The Walrus and The Carpenter by Lewis Carroll

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be grand!"

"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."

The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head--
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat--
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more--
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."

"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"
"The night is fine," the Walrus said.
"Do you admire the view?

"It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf--
I've had to ask you twice!"

"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"

"I weep for you," the Walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.

Northern Lights

Morphos

find the matching (or not-so-matching) siblings

The Yellow Cave

It may come as a shock to many, but humans are still cavemen. Let me explain. We build rock edifices of brick, stone, or concrete and then end up spending the majority of our lives inside these carved rock passageways. We even make caves to get to caves. These mobile caves allow us to arrive at caves of eating, amusement, or even sleep. Thus man has not overly advanced in the last century, but has merely modified an old theme.

I was party, of recent days, to one caving expedition that involved a yellow cave of eating and two cavewomen and one caveman (myself).


Cavewoman 1 (Christy Kurtz-below left)

Cavewoman 2 (Sarah Paris-above right)




Within this cave were expert hunter gatherers that fed two of the party fine cave food.





An industrial age instrument was played to the delight of the hunter gatherers.




One of the hunter gatherers chanced to allow a hair to fall upon the food of my fellow cavewomen. It was with the greatest of revulsions that I carefully removed the unwanted protein globule.
It should be noted that a combative cavemen entered the cave after feeding time for my fellow cavewomen was completed. I was then grateful for accompanying my fellow cavewomen to the cave of eating that was yellow.

Womankind

From the departure from Adam's side, to the eating of the forbidden fruit, to the seduction of her husband, Eve started a pattern of descent for women. The result was a curse in child birth and subjection to the husband (Gen 3:16).Following the fall, out of the two human members, the weakest was the woman. In society women have been for most of time behind or under the shadow of this curse. But as John Bunyan relays in the Pilgrim's Progress: the valley of humility is where Christ loved to dwell. In women's humility, Christ's power was demonstrated to turn any curse into a blessing. Through Christ women were restored to higher then they were before the fall. The amazing character of the gospel is manifested thus. Instead of remembering that a woman brought sin into the world, it will be remembered that a woman brought Jesus into the world! Furthermore, it was women that ministered to the hunger of Christ (Mat 27:55, Mar 15:40-41, John 4, Luke 10:40-41). It was a woman that cried on his feet preparing him for burial (Matt 26:7-13). It was women that sought first to continue to anoint his body after his death (Mat 28:5, Luk 24:22). It is ultimately a woman that is made to represent the church (Eph 5:23, Ezek 16). In Christ the curse has been lifted (Gal 3:10,13). In Christ, the verse is made true that she shall be called blessed and no longer cursed (Luke 1:48,Gen 30:13, Prov 31:2,Luke 1:45, Jdg 5:24).

Lion Kiss