Bill W

As always, Adi, I'm late to the party and just found this story. Being a history lover, I found this modern Greek mythology quite enjoyable and very descriptive. Thank you for sharing this.

A Walter-Mitty-like tale about a young man, Devon, who daydreams to find a sense of fulfillment in his life that seems to be missing, both in his profession and personal life. Because of this, he often seems distracted and unable to verbalize how he feels. By the end of the story, however, he seems to find the fulfillment that he's been seeking.

An interesting story about a young man dealing with an unfulfilling job and a relationship that has become routine and lost some of its luster. Turning to dreams to find that spark that seems to be missing in his life, he often seems distracted and didn't seem to know how to respond to many situations. The students at his school had mockingly made a joke of his last name and seem to laugh at him behind his back, and his relationship seemed to have becine ho-hum. That is until two things happen: his partner goes out of his way to change things and reignite the romance, and a former student returns to thank him for not giving up on him, otherwise he wouldn't have graduated from high school and about to graduate from college. Both things seem to add a new purpose to both his relationship and his professional life. I agree with the others in that the dream sequences were a little confusing at first and you should have done something different to make them standout in some way, whether it was by indenting those sequence or using Italics, but once I realized what those scenes were all about, I was able to enjoy this story. I believe that Devon had also found his Horace Mann moment when Samuel returned to thank him, in that Mann had saud: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." Samuel may have been at least one victory Devon had achieved.

From shrew +‎ -ish. Compare Middle English schrewis, shrewessh, shrewyssh (“wicked, malignant”). For Shakespeare's early modern audience, a shrew, or a shrewish person, was someone who lacked self-control, or who posed a threat to others. Simply put, someone or something in need of taming. The shrew – an unpleasant, ill-tempered woman characterised by scolding, nagging, and aggression – is a comedic, stock character in literature and folklore, both Western and Eastern. The earliest known use of the word "shrewish" was in the Middle English period (1150—1500). The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has evidence of the word from around 1480 in St. James the Great.

Yes, Mac's mom is a nag, and I'm not ready to dismiss Mac's claim that her nagging caused his brother and sister to make decisions to prove their independence, or maybe just to get away from her, and it cost them their lives. Mac isn't about to let that happen to him or Devin, even though Devin was trying to get him to soften his approach to how he deals with his mom. As far as Tom Ouray is concerned, it might have been some of the comments that the boys made when touring the Southern Ute Museum that let him know that they were knowledgeable about Indigenous beliefs and sympathetic concerning how the native peoples been treated by the Spanish, early settlers, and the US government that allowed him to cut them some slack. If you've got someone who's showed signs of understanding about the plight of native people, you don't what to reverse that by making a snide or snarky comment in response to something they've said.

There's a lot to consider and I think Devin and Mac are trying to be their own men and handle the situation on their own. As an aside, I'm not sure either one would get too upset if something happened to Mac's mom - she been getting on their nerves a lot more letting. Not only the time when Mac tried to set her straight and let her know that they weren't about to let her run their lives, but also in watching how she's dealing with them and Mac's dad on this trip. They also know what the evil skinwalker is and how dangerous it could be. They've already faced off with one, and a rather old one at that, if it can be determined by how quickly the body disintegrated into just a pile of bones. I believe they have more confidence in there are two of them and only one evil skinwalker, and I believe they'll call Gramps or Pops if and when they feel they are in over their heads.

I won't argue with you over you characterization of Mac's mom. You pretty much hit the nail on the head and laid out the problems Mac and Devin are going to have in the future. Yes, Mac and Devin can tell the thing watching them is an evil skinwalker, but that's primarily because they know they exist. The evil skinwalker may or may not know that good skinwalkers also exist, unless they've encountered the shaman or his son, or one of Devin's relatives previously. The other thing is that the longer someone has been an evil skinwalker, they not only become more warped, but their appearance becomes more hideous, both in human and animal form, including red, yellow, or totally black eyes in the process. That's why a possible confrontation is still possible, as the evil skinwalker attempts to figure out exactly what it's sensing about Mac and Devin. I hope that helps a little.

I've know a couple of the "princess" types, but why others turn out that way is beyond me. Maybe it's from watching their mother, grandmother, or an aunt. They definitely need a husband who's submissive, otherwise the marriage is likely to end up in a divorce.

That's all very interesting information and I'm glad you shared it with us. That's an interesting idea, calling them First Immigrants. I think the collective tribes are trying to get away from use of the term Native American, since they feel the use of the word 'native' elicits the idea of savages, so now most prefer using the term 'indigenous'.

Thanks, Danilo, and as I told drsawzall, I believe they'll tell all out what happened once they meet up with him for the trip to the Ozark cave. The boys are aware of the evil skinwalker, but right now it's just observing them and doesn't seem to be a threat, so they seem to be willing to hold off for now.

I'm sure they'll tell Gramps all about this when they get back. When Dad starts taking better care of himself, I believe Mom may let up, but until then, I don't think that either one of them will change.

I don't think Mac's mom believes she's being abusive. I think she believes that she's doing what's best for whoever she's dealing with (her husband, Mac's siblings, Mac and Devin) and she just keeps up her nagging until she gets what she wants. She isn't focused on their feelings, since she believes it is what's best for them in the long run and that they'll realize it, once they do as she's asking. Mac feels the evil skinwalker senses something about them and is trying to figure out what it is. It's said that skinwalkers can get others to do what they want, so maybe it has some sort of feeling that the boys are different, maybe even the same as it. Maybe that's why its following them. And you're correct, the Native Americans don't like talking about skinwalkers, especially with people they don't know.

