By Tom Merriman
The clock’s against me
No, the time,
The clock, the time,
They’re the same
When you’re up against them.
But the clock
Shows the time
But isn’t the time
Just as time isn’t the clock…
Yet to save time
Clocks are digital;
To waste time
Clocks are slow;
To emphasize time
Clocks are magnificent;
And to show time’s up
Clo
I’m confused.
It’s the road signs, you see.
I’m not referring to the physical signs such as Stop! or 30 or Give Way or the like, the ‘normal’ road signs; I’m instead referring to the other type of sign.
You know the ones… the Signs.
The signs… the messages… the hints and tips that the Universe throws at us for us to act on or ignore as we see fit.
I’m being ‘shown’ to slow down when I drive. Before you start to think I drive as though I’m in a Formula 1 race, I’ll expand on that slightly! I don’t drive fast, always around the particular speed limit (if I can get there, that is!) but lately, I’m finding myself delayed.
This morning I waited as two cyclists (in racing gear) rode passed me before I could pull our onto the main road. One was behind the other, the second one quite further back so I had to wait a little longer.
After the second guy rode passed, I pulled out, and drove up behind them. The problem was, the first guy had slowed down considerably so that the second guy could catch up and they were now cycling side-by-side.
The road splits into two lanes leading up to the traffic lights. The cyclists were in the left-hand lane, and I was now in the right-hand lane. And the traffic lights were on red.
When I could set off again, a van pulled out on me from a side junction, meaning I had to brake suddenly. The van shot off at a rate of knots, and sped around the next corner on two wheels, where the next set of traffic lights were changing to red.
So, I approached the next junction and waited again.
Eventually, the lights changed to green, and I could start my journey again, but I had to slow down almost straight away as a bus was pulling away from a bus stop. The bus moved on, but I then had to wait once more as a pedestrian crossed at a pedestrian crossing without really paying attention.
I set off again, but within thirty seconds, I had to slow down again as I needed to overtake a parked car, but couldn’t do so as a small lorry was overtaking me.
Eventually, I got passed the parked car, and had to wait at the next set of red traffic lights.
At this junction, I needed to turn left, but get into the right-hand lane, which I did without problem when the lights became green. I was about three car lengths into this road, when I had to wait behind a queue of other vehicles. And that was where I waited for about ten minutes.
This particular stretch of road goes over a railway line, so it was as though I was waiting facing up hill. I couldn’t see in front of me as there was a hulking great white van there, but even if I was behind a car-sized car, I still wouldn’t have been able to see what the hold up was as it was on the other side of the hill.
The thing is, the other lane, the one on the left, was flowing freely.
I know the message that the Universe is giving me is to slow down, take things easy, don’t rush, be patient, and all that jazz. I’m happy, and willing to accept the message, and follow the Universe’s guidance.
But why oh why, when I’m being shown to slow down so often, in so many different ways, do I have other drivers trying to force me along the road faster by driving so close up to me they’re almost on my back seat? Obviously, I don’t speed up for them, as I can’t go faster and slow down at the same time, can I?
Like I said, I’m confused.
Business as usual, I suppose…
(*Give or take a minute or two. I blame the pictures)
I’m still at the mercy of Blogger’s Block right now, pesky nuisance that it is. And, I’m sure that it isn’t only me affected… my Inner Sceptic is pointing out that something is being drip-fed to us all, via any number of clandestine ways, causing us not to think in our proper ways.
My Inner Spy is dropping clues left, right and centre as to these covert methods, but not completely stating “it’s in the water”; “don’t look at the flashing images”; or “the butler has the answer”. If my butler has the answer, I must state, I’ll never find it (the answer) as he’s (the butler’s) never around when I need him.
My Inner Artist, together with quite a few of those fine people who follow this blog, has / have mentioned looking for inspiration in nature… let the Spirit of the Trees be my guide. For those unfamiliar with the Spirit of the Trees, I see him / her / it / them as faces between and within the leaves. Sometimes I see only a face, sometimes I see a whole figure, and sometimes I see an animal.
It’s too late to go out exploring foliage now, so I had a look through some photos instead, and one in particular, of my old friend Splodge the Cat, caught my eye. And as coincidence has it, I caught Splodge staring / glaring at me through the window earlier today; he hasn’t called by for a visit for quite a few weeks now.
