The Kraken Rises

"Let Loose the Kraken!" is a catchy memorable command shouted by Zeus in the 1981 fantasy film called The Clash of the Titans and hearkens back to the time of Homer's Odyssey and the travails of Odysseus.

It conjures up images of grey tentacled beasts from the depths of the dark ocean, angry Greek gods, rum swilling pirates, majestic seafaring ships, and lots of high adventure.

Such is the theme of this blog: high adventure!

I am embarking upon a new great adventure, that of living and traveling in a beautiful grey 1995 Ford Econoline Club Wagon Chateau affectionately named "The Kraken" and in the belly of the beast I will travel in search of my own white whale - that next great elusive craft show.

I'm a glassblower by trade and for years I've had a stationary gallery of one sort or another but prior to that I traveled the states blowing glass and having fun, living in a 24ft motorhome.

It is to that latter lifestyle I hope to return and as such, I purchased "The Kraken" in which to haul my tools and wares and make my home while on the road.  And while The Kraken is not a 24ft. motorhome he will introduce me to #VanLife, a new way of living.

Let loose the Kraken!

Stay tuned!

After the Dinner Party

After the Dinner Party
By Robert Penn Warren

You two sit at the table late, each, now and then,
Twirling a near-empty wine glass to watch the last red
Liquid climb up the crystalline spin to the last moment when
Centrifugality fails: with nothing now said.

What is left to say when the last logs sag and wink?
The dark outside is streaked with the casual snowflake
Of winter's demise, all guests long gone home, and you think
Of others who never again can come to partake

Of food, wine, laughter, and philosophy --
Though tonight one guest has quoted a killing phrase we owe
To a lost one whose grin, in eternal atrophy,
Now in dark celebrates some last unworded jest none can know.

Now a chair scrapes, sudden, on tiles, and one of you
Moves soundless, as in hypnotic certainty,
The length of table. Stands there a moment or two,
Then sits, reaches out a hand, open and empty.

How long it seems till a hand finds that hand there laid,
While ash, still glowing, crumbles, and silence is such
That the crumbling of ash is audible. Now naught's left unsaid
Of the old heart-concerns, the last, tonight, which

Had been of the absent children, whose bright gaze
Over-arches the future's horizon, in the mist of your prayers.
The last log is black, while ash beneath displays
No last glow. You snuff candles. Soon the old stairs

Will creak with your grave and synchronized tread as each mounts
To a briefness of light, then true weight of darkness, and then
That heart-dimness in which neither joy nor sorrow counts.
Even so, one hand gropes out for another, again.

Bear Mountain Apparition

A happening from several years ago November 24, 2012...

I live on Bear Mountain in Eureka Springs Arkansas. Tonight I was enamored with the evening fall sky and thought I’d take a few pictures off of our front deck which looks down the mountain into the woods. There’s nothing in the woods except trees really, no structures or anything man made that is. Just beyond the trees in the front yard it drops off from a ledge and then slopes and meanders eventually down to a creek but even on the best of days you can’t see that from the house.

Tonight after I shot several pics and downloaded them on my computer I was looking at which ones to keep and which ones to discard. I’m not the best photographer around but usually half of my shots come out as passable with a very few coming out very good. I noticed one of two shots I took in almost rapid succession that displayed something strangely different. They were shot a couple seconds apart, just enough for me to change the frame just a little bit.

In the first picture there was nothing out of the ordinary and in the second one there was what looked to be like a glowing face (male?) with a distinct halo. Now, I must point out that I have never in my life ever captured anything on film that was remotely paranormal and it hasn’t been for lack of interest on my part but I’m just not your camera toting ghost hunting kind of person.

I also must tell you that Eureka Springs Arkansas is one of the most haunted places in the country, so say the folks who are in the know, whoever they are! We have the Crescent Hotel which is on the national register of haunted places and apparitions are seen all over the area with some frequency. I myself have never seen any and believe me, as children we looked! We did feel cold spots and such but never any kind of corporeal manifestations. I even stayed the weekend in the most haunted rooms at the Crescent to no avail.

But tonight, I think that all changed…

Look at these two pictures. I hope they uploaded to the blog as clearly as they show on my computer. If you look in the lower right quadrant of the second picture you will see the apparition. If you look closely, and the quality holds on the website, you should be able to make out a face, a strong hairline, and a definitive halo. Maybe a saint?! Who knows but it has sparked my enthusiasm!

Here’s the picture with the apparition.

This third picture is a cropping that I did of the apparition. It shows up okay but there is some digital distortion. I’m not an expert at dealing with digital pictures and I apologize for my lack of ability. Maybe, just maybe, if you look hard enough you can see what I’m talking about. Click on the picture and you can view it full size and zoom in to see what I see.

Well, there you have it, my experience with an apparition on Bear Mountain in Eureka Springs Arkansas. I’ll be keeping my camera by the door and shooting lots of frames as time allows. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll catch something else. Tomorrow I’ll go chat with some of the old timers and see what they may know about the history here on Bear Mountain!

Meet Peregrine a 2017 Giant Escape City

Meet Peregrine a 2017 Giant Escape City, my new bike.

Named after St. Peregrine the Martyr who refused to worship the emperor. (Today's Trump)

Named after St. Peregrine of Auxerre due to his Champagne color.

Named after the Peregrine Falcon due to his speed, agility, color, and black markings. And because it was my highschool mascot.

Named after the Peregrine Class Courier Ship appropriated by the Maquis in Star Trek because at his heart he's at once both a courier and a pirate.

Named after the Celtic Peregrinatio Pro Christo because he's a wanderer.

I'm looking forward to getting to know him!

Summer Solstice

Twenty-seven years ago today I completed my third degree initiation in Wicca and took permanent vows, celebrating The Great Rite during a Summer Solstice circle with a dear friend of mine by the name of Jamie.

After the four quarters had been dismissed and the circle was opened, though never broken, we feasted on fresh fruit drizzled with honey and drank sweet red wine until the wee hours of the morning when the dew started to fall.

I was what one would call an eclectic wiccan, or a shaman, as I prefer. My craft name was Byron Moonshadow and my first totem animal was a rabbit, though the bear came to me eventually as well.

It is a path I hold dear and one I still follow in many, many ways. Once a witch, always a witch I suppose. It was through Wicca that I discovered the Divine and came face to face with that which is Love. It was through Wicca that I could finally believe in something other, if that makes any sense at all.

Since those days my perspective perhaps has changed over the years and my understanding of grace, salvation, and love has led me down a different path in the garden of life but in many ways I’m still a barefoot shaman dancing under the moonlight in a circle ringed with flowers and the breath of the summer solstice on the night breeze.

Broken Yet Beating

Broken Yet Beating
By Brian Ernest Brown

I've always known
I'll die of a broken heart

Shattered like glass
It was preventable and yet inevitable

Only thing worse
Than a fate such as this

Is most assuredly
Living with a beating broken heart

So Many, Too Many

So Many, Too Many
By Brian Ernest Brown

So many wounded people.
So many ill people.
So many frightened people.
So many sad people.
So many frustrated people.
So many angry people.
So many lost people.
So many hiding people.

Many. So many. Too many.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

My petals have drooped a little today
Even as my prayers have risen.

Tomorrow's a new day.

Bless it.

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