Survivor Journals

Bob of If I Die Before I Wake has invited nine journallers to participate in a Cyber Survivor Adventure.

Every couple of weeks, the group will be issued a "challenge entry". The site will post a excerpt from the challenge entries, as well as the link to the complete entry found on the journaller's own journal site.

After the challenge entry is posted, the nine journallers will vote one of the writers off the site.

The "ousted" journaller will actually remain on the site, but rather than posting further challenge entries, they will act as a judge and commentator.

The first challenge entry has been issued, and can be found at the Survivor Journal website. The actual entries should be completed by
October 1, 2000.

Please take the time to visit, especially once the challenge entries are posted. There is a message board to post your thoughts/comments and also a instant poll where visitors can vote for who they would want to see kicked off the site.

The reasons behind Survivor Journals are simple.

1. To try something new.
2. Increase the interaction of the journal community.
3. The challenge.
4. Increased exposure to all journals involved.

So take a look around, explore all the journals involved.

If you would like to take part in Survivor Journals, Year Two (around Nov/Dec 2000), let Bob know!

TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON

October 17, 2000

As I drive along the freeway, I notice that the leaves are changing from the dull brown-green of the dying days of summer into the brilliant yellow, orange and red of autumn. It’s the last brilliant display before they fall and the trees stand bare and empty, hanging on through winter until the buds begin to blossom with the promise of new life for the tree.

I love autumn and I love spring. It’s more than the weather (though certainly weather plays a big part in it), but I love the signs of promise that I see in the trees. It’s an affirmation that life can have brilliant moments, so wonderful you want to shout to the skies that the world is a beautiful place. For the trees of autumn, even though the display of color is short-lived, and the cold of winter is coming, the leaves seem unaware and content to glow as brilliantly as they can before they must fall from the tree. And in the spring, the buds which begin to appear give promise that the tree will live again and that some day there will come another fabulous display of color.

Davis has some of the most beautiful deciduous trees around. The color that surrounds us in the middle of autumn rivals some of the sights that we saw on the east coast last fall. My favorite tree is the Chinese pistachio tree, which line one of the main streets here, and is found everywhere around town. Its autumn color can be flaming red, or flaming orange, or a glowing gold, or a combination of all three.

Many years ago we decided to plant a tree in our back yard and I said it had to be a Chinese pistachio. I couldn’t wait until it became mature enough to present us with a yearly display of color. But it never has. We probably have the only Chinese pistachio tree in Davis that goes from green to brown without passing through any spectacular display at all.

But after David died, friends of ours decided they wanted to have a tree planted in his name. We had it planted outside the theatre, which seemed appropriate. They asked what kind of tree I wanted to have planted and of course I asked for a Chinese pistachio tree. It’s in its second year now and is already showing a hint of color. I hope that as it matures it will present us with many years of gorgeous color display. It seems so fitting for David’s memory.

Peggy is back. I dropped Steve at the airport at the crack of dawn yesterday and then drove to Alameda to gather up all of her stuff (she only did "a little shopping" she says. Yeah. Right.) It’s nice to have her "home" briefly. I’ve missed her laughter and her camaraderie and I haven’t been out walking since she left--well, except for following Steve around the Stanford campus, of course.

I also haven’t had someone to go taking pictures with. We watched the passing parade of colorful trees as we drove into town yesterday afternoon and decided that we need to get our cameras and go out and take pictures. It will be a good excuse for a walk, and a wonderful chance to capture some of that fleeting beauty to remember on days when the leaves are bare and the weather turns cold.

<- previous | Journal home | bio | cast | archive | Bev's Home Page | next ->