dlove_rm's Blog

I believe there is an imagination in each and every one of us on this planet. Its most evident when we … and seems to fade away as we enter our teenage and finally our adult years.

I have tried to hold on to mine and I like to call it my “outside of the box” thinking. It has allowed me to be creative in some of the problems I have solved in my line of work. Oh normally I am busy working on large computer systems and saving some small (or large) company from whatever this week’s “data disaster” might be. But as I find myself between jobs and I have always wanted to write a book, I thought this might be a good place to start.

So where does our imagination go? When I was younger I could get a box, just a plain old cardboard box like from a stove or a washer or dryer and it was suddenly a rocketship, or a racecar, or a tunnel to the center of the Earth. It was whatever I wanted it to be until mom and dad decided it was just “useless junk” and trash. As … can imagine anything we want and we have the power to make it true.

The other day I had the opportunity that most people never get. It was the opportunity to re-experience some of … imagination.

Journey back with me as I relive a trip to my…. “Make Believe Land”……

Chapter 1

 When I was young I had many friends but no one close to me to play with on a daily basis. I usually did my chores and took care of my pet dog Knucklehead, he was a salt-n-pepper mixed breed but an awesome pet. He and I had many adventures together.

 On the north side of my house, just outside my bedroom window, there was this large lilac bush. It must have been easily fifteen feet around the bush and about ten feet tall. Every spring it would bloom with these big, fat, green leaves and pretty violet colored flowers that smelled so beautiful. I think this bush is probably why purple is my favorite color today.

 On the east side of this bush there was this little opening, just big enough to crawl inside. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you never would have seen it. I found it one day playing hide-n-seek from my parents. What I didn’t expect to find was my way into Make Believe Land.

 I crawled and crawled. At first I thought I was just crawling in a circle, around and around. But after just a little bit, I was suddenly surrounded by the most amazing colors and creatures you could imagine. I was captivated by the awesome beauty, but these creatures were afraid of me. They would quickly change colors and blend in with the surroundings so that I couldn’t see them. Many would run and hide. All except Kathy. Kathy would become my best friend in Make Believe Land. She was wonderful. The only thing about Kathy was…..she was a caterpillar. But she told the funniest jokes. My favorites one was….”How does a caterpillar get his feet in all those shoes? - He puts butter on them and just flies in.” Get it? Because a caterpillar turns into a butterfly? Well at that age, I found it funny.

 I made many trips into Make Believe Land. My dog went with me. We met Charlie the pink bunny rabbit, Bruce the blue butterfly, King and Queen Toad, Prince Polywog, and many many others. The adventures we would have were amazing.



 But I will never forget this one July day when we made our way into the land. The entire land was quiet and still. Knucklehead and I always managed to startle someone when we came lumbering in. There was always someone crawling or hopping or wiggling about, but not this day. It was strange. I entered the land as always and sat in the middle of the village. Every leaf, every branch, every twig was a home to someone so I had to be very careful. My friends had cleared an area for me and called it my home when I came to visit. They were very courteous and I would always bring them something. Either some bugs, or leafy veggies (I was a kid and I hated green veggies – well – any veggies actually) or at the very least, just stories of my day for them. Today, I had some sweets for them. I had gotten some gumdrops and didn’t eat them all, I was going to offer a few to my friends, but they weren’t around. I wonder where they had gotten.

 I pulled the gumdrops from my pocket, thinking the aroma might attract them if they were hiding. It attracted something that I wasn’t ready for. Knucklehead must have noticed it before me though because he lept to my shoulder over my head. That dog was afraid of nothing. I once saw him kill an eight foot bull snake and then roll in it to wrap himself up in it so he could wear it like a sash in a beauty contest. He was very proud of himself for that….and actually I was proud of him too. That was the snake that had been scaring our chickens and stealing the eggs from the hen house. My dad would never admit it, but he was pretty impressed with him too. My dad and Knucklehead never got along great, but I think after that incident, my dad earned a bit of respect for my dog. My dog, however, got along with everyone he met it seemed. That is, until now. Now he was snarling and attacking…..what? I had no idea, I was just there to meet and see my friends again. But Knucklehead, who knew all of my friends, liked them and they liked him as well now (it was a bit difficult early on but they grew to like each other), was now acting all crazy. Then out of nowhere, there was this loud buzzing in all directions. Hornets.

