Stories

Six Words: Timber, Organize, Junior, Unfortunate, Motivation, Reserve

Perhaps the unfortunate accident could have been prevented. Or not. Could anyone have known that going into the forest to cut timber on that day would be any different than every other day? Everyone was used to seeing Paul Bunyan go off every morning with his axe slung over his shoulder and Babe, his blue ox, following close behind. But something went terribly wrong that day. Paul and Babe never returned.

The townspeople organized a fund to provide for Paul Junior’s education and well-being. Everyone thought that when Paul Junior was grown he would follow in his father’s footsteps. But Junior wasn’t his father. He didn’t have the booming laugh and the ever ready smile. He was more reserved. He wasn’t naturally muscular nor larger than most people. He didn’t have the motivation to go off into the woods every day and fell trees. Rather, Junior became a nurseryman, ensuring that the forest was healthy and prospering. That deer and squirrels and birds and other creatures had a safe place. As he went into the forest each day, instead of an ax over his shoulder, he carried a camera. Paul Senior’s legacy carries on through the stories about him. Paul Junior’s legacy carries on through the art he created.

This story should conclude with a moral or a witty line. But it doesn’t. I’m afraid I’m at my wit’s end.

Six Words: Crevice, Mile, Pasture, Correspond, Offend, Haunt

I don’t mean to offend anyone with this little English lesson. I hope it makes you laugh instead. We’ll see.

Since we got this week’s words I’ve been haunted with whether to say “crevice” or “crevasse”. It sort of corresponds to “You say ‘tomatoh’, I say ‘tomahto’”, so all week I’ve been humming in my head “let’s call the whole thing off”.

But I persevered. I used one of Mary Hermes techniques and looked the words up. Here’s the difference:

“A crevasse, [ kruh–vas ] with a second syllable that rhymes with . . . mass, is a very big, deep crack, especially a chasm in a glacier or the earth’s surface. A crevice, [ krev-is ] with a second syllable that rhymes with . . . miss, is a small crack in something that forms an opening into the thing’s surface.”

Now, it would be easy to write about a mile deep crevasse, or about watching out for a crevice if for some reason you’re walking in a pasture. But writing about crevices and crevasses that rhyme with misses and masses, I couldn’t help but think of bodily functions and bodily parts that also rhyme with crevice and crevasse. I bet you did too.

Six Words: Engineer, Help, School, Conservation, Wear, Ghostwriter

Graduates of engineering schools are not usually known for their writing skills. Some just don’t have a knack for explaining ideas in ways that others will understand. Some may think it’s hopeless to expect liberal arts majors to understand the workings of complex technology. Some may just want to conserve their energy, rather than wear themselves out trying to explain what, for instance, ChatGPT is. They know that if they ever have to write an article or give a presentation, they can turn to a ghostwriter for help.

Six Words: Umbrella, Circulation, Equation, Whole, Constant, Coincidence

Generated by ChatGPT

Once upon a time, there was a young mathematician named Emily. She loved nothing more than solving complex equations and finding patterns in numbers. One rainy afternoon, Emily was walking to her favorite coffee shop, her umbrella shielding her from the downpour.

As she walked, Emily noticed the circulation of people around her. It was as if everyone was moving in perfect sync, like cogs in a well-oiled machine. She began to wonder if there was a mathematical equation that could explain this phenomenon.

Lost in thought, Emily accidentally bumped into a man carrying a large stack of papers. As they both struggled to gather the scattered documents, Emily noticed that one of the pages had a familiar equation written on it. It was a constant that she had been studying for weeks.

Overwhelmed by the coincidence, Emily struck up a conversation with the man. As it turned out, he was a physicist who had been studying the same constant from a different perspective. Together, they realized that their work could complement each other and reveal the whole truth behind the constant they had both been studying.

From that day on, Emily and the physicist collaborated on their research, combining their expertise to solve the equation they had both been working on. It was a breakthrough in the field of physics, and their work would go on to change the way scientists thought about the constant they had studied.

Emily realized that sometimes, it takes a coincidence to bring two minds together to solve a problem. And just like the circulation of people around her, the collaboration of minds could lead to great things.

Six Words: Piano, Examination, Produce, Gene, Relevance, Experience

I do not have any experience playing a musical instrument. I am what you might call tone-deaf and I have no sense of rhythm. At the Drum Circle, I watch other people to stay with the beat. That doesn’t stop me from tapping my hands or feet, or nodding my head to the sound of music, so people are deceived into thinking I can dance. Then, if I forget myself and try to dance, they’re disappointed. Somebody once actually told me “I thought you were going to be a good dancer.” I just don’t have the genes for it.

But that doesn’t stop me from being interested in how pianos and almost any other instrument produce their sounds. It has no relevance to anything else that I do, but I like to examine instruments to see how they are put together and I can appreciate fine craftsmanship.

