A tree in the middle of the parking lot, surrounded by a tiny oasis of grass. It was just enough to sit on and feel taken away from the pavement. The grass was well tended and always green and fresh. Out came the Peanuts blanket from my car, the one covered in Snoopy and Charlie Brown and Linus riding hot air balloons.

I’d sit under the tree and write in my journal. I’d write letters to my beloved, letters to other friends. I’d think. I’d lie down and stare up at the branches, waving in the breeze. I liked that perspective best, since all I could see was sky and tree, and I could be anywhere. I imagined myself in a park, or a field, or a nature preserve. I’d restrict my field of vision until I really believed I wasn’t in the center of a cement ocean any longer. I’d daydream and blink slowly and forget about paper cuts and toner.

I’d take naps. Dream of a day far beyond this. Or just dream of the coming weekend with lazy afternoons spent snuggling.

I’d wake to realize I was late, fold the blanket (damp from the grass) and toss it in the car, then jog back in to face data entry and relieving the receptionist. I welcomed the air-conditioning and sometimes remembered to comb my hair.

I’m glad it’s a moment like this that I remember clearly. A moment breathing fresh air and seeing animals in the clouds.

May we all find a small spot of grass in a cement ocean and daydream a moment away.

[blueerica]

As I sit here, in my haze of anti-histamine, I try to think of something fantastic to say about the great outdoors. And I'm zzzz....

All I can focus on is the here and now... The light tinkling of raindrops.

I love getting caught in the rain. I fear I don't get caught in it nearly enough. I love a good downpour. I love getting drenched, and for no good reason; spinning circles in the rain, dancing as though I was Debbie Reynolds waiting for my Gene Kelley... Dodging raindrops like bullets, but finding myself shot anyway...

Though I may look like a drowned rat, I feel like a cleansed soul. Then there's the point at which the rain stops. A quiet night full of freshly-fallen sprinkles, glittering softly upon the asphalt outside my door. The streetlights lend their odd grace to the surface. Crisp, refreshing... Just a dare waiting to happen... A puddle ready to pounce in...

[AllyOops!]

That was absolutely beautiful, CP. I really enjoyed reading your post and your descriptions put me in the moments you described. I could read your post over and over again.

The Great Outdoors makes me think of Yosemite. I spent a long Christmas Holiday weekend vacationing at the Awahnee in December, and it was absolutely breathtaking. The air was crisp and thin, and challenged my lungs. Witnessing what is truly God's country, and every wonderment created by Him, and the Heavens, soothed my weary and citified soul. Leaving my man-made, concrete frenzy never felt so good.

I'm a city girl. I thrive on controlled chaos and the noise that accompanies it. However, that weekend the heart I forever leave in Los Angeles I unknowingly packed with me, and I gave it freely to the beauty of Yosemite. The falling leaves from countless trees were as golden as the silence that I came to know and surprisingly love. The tiny gurgles pronounced from crystal streams born of melting snowcaps were as precious to me as if they were coming from a newborn baby. Bucks and does grazed sweetly in the fields that I hiked through, and I finally sat on the edge of a smooth rock overlooking a clear, glacial stream. So clear that I could count the slate and cinnamon coloured pebbles blanketing the sediment beneath the glassy waters. Parts of the stream were frozen from the icy, brittle December air, and I could see that the plant life below was encapsulated in time. Little shards of green being embraced by nature's frozen diamonds. Everything standing still until the air warmed once again.

Later, I strapped on my skates and twirled around on the ice. With the spellbinding awe that is half dome as my backdrop, I linked hands with my sweetheart until our noses and earlobes turned crimson, our legs rivaled butter and we were in desperate need of a roaring fire, each other's arms and hot brandied coffees.

And for the first time, nautre so took my breath away that it also brought tears to my eyes.

I can't wait until the day I return.

[Gemini Cricket]

The "Great" Outdoors
A Play in 27 lines by Gemini Cricket

Brad and Ralphie stand by a metal pipe railing in the middle of the stage. The rest of the stage is bare. They gaze fondly into the audience.

Ralphie: Aren't the outdoors...

Brad: Great?