 My friends had told me of the jealousy of the Hornet King across the way but it had been many months since they had last been heard from. Speculation was that they had moved away or been killed or something. But today, here they were, as alive as possible. Nothing my friends had told me had prepared me for this though. Just the look of the Hornets was scary enough. They all looked the same. Solid black bodies with a single thin yellow stripe down the center of the front of their body. They carried spears in their arms, had armored helmets, fangs on their mouths, and their stingers were long and very sharp. They looked to be barbed with razor tips so not only did they sting when entering their victim, but would cause even more damage as they were removed. The only thing that separated them from their leader was that the leader was solid black from head to stinger, expect for one small yellow spot right at the tip of the stinger. I couldn’t be sure, but it almost looked like it was dried venom still clinging to the stinger. Yes these Hornets were a force that needed to be reckoned with.

 A few things to know at this point is that I am deathly allergic to Bees, Wasps, Yellow Jackets, Mud Dobbers, and Hornets. Worst part is, I am also allergic to Penicillin which is used in many cases (especially rural areas like my home town) to treat allergic reactions to these stings. So if the bite doesn’t kill me, the cure surely will.

 Knucklehead was taking out several of these Hornets as he would leap and knock them down with his paws, or bite them as they flew by. He didn’t seem to notice their stings at all and he was probably the reason I didn’t get stung that day. I made for cover while he distracted them. And then suddenly, out of nowhere it seemed, all my friends were around me with their bows and arrows and slingshots and were rallying a defensive against the attack. I was taken by surprise, and afraid. So afraid that I could not help at this time and finally the Hornets withdrew and escaped. Several losses on the side of the enemy, and other than Knucklehead being stung a few times, no losses on our side at all.

Once the commotion had settled down I spoke with my friends and listened as King Toad informed me that the battle over the land that he and my friends occupied had begun again. It happened every bloom season. Bloom season was every summer for me. The bush would bloom in late spring but during the summer is when the Hornets would come out and when fall would happen, the bloom would go away and the Hornets would seek shelter from the cooler climate. It was Bloom Season again and it was time for the attacks. It seemed, the King thought, that having my presence there is what caused the initial attack to be delayed. It seems that just as I showed up the attack was supposed to occur, but when I came in, the attack was delayed. He had guessed that because I was there, it startled the leader of the Hornets thinking I may have been some form of a secret weapon. The King thanked me for allowing his people time for additional preparations for their counterattack. They viewed me as some form of a hero even though all I had wanted to do was escape. I didn’t feel like any hero. I thought Knucklehead was the hero that day. And the King agreed with the fact that Knucklehead had done a tremendous job. Unfortunately, Knucklehead’s jumping around had also come with some damage to a few houses to my friends, but nothing we couldn’t fix. So we set about mending branches and leaves and building new shelter and moving friends from one place to another.

Later that day, after I left Make Believe Land, I began wondering how I could help my friends for their next attack. King Toad said the Hornets were determined. This land was well shaded, provided much needed protection during the heat of the day and could provide the Hornets with all the nutrients and food the Hornets needed to grow their numbers to many thousands. Unfortunately, the Hornets were an angry group that could not co-exist with any other animal near them. They needed to dominate and control every inch of their land and they wanted this land. That meant that all the other animals that were on the land now, must leave or die because the Hornets wanted, needed this land for their own.

I was bound and determined not to let my friends down. I just wasn’t sure how I could help either. I needed to make a plan, and apparently Knucklehead wanted to help. That night as I laid in my bed, I would stare out the window at the lilac bush, and I would watch Knucklehead constantly pace around and around the bush. I fell asleep that night watching him pace the bush.

That night, I had several dreams. One of them must have inspired me because the morning I woke up with a new vigor and an idea. I set about that morning doing my chores and finished them in record time and I was off to the bush. Off to Make Believe Land.

Chapter 2

That night, I had several dreams. One of them must have inspired me because the morning I woke up with a new vigor and an idea. I set about that morning doing my chores and finished them in record time and I was off to the bush. Off to Make Believe Land.

The previous night, before I fell asleep I had watched a tv show called Canon. It was about this really fat man that was a Private Detective and helped solve cases before the … Anyway, in this episode he was involved in something called a mediation and arbitration. I had to ask my mom what that meant and basically she said its when two sides that are arguing about something in common, sit down and discuss the issue until they can resolve it.

This sounded exactly like what we needed. No more battles. No more fights. Let’s sit down and talk it over.

