One Thousand Word Challenge 114: Off the Rails

Alright, so I’m doing one of these again. There is no start and there is no end and it just goes on and on, but here is where I shall start the start and the end shall be at the end, as it always is, though perhaps not always but only sometimes. It just seems like it always is. Probably depends on the literary device that you’re making use of at any given time and therefore it is not something that you should think about unless you’re in a position where you’re required to think about it, or something.

So anyway, there is no topic. There is nothing here. I’m just rambling. I will do my best to try and make it an entertaining ramble, but there are no promises at the moment. This is all territory that is as unfamiliar as it is unknown. However, it is known well and therefore I am just trying to do that hoodwinking thing that I occasionally make an attempt to do, then reveal that that is precisely what I am trying to do, therefore not making it much of a successful endeavour, so perhaps I should stop trying to do that.

Then again, perhaps not. Perhaps there are other things that I should try and do, however, such as make sure that this all makes sense. Instead of that, however, I am going to try and fly off the rails and see where that flying off and away leads me. I don’t know if it will lead anywhere, or if it is worth the time, but I shall try as that is what I want to try at the present moment. I also want to try it and make sure that there is enough space to make sure that the trying has enough space to be completed, but I don’t know how these things will go, other than in terms of their average quality, so we’ll just see how it all goes.

Now, the way that I need to fly off the rails involves flying off the rails, so I need some wings. I need wings for this train. Without wings there is no flying. Therefore, I shall attempt to go and get some wings. I will ask politely at the wing store and perhaps they shall show some sort of sympathy to my plight and therefore let me take flight.

After I have acquired the wings I then need to try and find some other stuff in order to make a ramp. There needs to be a ramp somewhere on the tracks so that the train can lift off and go flying off the rails. Of course this means that the materials need to be strong and sturdy. Can’t use your everyday wood; need sturdier wood.

I don’t know as to where I will acquire such materials. I’m sure some sort of metal will also need to be involved. I can’t just go chopping down trees and maybe the wood yards are sold out. I’m sure I’ll find a way to find what it is that I need, however. I won’t worry about this and just wing it, which seems like the easiest decision.

The last thing I need is a lot of non-curving track. I need the track to be nice and straight and hopefully on a downward slope. If I can get that, then I’m pretty much set. Well, at least for the most basic of things, but I slightly digress. This shouldn’t be too hard to find. This should be located somewhere. There is a lot of track for trains and there are plenty of upward and downward slopes. This might involve a bit of walking and sightseeing too, so it just might be the best part of the whole thing.

Anything else that needs to be thought of in order to get this thing to happen has already been thought of and therefore requires no more thinking. It’s all down to the doing now and therefore there shall be no more thinking and just doing as there needs to be a bit of doing so that I can get more done. Need more done and not less done.

Sop from here I’m not sure as to how I will set things up. I guess that means that there is indeed more thinking required.

I did not anticipate this.

Now that I know of this, things have to be pushed back. There will be delays and therefore this will not happen within the required timeframe. I can only work so hard and with added things in the way, that means that there is more work to do. It might drain the hard working ethic that I pretend to have. I don’t know as to where to go from here.

Still, now is not the time for delays. Now is the time for working hard and hard work is what I intend to do. I want to fly off the rails. I want to leave them and be in the air. Some might say that that means that I want to be airborne. That might just be a correct thing to say. However, now is not the time for thinking about what is and is not a correct thing to say. Now is the time for making sure that this all gets done so that I can do the thing. Delays are an issue, but they might just be beneficial at the end of all of this. They might just end up helping the whole thing out.

So from here I must now start doing the things. I need to think and obtain stuff and then put things together and then launch the train. It will ride the currents in the air and it will glide over cloud. It will find itself on a journey far more majestic than it could imagine and I would be there, off the rails with it.

Might need to work out the landing.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 10:08:79

This was fun to write.
Not good writing, but still fun.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 920: Rather Rusty

A couple of days without much writing and already I feel rather rusty. This is not a feeling of goodness and I need to find a way to shake it off, but then it becomes a question of how as I’ve no idea as to how I’m going to shake off the rust and get going with what it is that I’m trying to get going with.

