I gave Valkyrie four photographs of unusual gardens I'd seen. One garden had a little statue of Balzac as a baby in it. It was patinaed with Spanish Moss debris, and I loved the color. She drew a few sketches of the Balzac baby, and gave them back to me. They all looked like peonies in full bloom. I loved that. It reminded me of summer in Michigan when my grandmother Marion had enormous gardens--prizewinning roses, monster peonies, and acres of lily of the valley. I would help her keep the gardens, and at about 2 in the afternoon, I'd fall asleep under a 30' evergreen. diane mead - Thursday, October 12, 2000 at 08:40:06 (EST) Staring at the blue sky through the evergreen would make me feel as though I were moving on a floating floor. The clouds that seemed in a hurry to get somewhere after a while would form familiar shapes. My imagination was free to ponder the possibilities. Gee I loved those days .... TAndel - Saturday, August 11, 2001 at 03:15:59 (PDT) ...but now things were so different. Martial law bieng imposed. The Constitution was burnt on the White House lawn. States west of the Missisippi seceded, and America West was created, capital Denver, Colorado. The dictatorship in Atlanta was waging war on Florida. Things were not all pretty...but there was still a glimmer of hope. If I could only Tyrone Mitchell - Thursday, September 27, 2001 at 10:17:56 (PDT) stockpile enough merlot and goldfish crackers earthworms could come raining down from the heavens but I'd be wrap't in the sweet slumber of an achohol-fat-salt overdose. cerise told me what the gypsy saw in her palm on that bitter november morning when jake skiff - Wednesday, January 09, 2002 at 18:14:57 (PST) left from Madison through the underground for Emeryville. He was going to help organize a government in exile there to take back the East for progressive democracy once the dictatorship there would fall. They knew they were pregnant. Cerise didn't want him to go but knew he had to. Jake told her "I cannot bear the thought that our baby will spend time under the stupid, avaricious, corporate cheaters trying to dictate from the barrens and scrub bushes of Crawford what all of us should think and do. You know as well as I, Love, that the dictatorship will collapse under the weight of its own greed within two years and we will need to move in quickly to reestablish forward-looking, representative government when it does." She knew he was right. "He'd make a great Senator." she thought, as he kissed her with passion uncommonly intense for his uncommon intensity that drew them to each other. He turned slowly away, stood at the table finishing his coffee and fresh honey biscuit, then put on his gloves, hat, down jacket, and backpack. "First thing we'll do when I get back is go up to your Grandma's and get the baby off to a good start, Love." he promised. "He or she'll be barely a year old then." Cerise smiled. "Don't make me sadder than I already am, Love!" he sighed. "He or she loves you, Jake. So do I, Jake. Go now before I start to cry." She heard the door close. Quillit - Friday, December 27, 2002 at 12:13:27 (PST) This site is archived and is no longer accepting additions.