I immediately went to see King Toad with this idea. He was hesitant as he saw no good coming from inviting the Hornets to talk. He was willing of course to try anything to keep everyone from being hurt, but he also did not see it as something that would work. He did not believe this would work though as he did not see that the Hornets were reasonable enemies. The other issue was the fact that we were not really aware of where their home base of operations was located. So we did not know how to send communication to them. And of course, the last issue would be, who would be the communicator and mediator? The person that would oversee the negotiations. King Toad was already looking to me to control that aspect. I was not really willing though knowing that the Hornets had this upper hand on my of my allergy to them. I was afraid. But I also knew I could not let anything harm my friends. I would have to figure out how to do this.

As it turned out, as I was leaving Make Believe Land this day, I stumbled into the home base of operations for the Hornets. Quite accidentally and I paid the price for it. Next to this lilac bush set another lilac bush. This one was much much smaller and was blooming white lilacs instead of the violet ones on the bigger bush. This smaller bush was only a few feet away from the entrance to Make Believe Land and it helped to conceal the entrance. I had bumped the smaller bush as I was standing up upon my exit from Make Believe Land. It was just enough of a rustle to set the Hornets off and they attacked. I panicked again and started screaming and flailing my hands and arms all around me. This only provoked the Hornets even more. By the time I ran the 20 feet or so to the back door of the house, I had been stung numerous times in the arms and the neck, and already I was beginning to swell up. My mother applied ice and washed and cleaned the stings up. She applied some salve that she had for just such emergencies and then she phoned the doctor.

The nice thing about living in a rural community like this is that the doctor still makes house calls. In about 30 minutes, Dr. Johnson was in our kitchen and looking over my situation. He said the swelling was going to have to decrease over time and in its own and there was little he could do for me at this time. To continue taking aspirins for the pain and just wait it out.

I had been stuck in the house for 3 whole days and finally the swelling and the stings had been reduced to just some minor irritating itches that my mom hated to see me scratch and finally I was set free. Allowed to go back outside again.

I went straight to King Toad and told him what had happened. I then told him that I did not see how I could possibly be the mediator and told him of my fear of the Hornets and my allergies to them. We had to find a better way.

It was right then that I heard a car door slam followed by a lot of other banging. I figured my dad had gotten home from running some errands or something and didn’t really think much of it until I noticed that the banging and clanking was getting louder. I left Make Believe Land again and this time I was very careful not to provoke the Hornets. As I turned to leave though I bumped into a stranger. This startled me as well. He was like an alien to me. He was dressed in this suit that covered his head and his whole body, including his hands and his feet. He had these tanks in his hands and some hose strung behind him to this tank in his truck. But yet, he couldn’t be an alien, he spoke to me. Words, I know the words, but I couldn’t speak back. I was scared and so I started to run away. Unfortunately I turned right into the small lilac bush and startled the Hornets once more.

This time was different though. I started to flail my arms again and the stranger told me not to. I didn’t know who I was more afraid of, the Hornets or the stranger. But something told me that I better do as the stranger said so I stopped flailing. He said to remain calm and slowly walk away, don’t run. So that’s exactly what I did. And surprise me, nothing happened to me. When I was a few feet away I did bolt straight to the house and told my mom that some stranger just saved me from the Hornets. She chuckled and came out to greet the stranger. By this time he was spraying some very smelly stuff on the bush where the Hornets were. They were mad about it and were attacking this man but he didn’t seem to notice. This alien must be impervious to Hornet stings I guessed.

Later, when he was done spraying, I found out he was just a regular man inside a special suit made for exterminators. I had never heard of such a job, but it sounded pretty cool. He got to kill the bad bugs. As we talked though, I found out that he had sprayed all over the back yard, not only the small bush, but the big bush as well. And I got scared. Even he didn’t know what all this spray killed, but because he had just sprayed, I wasn’t allowed to go near the bush for a few more hours.

But I had to find out if my friends were safe. I didn’t know what to do. I went to the small bush and from a few feet away I threw a rock into it. A few Hornets, maybe 5 or 6 of them, flew up and then flew back down again. And they flew so slow. They didn’t look well at all. I was happy about that, and then I called into the bigger bush. Yelled for King and Queen Toad. Yelled for Kathy. But I never heard a word. Even Knucklehead wanted to go in and look. It was all I could do to hold him back. But I also didn’t want my dog to be hurt from these chemicals that were sprayed. No, I was just going to have to wait. Wait and see.