Thursday, January 04, 2007

Sit back, children, and listen to the story of three intrepid explorers. Our story begins on, just after the first ice age, but not quite before the extinction of the great animal branta canadensis, the second day of the month December to be exact.

‘Twas bitterly cold, and the wind whipped the frozen waters into a roiling cauldron of foam, but that wouldn’t daunt these brave heralds of the west.

The first was Sir Ferdinand Magellan; the Jordanian Harbour was a mere stop from his trip around the world.

Under the commission of His majesty King Manuel of Portugal, Fearless Vasco DeGama was quick to follow.

Snorri Sturluson, native to these wild lands, was the historian and poet of three. [S]he wandered along, muttering strange words like “Gylfaginning” and “Skaldskaparmal”; perhaps it was the momentous creation of yet another myth.

Entering enemy territory


The three were besought with dangers:

Hostile natives



The great beast lay stretched across the shore; valiantly conquered, no doubt in some fierce battle. Our brave explorers tiptoed by with pinched noses...


'Twas desolate land they'd found; rocky and lifeless. The very wind carried whispers of death, and the waves echoed a ceaseless refrain of peril. The intrepids christened the place "Jordanian Harbour", and having pitched the flag for Spain, Italy and Portugal, happily continued their travels to brighter vistas...

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Ruth that is really funny. I looks like you 3 explorers had a blast..

Ruth said...

Thanks, Katelynn, we did :) More fun than I had posting this thing; does anyone ever get really REALLY upset with Blogger? Specifically its photo formatting? :S

Anonymous said...

Yup. Well I more get frustrated with it. Some of the photos won't load.. and I can't comment on most blogs. I have to go through the 'other' spot and that isn't always possible on those blogs which do not allow anoymous comments.

Kristi said...

How fun...I love such expeditions!

Matt said...

Very funny, Ruth! (Or was it Vasco de Gama?)
One question though... do you think the real Ferdinand Magellan and Vasca de Gama (law-abiding citizens that they were) would have turned back if they encountered 'No Trespassing' signs? :)

Ruth said...

I'm sorry but I don't know the Portugese/ Spanish translation for this "no trespassing" that you speak of. Could you clarify that please? :P

Matt said...

Pienso que es: 'No traspase', mi hermana chiquita.

Gloria said...

*laughing* Ruth that was a awesome story. Your really good at writing.
And yah I have trouble with the photo loading thingy on my blog too. Its VERY annoying.

Mel said...

lol I love the great beast! That's a cool picture.

Mel said...

Do you have high speed Ruth?

Ruth said...

We have DSL; it's about 5 times as fast as dial-up. Why?

Crystal said...

Oh my that was funny! Sounds like a very fun adventure. I so enjoyed meeting you when you were here and hope someday you will come this way again. Yes I have had trouble with blogger and pictures too. I am not sure why but sometimes it just won't load them and then the formating isn't what you think it's supposed to be.
Gloria what happened to your blog? I have tried to go to it and there isn't anything there? Did you get rid of it? I haven't seen you in a long time and wanted to say hi and see how you were but I couldn't. :-( boo hoo, sniff sniff

Gloria said...

Crystal:
Well my blog is still around, I never did anything to it, so I don't know why you can't get to it. Um Kristi has my email address if you want to email me and I'll give you the address.
Anyway I'm doing fine and hi back at you. Hopefully we will see each other again soon and we talk face to face.

Gloria said...

Hold on. Ruth has a link to my blog, and so should Mark. Rebekah does to I think... So try those.

Krista said...

O Ruthy, someday you must write a novel and I would be the first to read it!

StefanieV said...

looks like u guys had fun...and i love the imagination you showed in explaining your explorations...lol about the no trespassing thing, i remember discussions we've had about it in the past....

Ruth said...

Oh yes, I do remember now. Next time you come, bring some paint cans with you Steffi! :D As for "my story"; I can hardly claim full authorship! This is how things always tend to unfold with Michele and Louise along :)

Matt said...

Yes, I agree with Stef (from what I remember from before too). Purple-polka dotted signs would like MUCH better. :)

Rebekah said...

My dear Ruth: I miss you dreadfully. If you ever decide to explore with Elizabethan indentities, I have dibs on Sir Frances Drake. :)

StefanieV said...

rather than bringing paint cans, how about spray paint? it's more portable, and if we get bored with trespassing, we could always try some graffiti....

jk, btw....don't get any ideas ;)

Matt said...

Wouldn't that be... Sir FrancIs Drake? (Sorry, couldn't resist, RebekKah. :) )

Rebekah said...

Burn. I deserved that.

Anonymous said...

hey Ruth!
loved the pictures :) awesome memories eh?? we gotta continue those explorations soon!
Louise
aka Ferdinand Magellan

Ruth said...

In Europe, hehe :)