You're exactly right and that's why Mac stood up to his mom when she kept pressuring him about the wedding and the surname he and Devin were going to use when they got married in chapter 46. As Mac said then, she keeps pushing until she gets what she wants, and in this case, it's for her husband to lose weight. I'll leave it up to the readers whether she's abusive, nasty, or just persistent, or possibly a combination of two or three of those attributes.

I've often been told that I've lost my marbles. But I don't think it had the same meaning as the sentence @Myr used in his example.

I believe Mac said something about thinking that the skinwalker sensed something about them. It's possible that the evil skinwalker was able to tell that there was something unusual about them as they passed by, and that's why it followed them, in order to see exactly what was different about them. Or maybe it could sense that they were like it. Tom was freaked out because Native American do not like to discuss skinwalkers, especially with those they don't know.

No, Lee, I've never been at these places. It's only information learned through my research, but it made me feel as if I'd been there. Thank you for the compliment. As far as the speed of the skinwalker, Mac's parents have to drive on roads and that's not always the shortest distance between two points. In fact, they had to do a bit of backtracking at various times, since their were no go road leading from where they were at the time to where they were going next. The skinwalker only needs to overhear conversations about where they are heading and then take the shortest way there as an animal. Yes, they may be strange looking animals, but most people probably wouldn't even notice an animal moving about. They would be more concerned if they saw a hideous looking person traveling about, because they'd be worried about their own safety or wondering if the person was looking to rob their home when they weren't there.

Chapter 51 – Mesa Verde “Do you think there’s a reason we’ve seen a skinwalker three times so far?” Devin whispered. “Do you think there are multiple skinwalkers or just one that’s been stalking us?” “I think it’s the same one. I just have a feeling it senses there’s something different about us that it can’t figure out.” “Let’s hope we can shake it after we leave here and head to Mesa Verde.” “Yeah, I hope so too.” “What are you two whispering about?” Dad wanted to

Yes, thank you for your dedication and great work.

“Outrage” derives from the Latin word ultraticum, which meant “excessive.” The root is ultra, which in Latin means “beyond” or “extremely,” just like it does in English. Outrageous came to English from the Old French outrage (excessive) to the Old French Outrageus to outrage and outrageous in late Middle English. The earliest known use of the word outrageous is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). OED's earliest evidence for outrageous is from before 1325, in Statutes of the Realm.

What are you doing with @weinerdog and his sibling? 🤪

I just received some good news. "The jurors asked to report for duty during the week of January 13th have been released and you don't have to report to the courthouse." Hey, it's always better when the release the jurors, rather than releasing the criminals.

You might be able to turn a bushfire into something positive. Just pretend you're Moses and see if the burning bush has any messages for you, such as how it or you can stop this from happening or how you can keep the fires from destroying peoples' livelihoods and causing death. Maybe you could even part a river and direct its flow to battle the blaze, but forgive me, I'm getting Biblical here and I don't wish to minimize the seriousness of this situation. Please be safe!

The earliest evidence for reliability is from 1810, in the writing of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet, critic, and philosopher. reliability is formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: reliable adj., ‑ity suffix.

I wish it was as important to my TV and Internet provider!

And here I was hoping that 2025 would be a better year for those I care about, but here's what happened so far. First, I was worried about family members living through the snow and wintery weather in NY and PA when the fires in the Greater LA area were threatening where my son lives. He had his car packed up and ready to boogie, since the fires had been coming closer and closer to where he lives, and then on Friday I woke up in GA to find the ground and my car covered in a nice blanket of snow and the temperature well below freezing. I'm beginning to look like Papa Smurf, since I'm so cold that I'm turning blue. Even right now it's 25 degrees F outside and it's predicted to dip into the upper teens before the end of the month. If only I lived in an area the uses the Celcius temperature scale, because then the upper teens wouldn't sound so bad. On top of everything else, tomorrow I have to report for jury duty again, and this is the fourth time (in different courts, of course) in the past several years. Maybe they'll give me an honorary JD (Juris Doctor) degree! At least yesterday my son informed me that where he lives has been, at least temporarily, removed from the "being in the direct path of the fire" list. So, that one bright spot (fingers still crossed though), so I'll turn to what's happening with GA - that's Gay Authors, not Georgia this time. @Myr has been taking so many Deep Dives that he's beginning to remind me of Lloyd Bridges - the 1950s and 60s star of the television show Sea Hunt. And since 2020, @Valkyrie has flashed us with a Full Moon, asked us to give her An Unconventional Gift, took us down A Winding Path, left us On the Road, and then asked us all to take A Leap of Faith. Then, she treated us like marathoners when she wished us Long May You Run, and got all of us In Too Deep, and then she taunted me about my age by reminding me how many times I've celebrated Auld Lang Syne. Now, she's pointing out that I may be entering a second childhood and Coming of Age for a second time (god forbid that I have to go through puberty again), so I ask you to please help me - I can't take any more of her idea about Diversity! Ugh! Please forgive me if I've been rambling and not make any sense, but I'm so cold that I'm suffering from brain freeze! And trust me, that's not the most enjoyable way of becoming stiff.