Early in my career I got to work with a company that made organs and another that sold pianos. I learned that when someone bought a piano, the company wanted to deliver it as fast as possible, before the buyers could change their mind. But people that bought an organ had to wait until the manufacturer had a full truck before leaving the factory. I guess people that buy organs really need them. As I type this, it occurs to me that “really needing them” applies equally to the musical instrument kind of organ and the bodily part kind of organ. Maybe someday we’ll be able to produce both kinds of organs as quickly as they are needed.

Six Words: Fleet, Remind, Reservoir, Industry, Replace, Fault

We each have a reservoir of memories. They remind us of school days and work days when, perhaps, we were not as industrious as we could have been. Time is fleeting, and some of those memories become faulty or are replaced by memories that are not quite accurate. Did I really run a marathon? Did I really swim the English channel? Did I really have rare prime rib for dinner last night?

Six Words: Institution, Belief, Inflate, Serve, Part, Reservoir

I cheated. To see what would happen. I asked ChatGPT to:

“write a story using the words institution, belief, inflate, serve, part, reservoir. You are allowed to change tense or make other modifications to those words.”

Here is the story that it produced, instantly:

“In the small town of Westfield, the institution of the church held a prominent place in the community. The townspeople’s belief in God was strong, and they looked to the church to serve as a moral compass in their daily lives.

One Sunday morning, as the congregation gathered for their weekly service, they noticed something strange. The large inflatable cross that usually hung above the altar was missing. No one knew where it had gone, and the pastor was visibly distressed by its absence.

As the church members began to investigate, they discovered that a group of teenagers had taken the inflatable cross as part of a prank. The town’s reservoir was a popular spot for local teens to hang out, and the cross had been inflated and placed in the middle of the water as a joke.

The church elders were outraged by this act of disrespect and immediately called for the cross to be returned. The teens, realizing their mistake, quickly deflated the cross and returned it to the church.

But the incident had a lasting impact on the town. The church’s belief in forgiveness and compassion allowed them to move past the incident, and they used it as an opportunity to teach the importance of respecting institutions and symbols of faith. The town’s reservoir, once seen as a place for mischief and tomfoolery, was now viewed with greater respect and appreciation.

In the end, the inflatable cross served as a reminder of the values that the church and the town held dear. And while it may have been a small part of their community, it represented something much larger: the power of belief and the importance of upholding the institutions that shape our lives.”

Six Words: Adopt, Proclaim, End, Sale, Appeal, Transport

“Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” That is a phrase that we’ve all heard. It is engraved on the State House Bell in Pennsylvania. The bell dates back to 1751 when it was cast in London for transport to Philadelphia. It was used to appeal to lawmakers to gather for meetings and for townspeople to hear the news. That’s how it was used for about 90 years, until it cracked from hard use. There was no warranty and the crack is still there. Crack bell doesn’t have the same ring though, as crack pot.

The inscription on the bell went pretty much unnoticed. Unnoticed especially by slave holders. Unnoticed until 1835 that is, when the engraving was adopted by abolitionists who wanted to really proclaim liberty throughout the land. People who wanted to end the sale of people.

The phrase, as some of you know, comes from Leviticus Chapter 25, verse 10. As often happens, verses from the bible are cherry-picked to make a point, ignoring the context and the surrounding verses. Leviticus 25 establishes the jubilee year, a year every 50 years, when everyone returns home, and property is returned to its original owner and slaves are set free. What if that had really been done, say, in 1801, 50 years after the bell had been cast? Or 50 years after that, in 1851? By that time the bell had been renamed to the name that we know, The Liberty Bell.

One final thought. I don’t know when the next Jubilee year is, but do you think Brookdale needs to give this building back to the Gaines family then? If you sold a house when you moved here, should you get it back? Would you want it back? Really?

Six Words: Quality, Elapse, Effect, Agriculture, Power, Cover

Agriculture is not something that most of us city dwellers ever think about. Sure droughts or freezes affect the quality and quantity – and the price – of produce that is available, but a lot of time elapses between coverage of the impact of weather on farmers and when it effects us. Before the war in Ukraine, I had no idea that Ukraine and Russia were such major grain and fertilizer exporters that they affect the availability of food across the world and that people in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of starving because of the war in eastern Europe. Press coverage of the attacks on electrical power in Ukraine continue, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen anything about grain and fertilizer exports.

In another month it will be Passover. When the Hebrews wandered through the desert after leaving Egypt, they found manna that kept them from starving. I had a friend who was expert on some aspects of life in ancient Israel. She had camped in the desert and eaten manna. It is type of honeydew that is secreted by aphids and other scale insects that forms on the underside of leaves during the night. It has to be gathered first thing in the morning before the warmth of the day causes it to melt or putrefy. It’s something like honey. Perhaps the hungry people in Africa have found manna again and don’t need grain from the Ukraine anymore? Perhaps the people are no more? Or maybe the truce, the truce that is supposed to give ships carrying grain safe passage, is actually working and so it isn’t in the news anymore?

Six Words: Discuss, Profile, Award, Spontaneous, Tick, Nun

There once was a nun from Nantucket,
Who collected some ticks in a bucket,
Lets never discuss
Nor be spontaneous
Her profiled award,
Just be glad she ain’t one of us.