Sure, I could try and shale it all off y engaging in the act of writing, but how would that really go? There’s too much error and risk and worry around that to make it a worthwhile endeavour, so therefore I will not be doing any writing today as that seems like a rather foolish and dangerous thing to do right now.

Instead of all of that, what I will do is think about this. I will think about the problem and try to work out an appropriate solution. Maybe even the only solution. It is difficult to tell at this juncture as to what that solution would be, but of course I have plenty of time to try and work it out and so there will be no speculation at all.

The first thing I need to do is define the problem. I need to define it so that I can think about it in a clear and concise manner, which is what would happen once I’m at the end of the thinking about the problem. At the start everything will be a bit more hazy and that is due to needing to cut a path around and through things slowly. There will be some mistakes, of course, but eventually what it is that will be completely defined will reveal itself to me and then I will be able to go from there.

However (there is always a however) what  the correct route to take from there might not be so clear. Thankfully the pathways are short and I don’t need to go down any of them as of yet. What I need to do beforehand is make sure that I am certain of the definition of the problem.

Once this is done, then it will be the time to take the paths of which one I shall choose, but not before I have defined the paths. Therefore there shall be more thinking about what each path means. Maybe from there I will work quickly, but of course this is something that needs to be carefully thought out so as to make sure. Still, I suspect that this won’t take long compared to the first issue.

Then from there, I will weigh up the paths and the one that reveals itself to be the most likely of having success in execution of shaking off the proverbial rust so I can get back into writing is the one that I shall choose to take.

I think this is going to take most of the day and so I shall get to it now.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:11:87

I feel I’ve been a little too slothful over the past few days.
That said, I think this bit of writing is alright. I’ve written better, but I’ve written much worse.

Written at home.

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Slag

This is a large chunk of slag I saw in Lithgow.

It’s not often I get to see slag, let alone slag of this size and shape.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week.
I suggest checking out Leanne’s photography, as well as checking out what other people submit.

A lot of what people are submitting will likely end up here.

I hope you enjoy.

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Rhodes in the Afternoon

Here’s a photo of Rhodes.

This is similar to the last photo shared, though perhaps this one is much more dramatic due to the lighting and the colour of the buildings.

I hope you enjoy.

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A Small Part of Homebush Bay

I like the reflection in this photo as it reminds me of an audio waveform.
I also like the detail in what is visible coming through. Especially the boat wrecks.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 919: Return of Cold Hands

Once more it is a cold day and that’s okay, but one of my greatest enemies has decided that now (of all times) is the best time to return. That enemy?

Cold hands.

I do not like this battle that I now have to fight. I don’t like that this is going to go on for a long time. I don’t like that it keeps on coming back. Slows own my writing and makes my fingers feel more inflexible than they already are.

Sure, I could wear gloves but gloves get in the way and slow the writing down also. This sis something that I want to avoid, but truly the only way to slay the beast is by confronting it and making sure that it stays down for the rest of the day. Whether this actually happens is another story entirely, however.

You see, the other issue is that I’m feeling lazy, so I need to combat two things in order to slay one thing and so the cold hands might have the win today. I don’t want to admit this, but maybe I will have to admit to the defeat that I face. A sad issue to be sure, but perhaps it is the only way. Perhaps I have no fight here as the desire to relax and do nothing is just too strong for my to be able to take on in one day.

If this were spread over a succession of days, then perhaps there might be a chance. As this is not, there is no chance. There is no turning around. Well, okay, maybe there is, and by maybe I mean definitely, but I don’t want to take that chance. I don’t want to have the potential to succeed. I just want to get on with other things and worry about those other things. However, try as I might, my enemy returns to haunt me, showing that there is no escape without the confrontation of the ages in this instance.

Well, I guess there will be no being lazy this morning. There will only be preparation as I will probably need to succeed. I don’t want to walk away losing this battle, as that may prevent anything from happening. That might even prevent the being lazy, which is something I so heavily cherish on certain days when it has been raining for a while, such as today as it still is raining. Perhaps this is why the cold hands chose today of all days to strike out and torment my existence once more.