Ralphie: Yes.

Brad: No.

Ralphie: Isn't the view of the Monterey Bay beautiful up here?

Brad: Swell. You know what needs to happen to it?

Ralphie: No.

Brad: It needs to be filled with cement so I'd finally have a place to park our truck.

Ralphie: Don't you love the Grand Canyon?

Brad: It needs more Starbuckses.

Ralphie: Isn't Big Sur wonderful?

Brad: Firewood for miles and miles. Do you know what Death Valley needs?

Ralphie: Air conditioning?

Brad: Exactly.

Ralphie: Yosemite's nice.

Brad: Half Dome needs an ATM half way up it.

Ralphie: Why?

Brad: So I'd have money to spend at the mall I'm going to build on top of it.

Ralphie: You hate the outdoors.

Brad: Not totally. It does make me appreciate staying home a great deal.

Ralphie: I'm going on a hike.

Brad: Call me when you're lost.

Ralphie: You know... some park rangers can be handsome.

Brad: I'm coming with.

FIN

[€uroMeinke]

I'd never been camping
Before Big Sur
What was I?
Maybe 25?

There were four of us
Old yellow volovo
the swedish chef
The other three, veterns

They told me of the beauty
the sleeping outdoors
under the stars
magesty

But one by one
the trip took it's toll
Allergies
Hangovers

It was Memorial Day
Crowded with RVs
The Smell of Diesel
And it was cold

Two couples crowded
In a tent for one
Huddling for warmth
In the bitter cold

Shivering, Drunk, restless
We woke having never slept
Coffee on an open flame
Neighbors giving cups out of pity

The other three pleaded
That this wasn't camping
As it ought to be
And they appologized to me

But I loved every second
Despite the crowds
I walked the beach and forrest
of Henry Miller and Robinson Jeffers

I got a taste
Of the great outdoors
It's decadent inhabitants
And it's overwellming beauty

[Tref]

The Great Outdoors

The great outdoors
Blue sunny skies
A ranger named Tom Frankel
A rake, an ox,
Some jagged rocks
A twist upon my ankle

Ole Yellowjacket bee
A friend to me
The snake says
“How you doin’?”
A red ant scout comes round to say
“I like your chocolate puddin’!”

The bear looks mighty hungry
The rabid squirrels so fine
A rusty nail will find ye walkin’
Through poison ivy vines.

Mother Nature
Hare Krishna!
A river nymph named Mindy
The great outdoors I love you best
When looking out my windie.

Finis.

[blueerica]

I am really liking how this is going... Are we going to change the theme weekly?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Ok kids, thanks so much for the fantastic entries. You people are oh see kay.

Time for a new theme. Let's use this quote for inspiration:

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. ~Carl Jung

Again, use this however you wish - you can include the quote in your piece, or take ideas from it, or what have you.

I'll be back later with my submission.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Loneliness is the realization that we can never truly be with another intellect.

Didn't the Borg Queen warn Picard of this fate?

Surround yourself with people
with occasions and outings and adventures
shared past cultivates similar outlook
but still they can't see how you see
think how you think

We strive for that moment.
A fresh personality walks in
tentative discussion, small talk hellos
courtesies and halting attempts to reach out
something triggers, gains momentum, avalanching
looking into this new friend's eyes and seeing agreement

in those moments, I wish I could catch their hands in mine
dance 'round and 'round without tune or meter
laughing exalting praising yelling
"I have found someone I feel connected with!"
sure, they
never visited your hometown
dislike your favorite food
or perhaps enjoy listening to country music

BUT STILL
they like this and this and this
they read my philosopher
owned Hungry Hungry Hippos
agree on dating etiquette
have a brain and a heart and a wit

excitement for future memories
anticipation to just talk
remembers past friendship flare-ups
knows this is brief so clings fast
the click, the spark, the knock
jump on it before it goes

and the best, the absolute best
is when the differences are intriguing
leading to new concepts and outlooks
hence the excitement, adventure
reacting, transforming
giving and taking
an intercourse of the mind

This scares off the loneliness for a while
kindred in thought and deed
eyes and grins wide
attuned, learning, growing - together.