Here’s the photo… I think I’ve used it before:
Looking between the leaves behind him, and beside his right ear, is a prime example of the Spirit of the Trees. A tiny dragon… and further over to the left of the photo, as if stalking the dragon, is what appears to be the outline of another cat. And the more I look at the leaves, the more I see profiles of people’s faces. So much to see in such a small place.
However, nothing in this image is causing Blogger’s Block, as my Inner Spy inferred earlier. But something is… something that must be so obscure, we don’t notice it… but what? Maybe it’s a new icon that’s suddenly appeared that sends out a subliminal message… or perhaps, we’ve been programmed to activate Blogger’s Block whenever we see the colour green… or maybe there is something in the water we drink.
I wonder if you’ve noticed anything that may be contributing to this terrible scourge that’s seemingly affecting so many of us… if so, no matter how ridiculous it may seem, write about it in the comments.
Also, if you notice any Spirits of the Tree in the above photo, please tell me about them as well… I’d love to know what you see.
And finally, let me know if you spot any tpyos in this post – they too may be a clue (Or Fingers is trying to gain control again (Fingers is my Inner Typist) which needs sorting also).
As Fingers says…
Fool! Don’t you see now that I could have poisoned you a hundred times had I been able to live without you.
Or was it Fingers? I can’t seem to remember…
Apologies, first off. I may vanish at any given second and end up goodness knows where, but just in case I do, I thought it best to get that out of the way first!
And today started off just like any other. I awoke, exactly one minute before the alarm (which is one of my pet hates, I must say…) and everything seemed fine. I walked to the bathroom, took a bath, got myself ready, and went about my day as normal. Everything was normal. Right as rain, in fact.
I left the Mansion at about 6:45am, and stepped out into a smoggy, drizzly and slightly dark morning. We have a ‘pollution’ problem up here in Cheshire at the moment (according to the news people), and visibility is terrible – well, it was this morning. I scraped the Saharan sand off my windscreen, which enabled me to see slightly further forward, but that was about it. Since then, everything went swimmingly.
I got back to the Mansion at about 6:30 this evening, and noticed a couple of turrets over in the West Wing that definitely weren’t there yesterday. There was an old outhouse just inside the gates to the Grinds as I drove in earlier as well, which I’ve never noticed before either. Scott the Guardsman waved to me as usual as I passed him… and then it struck me. I’ve never seen Scott the Guardsman before. I don’t even know a Scott the Guardsman… although I most definitely knew this Scott.
I didn’t realise this until I saw the turrets, which made me think that something was going on.
The Mansion has been quite quiet of late… or so it seems. Yes, I saw that little door last week out in the Grinds, but that’s away from the Mansion. Life inside here has been simply ticking along.
That, however, has reminded me of something else. In the Reception Room is a very old Grandfather Clock. It NEVER stops. It stopped today. I put the time forward on it the other morning, as I’d forgotten it as usual. And, also as usual, I was almost blinded by the cuckoo that comes flying out on the hour as I did it. The cuckoo’s actually lost its “Cuck”, well, it must be almost two hundred years old if a day, so it now bleats “Ooooh!” as it’s unceremoniously yanked back inside its little double doors.
That, however, I didn’t find odd. It always gives me a chuckle!
I climbed the stairs up to the landing… the carpet was green instead of blue. I had to turn right to the bathroom instead of left, as where the bathroom usually is stands a large mirror. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and thought I looked rather dapper in my Victorian clothing… when I realised the reflection wasn’t of me! The shield that I have on the wall is now looking more triangular than round – yet the design on the shield is still circular avec a star and arrow in the middle.
I entered the bathroom and was immediately attacked by a tendril. The bathroom had been completely overtaken by some kind of Pieris Phillyreifolia, or Climbing Fetterbush. And before you ask – I have no idea how I know that name, and how and why a whole jungle of it would suddenly decide to sprout in my bathroom. And also why it should decide to attack me.
Anyway, that aside, I walked back out of the bathroom – and found myself in the Grinds, outside the back door.
I walked in through the back door, and found myself in the East Wing’s Loft.
I made my way back to the Reception Room, where I suddenly noticed that it was VERY warm. The door to the Vestibule was open, as was the door to the Cellar, which could have explained the heat, although it was a little too warm even for that.
I walked over the floor with the intention of closing the Vestibule door many times, but as soon as I went to reach the door handle I was back on the other side of the Reception Room.
