The exercise:
Write about: the hill.
Spent most of my garden time seeding today. It's amazing how much can get done with two helpers: squash, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, and corn seeds are all finally in the ground. There was even a couple of brief periods of weeding in there while they either waited for me to get organized (where the hell did those seeds go?) or to do the solo part of the work (row marking, mostly).
So now the seeding is basically done. I'll get another row of beans in the soil in a week or two, there might be some more squash and pumpkins to add, but the vast majority of that stage of our garden is finished for the year. Behind schedule, certainly, but I can finally check that one off my list.
Tomorrow shall be spent weeding. That's it, just pulling weeds out of the ground. I have waiting a long time to get to this point.
Mine:
Get to the top first, before all of the others.
That's all I have to do. Simple enough, right? I'm in good shape, I had a healthy breakfast this morning. Wearing the right shoes for the terrain.
But of course it's not that simple. It never is, is it?
Just look at these guys I'm competing against. It's like they were all created in some secret laboratory, designed for peak physical performance and... no, that's probably about it. I'd run circles around them in math class, destroy their confidence in the band room, eat their souls in biology.
We're not in a classroom though, are we? No, we're at the bottom of this stupid hill, all of us pretending to not feel the chill in the early morning air. All eyes on the prize, standing way, way up there. Waiting for the first of us to arrive to claim her as his own.
Damn you Ashley Jones for putting me through this.
4 comments:
That's fantastic news! It sounds like you've got everything back under control again and now get to spend sunny mornings outdoors with attractive women. Idyllic!
That said, I'm sure there are more enjoyable things to do in life than pull weeds, but even they turn into useful compost and you know that the overall health of your plants are improved as a result.
Ashley Jones sounds like a minx! I like the idea of eating souls in biology though, and I am intrigued by the nature of the challenge that she's posed. I wonder how many little traps there are on this hillside this early morning?
I'm out in Porto for work again at the moment, and the temperature here is in the high twenties, heading towards 31 at the weekend, which I think you may be able to sympathise with. I'm just happy to have air-conditioning in the hotel room.
My take today is rather short, but I think that making it any longer would ruin the effect :)
The hill
"There's gold in them thar hills," growled Victor, gesturing with his seeding trowel. Mrs. Hill, tied up next to her husband and his sister in the corner being pointed at, started to scream.
Higher and higher
I climb, until I
Loom over the
Little town below.
The Hill
“What’s that over there?”
“Where, Grandpa?”
Brittany and I are walking across the field behind our house hand-in-hand. We are out getting some exercise. Actually, I am getting exercise, while she is running off huge amounts of excess energy.
“Right over there, Britt.” I say as I point.
“You mean that hill?”
“Uh, huh.”
“It’s just a hill, Grandpa! You’re silly!” She lets go of my hand to pick some dandelions.
It is just a hill, but I remember when it was a fort full of cowboys defending themselves against the onslaught of surrounding tribes. During years that had the Winter Olympics, it was a toboggan run with cardboard for our sleds and grass for our snow. It was the Death Star from Star Wars and my first stellar observatory. But now it’s just a hill.
“Do you like yellow flowers, Grandpa?”
“I do.”
“Grandma likes purple flowers, because purple is her favorite color. Look, there’s a grasshopper! Why do cats like grasshoppers, Grandpa? Dixie caught one last week and ate it! It was so gross!”
“Maybe they like them because they move so fast. Or maybe they taste good.”
“Eww! I would never eat a grasshopper! Look, there’s an ant hill. It’s just like your hill over there except not so big. Can we go climb your hill?”
“Sure. Let’s go.” I take her hand and we begin walking again.
“When we get to the top of the hill, I bet we can see tomorrow!” She dances away again, laughing.
“I bet we will. I really bet we will.”
Greg - yes, I quite agree. That is the perfect length for your startlingly horrific piece :D
Morganna - really like the choice of the word 'loom' there. Brings a lot of atmosphere to your short acrostic.
Aholiab - my goodness, that is a wonderful bit of writing. Emotions very subtly handled, some really great details to really bring it to life. Kudos to you!
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