Wild Pages is an exercise that students in the Beautiful Lies/ Beautiful Truths writing class took on each week. Instructions are simple: Fill up 7-10 pages on any topics you choose. Write fast. Don’t go back and edit or correct. Just keep the words flowing. Here are some of the gems Gregory created.
Banged my elbow playing volleyball yesterday. It swelled up about the size of a walnut. Skin tight kept my arm from bending. Looked ugly. Soft like a water balloon. No pain really. Forced me to stop playing though. Looking at a couple of weeks of no volleyball, which sucks. Yesterday the doctor said it would take care of itself and I should be good to go in a week. Sure is ugly though, red streaks from elbow to wrist. Green and yellow where the blood from the bruise settled and is being absorbed. Elbow still hurts…//
Johnny spent the first few hours ranting silently to himself. They shoulda been ready for that. No excuse for sloppy play like that. All the time I’ve sunk into them and this is the payback. We studied all the plays, learned all their weaknesses. And then to forget everything. It was like they were sleeping on their feet. Like they didn’t care…//
Is this going to hurt? My friend told me this was the most painful thing they ever had to go through. I didn’t believe them but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Are you sure? Well, if you say so. But I really hate recovering from surgeries. One time I had to have my appendix out and yeah this was 50 years ago when they were still using medieval torture techniques for simple stuff like that. They shaved me down there, how humiliating, I was like 15 and I had to live through that, but then they give me these knockout pills and tell me to go use the bathroom and I walk down the hall and into the bathroom and sit down and do what I need to do and then I can barely stand up and there’s no one there to help me. I’m half walking half stumbling back down the hall just about falling over and barely make it to the bed before they bundle me up onto the gurney and roll me down the hall to the operating room. Next thing I know there’s a gigantic pain on my stomach. I look down and there’s this 4” scar with stitches across my belly. I tried to move but that was just pain and more pain and I looked around for anyone to tell me what was going on and no one was there so I just closed my eyes and breathed and waited…//
“Pete and Suzie they hatched a small plan
To make a vast fortune as fast as they can
They authored a book
‘Bout a new-fangled look
And the pundits did nothing but pan…”//
Bea was thinking she could squeeze by with just the few hundred bucks she had in the bank. Just a couple of weeks they said. Until they got the plant back up and running and she could get back to work. As resourceful as she was it would be tight. Rent alone was half of what she had and Billy’s daily medicine was the other half. But the car was thankfully full of gas and there was enough food in the house for at least a week. Maybe somebody needed some help cleaning or sewing. Her machine was still functional, though it had been awhile since she had used it and it could be finicky. The phone rang. Bea looked at it across the room in its cradle and had a moment of dread a she wondered who might be calling her at home in the middle of the day when she was normally at work. Hopefully nothing bad. She got up from the kitchen table, crossed the room, and picked up the receiver. “Hello?” “Hello Mrs. Johnson, this is Janie from the pharmacy. It’s about Billy’s medicine. Unfortunately we ran out yesterday and had to call and order it from over in Clarkston. They don’t have but about 4-5 pills left, not really even enough for Billy’s prescription. So they called their supplier over in Ritzville who said they, the supplier that is, expect to get some in on Thursday, three days from now. Now I know Billy needs to have his medicine every day, so what we can do is try and find someone to drive over there to Clarkston first thing Thursday morning to pick it up, if we can find somebody, that is. That would get the medicine back here between 10 and 12 in the morning. Would that work for you?” Bea had been listening intently and could feel the panic just beginning to set in. At 12 years old Billy was only alive because of that medicine and she had had no end of worrisome nights pondering just this eventuality. And here it was, no doubt about it, and she knew that it would be up to her to make this work. “Janie,” she said, “It just so happens that I have the time and the inclination to go get that medicine. Billy can make it until just then. I will take him with me and we will stop along the way in Clarkston to get the last of their supply, then head on over to Ritzville to grab the new batch. That should take care of it. And by the way, do you need anything else from along the way that I could pick up for you? Other medicines or supplies?” Janie said, “Well that is awfully nice of you to ask, Bea. I believe we have a few things already ordered from over there and if you would be so kind as to do us that favor that would be wonderful. We would also be able to pay you for your time and reimburse you for your gas too. How does that sound?” Bea was now rather beside herself with relief. It seemed like she might just weather the plant’s shutdown quite nicely. “That sounds great, Janie! Thank you. I’ll be by Tuesday afternoon to get the details of what you have ordered and who to talk to over there in Ritzville. Until then.” Bea hung up the phone and thought, “Well don’t that just beat all. One minute the sky is falling and the next minute a golden opportunity falls in your lap. And I was worried.”