I’ve made my way to the Computer Room, where I’ve been able to type this, although some paragraphs are appearing in French – I hope I haven’t missed any during the (what seems like constant!) translations. I can hear the Mansion moaning and groaning all around me. Doors are opening and closing… some in the traditional way, and some with a futuristic ‘swooshing’ sound. I can hear laughter coming from all around – shouting – screaming – and one of my favourite Mansion sounds the school handbell – I still have no idea where that sound comes from! Oh, and the cuckoo’s “Oooooh!” seems to have been occurring more frequently than it should as well.
Scott called me earlier to ask if everything was alright within the Mansion as he’d noticed a swirling mass of black cloud, and lightning, above one of the West Wing turrets, but the call was disconnected.
The lights are flickering, but when they go out candles appear and light as if by magic. It’s all very surreal! – even for the Mansion’s standards.
And, the computer is starting to flicker and beep. I’m grateful that I’ve managed to get this far without losing it completely.
Anyway, I shall now be off and try and see what is going on around these here parts. I found an image on line of a tendril like the one that attacked me earlier – and on the page was Pieris Phillyreifolia. You could blow me over with a feather.
But anyway, the Mansion certainly needs to tell me something – or calming – so I shall see what needs to be done.
Oh, by the way, I haven’t forgotten about yesterday’s post, but I’m a little busy right now to reveal more… I will very soon.
Au Revoir for now…
I put the feelers out yesterday for the …On Wednesday topic this week. I thought giving my Inner Beings chance to think of something to say would be a better option than having another blank blog post like last Wednesday’s, courtesy of my Inner Zombie.
Not that it was entirely my Inner Zombie’s fault, I hasten to add, but maybe, on reflection, I should have been a little more present in what he did try to post.
So, yesterday, I cast the thought into the deepest recesses of my mind. “Time Travel”, I thought, whilst concurrently thinking “I’d like a volunteer”.
Those Inner Beings of mine can be very vocal when not asked for an opinion or thought on anything, but when asked they blend into the very cobwebs of my mind. I caught sight of Thomasina (my Inner Woman) dashing into a dark recess in my mind’s eye, shortly before she shoved this week’s ‘volunteer’ out of her way. The volunteer, unfortunately, was trying to hide in the same recess as my Inner Zombie and grabbed his arm as Thomasina shoved him out. The arm, needless to say, came away from my Zombie, causing my ‘volunteer’ to fall out into clear view and realise he was scuppered.
My Inner Beekeeper doesn’t really get much publicity. He doesn’t like the limelight, instead much preferring the company of his bees (which is quite a thought in itself, considering I never realised until now that I actually had Inner Bees…), but, reluctantly, he agreed to have a go at writing his thoughts on time travel:
It’s like this.
With linear time, everything appears to go in a straight line, from earliest to latest, and this is the form of time travel that we generally tend to use. With reflected, or remembered time, it can go in either of two ways; backwards (from latest to earliest) or in spots and starts – pockets of remembered time. Neither of these are very good for time travelling in, especially the latter as one could become stuck permanently in a particular pocket.
The best form of time travel is through concept. Not concept of thought, however, but concept of doing – or not doing, as the case may be. When doing something, time can sometimes speed up, and before we know it we’re out of time and have to move on to something else. However, the opposite to this is the boredom time. When doing nothing, and completely and utterly bored, time has a tendency to slow right down, so every second can feel like an hour… this phenomenon also happens when waiting to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing on a cold and rainy day waiting for the lights to change. But again, concept time travel only moves forward… and it’s only the speed of time that is altered here.
The final, and most tried and tested method of time travel, is waiting for the Mansion to shift. The Mansion has a tendency to manipulate quite a lot of things around, below and within it. The downside here is that it’s the Mansion that decides when and where things will be, not the resident(s) or traveller(s), so control of the time travel element of time travel is kind of already lost.
I think time travel will be possible one day, but I’m a beekeeper not a chronolologist, so what do I know?
Now, if you don’t mind, I must get back.
Charming. Another Inner Grump. I mean, thanks for your thoughts there, Inner Beekeeper.
And there we have it. Thoughts on time travel from my thought’s thoughts, in just over 300 words or so. Whether they’re accurate or not is anyone’s guess, but you’ve read it first here. A beekeeper’s thoughts on time travel. We tackle the tricky topics here at Within the Sphere. What will be discussed next time …On Wednesday? And who will be doing the discussing? Find out next time…
