Saturday, November 03, 2007

Alien's and Baby T-Rexes, and More Mysteries

First, in answer to my picture questions last blog, the Alien Egg is indeed a Cypress knee, although it is one of the largest ones I've ever seen. One area of the Flatwoods is a Cypress swamp. As for the footprint in water, although Lana and I didn't see it made, we have seen a big heron in the area several times and his/her tracks are identical. I try to imagine it's a baby T-Rex footprint, though. As for the butterfly picture, anyone notice how the yellow goldenrod looks like a hand on which the butterfly has perched?

Second, Lana and I watched The Rise of the Silver Surfer last night. It had some good moments and I enjoyed most of the special effects, although both "The Thing" and "Dr. Doom" looked kinda cheezy. It was worth a PPV rental, though.

Third, I hear from my editor that Witch of Talera has been sent to the printers so I'm hoping it will be published soon.

One of these days I'll get back to posting more writing thoughts. School has really been kicking my butt for the last two weeks, and will be doing so through at least next week. In the meantime, here's two other Flatwoods pics that are quite interesting. I did not expect to see the one on the left at this time of year. Any guesses as to the nature of these?



14 comments:

Chris Eldin said...

Looking forward to your writing thoughts when your teaching stuff settles down a bit.

Your post about word order in sentences (begin or end with a strong word) was an eye-opener for me. It's hard to edit like that, but very nice to keep in mind as you're writing.

Erik Donald France said...

The coolest photos. No idea what the blue burst on the left is. Alien life?

Here's to having time away from school, at least a little.

Bernita said...

Left: frog spawn?
The right one looks like a southern equivalent of night crawler castings, so I guess it's some kind of insect architecture.

Anndi said...

Amphibian eggs.. yes? (My daughter's guess... I think she fancies herself the girl equivalent of Jeff Corwin).

Lovely pictures.

SzélsőFa said...

Frog's eggs before hatching - I'm almost certain of that. I have collected tadpoles.
The other must be a termite hill....?

SzélsőFa said...

I was not cheating, btw, but if one puts the mouse over a photo, their original title comes up.
Be careful for this way the game is lost :-P

minus273 said...

The one on lower right is a crawfish tower.
The upper left is too dark on my screen to identify.
Sorry.

Jo said...

The one on the left is recognizable right away, because everyone has collected frog's eggs as a child. The one on the right looks like a paper wasp's nest, but it must be some sort of fish thing.

Travis Cody said...

Busy has been going around recently.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

Can't wait on the book, Charles. I'd also like to read those two werewolf tales you wrote one day.

Charles Gramlich said...

Church lady, yes, it's hard to keep the power word idea in mind sometimes, but it seems to become a bit second nature as you work with it.

Erik, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break now.

Bernita, yes, frog eggs on the right. And you're close.

Anndi, thanks for stoping by. Yes on the left.

Szelsofa. Lol. I didn't even think about left clicking on the pics.

minus, you must be from the south. Yes, a crawfish tower. I love me some boiled crawfish.

Josie, yes, and good guess. But it's a crawfish mudhole.

travis, I know it. A longer break is in order.

Wayne, thanks. I'll send you the latest of those werewolf stories in email. I wrote it for the Charles Grant anthology where the proceeds were donated to his health issues.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

That first picture is very cool. I would love to see in that in person. I think it is the time of year for school right now. I am in the middle of querying but my classes are crazy right now. I've got so many papers and final presentations to worry about. I feel your pain!

JR's Thumbprints said...

Welcome to my world -- work always kicks my ass -- only difference is my students lack of freedom.

Sidney said...

I kind of liked Rise of the Surfer. I had kind of forgotten the Surfer's origin story until the movie and a friend reminded me.