Bea closed the book and looked over at Billy, who was sound asleep. Her whole world had shifted that day two weeks ago, she had had to make new plans in the middle of immanent disaster. Plans that would have thrown a wrench into her life had she not been freed up by the troubles at the plant. Since Jay had died four years ago, she had been resolute in her commitment to Billy’s well-being…//
Jamie tried to clear his mind so he could focus on the game. Stay present. All that other stuff can wait until after we win the game. Rogers on first, one out, a danger to steal. Walters at the plate, a devious bunter. Probably should pull in off the grass just a little. But if he nails a liner it’s right at me. I’ll hang back here at the edge of the grass. Let first, third and pitch handle the bunt. We need this DP to stay out of trouble. Catch wants a breaking ball in to handcuff Walters. Good call if it goes well. Nichols winds up, fires. Wow, that’s some curve! Walters turns to bunt. Rogers heads for second. Moving to cover first. Rogers halfway to second but Walters fouls it off. Close one…//
It was a wonderful day for a hike. J,G,B had been planning this particular event for a couple of weeks and they were stoked. It wasn’t’ a long hike but it did involve some fairly extended steep trail to get to the lake. There would probably be hordes of other hikers to contend with, it was after all a beautiful warm three day weekend in the summer. But the lake was well worth the effort. A crystal clear mountain tarn with boulder spills leading into it, a small waterfall exiting and perhaps loons, pikas and marmots. Just above treeline and high enough to get a good view to the south and west to several ranges and valleys. Who knows, with some binoculars they might even see some mountain goats. J was going to meet the others at the trailhead at 8:30. She was notoriously late for these kind of things but G,B were hopeful that a flurry of last night texts would keep her actively on time this morning. Sure enough, J calls and says she’s running 10 minutes late. But that’s okay. G needs a short nap and B has a podcast she can listen to. As it turns out, J is there when GB get there so the trio happily debarks on schedule into the conifer undercover leading up toward the lake. Along with at least 35 other jolly hikers enjoying mother nature today. JB are trail-gabbers, so G drops to the rear for some much needed respite from the modern life he leads. After all, that is why he has come here in the first place. But it seems his head is just as full as their mouths with thoughts and concerns and other detritus of managing life. Time for a little breath work, just to stay focused he thinks. He starts off easy. Inhale for 2 steps, exhale for three steps. Repeat. This goes on for about 30-40 breaths before he even realizes it. Next he increases the inhale to 3 steps and the exhale to 5 steps. Longer exhale keeps the CO2 from building up, which will be crucial for the steeper parts of the trail if he doesn’t want to get out of breath and have aching legs. JB are still walking and talking and considering what plants and insects and fungi they are observing. Such a diversity. Pictures are taken for later ID. Conversation never dwindles…
John decided that he liked ginger ale sufficiently to try making it from scratch at home. He had brewed beer and mead in the past, but never anything non-alcoholic. Researching it on the internet gave him a sense that it would take more effort than he had thought, but he decided to go ahead and give it a try. Turned out that ginger ale is similar to kombucha in that a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast – known as a SCOBY – is used to eat the sugars in the ginger ale and thus create a natural carbonation. Fortunately, this SCOBY actually lives on the fresh ginger root. So the first step is to activate the SCOBY in sugar and water. This becomes the ginger “bug” and can be used over and over to start the ginger ale process, kind of like a sourdough starter is used again and again s the yeast to make sourdough breads. After several days of feeding the young bug ginger and sugar the bug starts to bubble and froth. After saving some of it aside to use in the next batch, //…
The ground has been covered in frost for over a week. I love it! And the plants are so hardy that they just withdraw their vital juices into the ground and suck it up for the winter. Birds that normally wade or swim are still at it when they can find or create open water. One minute of bare feet up to my ankle bones in that water would cripple me for life! Or so I think as a ponder whether to put my feet in that icy pond at the edge of the field. OMG! That’s cold and my feet are numb after only ten seconds! I had to break the ice with my foot. It was ½“ thick and the water was only 3” deep but standing there was a test of will. I’m generally averse to such behavior, but somehow today I felt up to it. I put my tennies back on sans socks and ran home. Sitting here writing now I have numb toes still. What a shock. Reminds me of a friend’s bachelor party decades ago. Full moon night, lots of drinking, a late night run en masse down to the Evergreen beach, quick strip and jump in the water, hooting and hollering the whole time. Icy hell!! But I was smart and took my shoes off so I could put them back on for the return run. Others went in with their shoes and had to run back with soaking wet icy shoes. Who da man now, sucka!!