Maybe there is no escape from this. Maybe once this battle is done, there will be another with the same foe down the track. Perhaps this is an endless cycle that I must accept in order to atone for my crimes against sensibility and writing. If so, I shall continue to fight. I don’t want to, but if it means I pay for my crimes, then I can succeed and move on.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:34:49

Not a bad speed for a bit of silliness.

Written at home.

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Distant Rainfall

This photo was taken from a lookout of which I can’t quite remember the name of. I can confirm it was west of Sydney, however.

What I really like about this photo is how there’s a large amount of space that almost feels obstructed by the rainfall visible in the distance.

I also like the sense of calmness to some parts of the photo. It might come from the sense of space. There’s quite a lot of development here, but the area still feels less cramped than more urban areas.

This is my submission into the one hundred-and-fortieth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.

The theme for this one is “A Change of Scenery“. Whilst similar to some of the other photos I’ve recently shared, this is a change of scenery for me. It’s less urban and more rural than Sydney. Despite there being a highway in the photo, it’s also a scene much calmer in feel than most of Sydney.

The challenge is hosted by four people and cycles weekly:

Week 1 – Patti

Week 2 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 3 – Amy

Week 4 – Tina

This week’s challenge is guest-curated by Beth of Wandering Dawgs. Next week Patti is curating.

The challenges are pretty fun and there’s a lot of room for interpretation that doesn’t get in the way of enjoyment. If you’re into photography, then I suggest participating, or at the least checking out what other people are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 918: Rain Continues

And so the rain continues and continues to howl and roar and all of those other things, and I sit hear and write about it and try to capture the mood and atmosphere.

I imagine that soon it will be humid, but by soon I mean in a few days as that is supposedly when this bout of rain will stop. Only time will tell, of course. Maybe it won’t stop and instead continue on its marching pathway of marching and pathways.

But that all pales in comparison to what is coming next, and whatever that is that is coming next pales in comparison to what comes after that and all we can really do is try to curb the effects of extreme weather by living better and more responsible lives and reducing our impact on the earth, but that’s not something that I really want to get into right now as I’d rather think out my argument, and besides, this rain might not necessarily be a product of that, so… yeah.

Anyway, it still is raining. that is what I am trying to say here. I won’t go there, but what I am saying is that it is raining and the rain continues in an endless drone that I like to refer to as “an endless drone”, as is the way that it should be if it’s going on for as long as it currently is going on. Such is the way of it as it falls upon this area and the landscape in my immediate vicinity, and that is the way that it will continue to be.

It doesn’t quite feel like I am trapped inside the house just yet; there still is plenty of time for that. I still am glad to be able tp be fortunate enough to be able to be dry and have a roof over my head, among other things. Still, I imagine soon that I will grow tired of this as there is only so much that I feel like doing at any given moment and soon that desire will go elsewhere. I can sit still for only so long before I start getting restless, and right now I am feeling a little restless, but it’s not too bad. There are worse things to feel at the moment, so right now this is all okay. I’m not doing too bad, so I consider myself lucky.

The rain has created a sense of an atmosphere that invites the listening of certain styles of jazz and certain styles of relaxed music, but of course I choose not to indulge in them as I am not trying to immerse myself into something that might seem typical, yet effortless and cool. I don’t want to do that. I prefer the lengthy, boring path as I can then go at my own pace. I can go and do what I want – within reason of course – and I can appreciate the rain for the time it is here.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:48:23

Just realised that writing about my twitching eye would’ve been better.

Written at home.

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Three Sisters and Mount Solitary

There’s a quietness to this image that I was trying to show through processing.
I didn’t quite get it to come forward, but I’m happy with the result. However, I need to state that this area is not as red (or warm) in appearance as this photo suggests.

I like the sense of distance here, as well as the variation in geological structure. I think both help to draw focus across the image.

I think the clouds are a bit odd in appearance.

I hope you enjoy.

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A Poem About Being Inside During Rain

I think there was too much of a pause between writing the first and second verse.
Maybe that pause broke the flow and led to the abrupt ending.

I feel like I’ve written a fragment of something longer here.
With time, maybe it could be acceptable.

Written at home.

Three warm flames slowly dance
Providing light in open space
Scented footsteps soon approach
And lead to presence in a room

Outside the rain roars and weeps
Inside its suggestion deafens
Air stays dry and moves slow
Hoping for a small reprieve

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