First I would like to express my deepest condolences to the friends and family of The Necromancer. It has been brought to my attention that he was taken suddenly a few days ago in a tragic car accident. Even though he hadn’t been a member of our family for a very long time I would like to take this opportunity to remember him here. To gather a sense of who he was you might want to do a search on him at :
http://ascorbic.net/catbox/.
I only spoke to him briefly spending some time with him to encourage him to ignore a user who was making rude soft links in every one of his write ups. I think it speaks to The Necromancer’s character that in spite of this harassment he continued with his attempts with his high quality write-ups. Please take a moment to remember him sometime this week.
The sun set across the vastness of the desert and its unforgiving harshness, intricate lines traced by the wind in the sand. Heat shimmered, rippled reluctantly, yielding the speck that becomes a man; a detail out of the waves of warmth, and for a time I experienced the pleasure of the company of another fellow noder on a quest across the states and perhaps this spring onto other parts of the world.
Holy Wandering Soft links Batman! Did you know dann has met over 200 noders? We had made plans to attend church the day before. Since thefez had arrived last summer adamant on going on one my infamous walks with me, my neighbor and my husband have been frequent attendees on my evening promenades. I had entertained hopes that the same might occur when it came to attending church, but alas for good reason dann was delayed a day.
It was Monday, October 7th when he arrived and he is MUCH taller in person than he is in his write-ups; I had no idea! I think it was Sir Walter Scott who said something like:
Real valor consists not in being insensible to danger; but in being prompt.
Invited for dinner dann left his mom’s early that morning, arrived without delay at 5 o’clock (MST), just in time for a family style feast of marinara sauce, fresh green salad with roma tomatoes, spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread oh! And a lemon cake for dessert!
And boy howdy were my son’s elated to see him turn up! They had spent most of the week watching me cook.
Number One Son: Mom, are you going to make that garlic bread tonight?
Mom: No, dear, that’s for company.
Number Two Son: Mom! Can I have some of that lemon cake?
Mom: No honey, company’s coming.
Dad: Count your lucky stars she hasn’t put out the company toilet paper yet!
We had a delightful time ‘nattering on’ about many of you.
dann has the most amazing memory, it was fascinating to hear about the
Synaesthesia and
Eideticism he experiences. I had read his web log
http://doulopolis.net/
where he wrote that
yellow plus
yellow equals
red and thought,
Wow! I would have loved having him for a student! It was very fascinating to learn that the color of my voice when
dann hears it is a soft deep velvet maroon. That’s my description. He pointed out the color of it on a painting we saw at the Tohono Chul Park. While we were there I showed him a book in the gift shop of Indian proverbs with a title that called to mind a mutual friend. Chances are if you received a gift from me it’s probably come from there. The park has remarkable desert gardens and a very nice green house with plenty of native desert plants to choose from. In no time at all I was telling him ALL about the various plant adaptations to the desert habitats and he wondered if there might be a pop quiz at the end of my lecture. You never know! I can come up with one in a heartbeat so best be paying attention;)
In addition to perfect manners dann has perfect pitch and he plays a sweet guitar, I can imagine it must be great to hear him play at the noder’s meets, and did you know dann holds a minister’s license and he married his Mom and Stepdad? How awesome! Right now he is planning to continue his education through his travels and is considering a career in computational linguistics. Truly an admirable aspiration and one that will help humanity.
As always when someone visits time seems to go too quickly. I was already missing him before he left. dann gave me a keepsake stone from Boston and in exchange he took a copper pebbled piece of the Sonoran desert. We exchanged hugs for the last time and he was off to Quizro’s! Climbing into the driver's seat, dann stepped on the clutch and turned the key. Out of the stillness, the BMW's engine came to life, crunching back down a dirt road, past the Old Pueblo and toward the highway, looking for adventure…..
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land…a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
-
Deuteronomy 8: 9 (NIV)
I have fulfilled a fresh milestone with a new friendship.
Devotion