BrainCoplin17

Friday, February 1, 2019


the celebs shone brightly against the darkish night time sky. A light wind inside the air that whistled thru the mountains and valleys.

The landscape appeared black and empty. there was an eery experience to this area.

a feeling of vulnerability to mankind.

The substantial mountains stood ambitious and proud, silhouetted across the night sky.

everything about them appeared powerful.

Indestructible,

Invincible, even.

Legend had it that those black mountains have been cursed, they were pure evil and if any sole attempted to climb them, they too, if survived, could be cursed for the relaxation of their days.

The locals that lived on this forgotten land had by no means attempted to triumph over them.

They truely believed the legends.

They feared the mountains.

The unknown.

They in no way went past.

nobody talked about the mountains or what changed into past them.

Their fear was crippling.

best 3 other warriors had attempted to overcome them.

They never back.

This become the young warriors first strive.

He stood at the foot of the mountains that ruled the panorama.

The wind become robust and it howled again.

almost blowing the warrior over.

He were visiting for five days and turned into tired and hungry.

He changed into sturdy and determined and had eventually reached the region that everybody had warned him of.

The Mountains Of fear.

there is no way round the mountains of worry. They stretch out as a ways as the attention can see.

The simplest manner to conquer them might be to climb them.

The warrior knew this.

"You should not climb them, they will kill you" have been his mothers remaining phrases to him.

"nobody has survived the ones mountains" his brothers would continuously inform him.

"The mountains are cursed" had been the locals chants as he activate.

notwithstanding being continuously informed to influence clean of the mountains and that he turned into a fool to even consider attempting them, for a few purpose, the younger warrior was curious and needed to discover what changed into past them.

He didn't know why and he didn't recognize his overwhelming urge to overcome them.

He just knew he had to.

these days he had get bored and unhappy together with his life. As a boy he might frequently examine the mountains manner off within the distance.

He was fascinated by them.

What secrets did they guard?

Why became all and sundry frightened of them?

And why had no person long gone past them?

The warrior changed into unique.

He didn't need to accept as true with what every person else believed.

The mountains regarded to have a keep over every body.

A spell.

He felt that the mountains of fear had been guarding something.

something critical to him.

something that he could not explain.

He could get his hazard to discover now.

He knew he could not cross back now.

He had to hold shifting forwards.

He had to triumph over the mountains of fear.

He believed he could.

The young warrior persevered his journey.

He walked and he climbed.

through a number of the hardest terrain that he'd ever encounter.

He waded through bogs, fortress his manner via haunted forests and stumbled on rocky trails.

2 extra days of steady climbing and hiking.

His body caked in dust and sweat, he become starting to get weary now and his standard sturdy spirit changed into diminishing.

He wasn't even at the toughest component yet and he wasn't certain if he should keep or now not.

He puzzled whether or not he ought to surrender and just turn returned.

The mountains had been risky and he changed into taking walks into the surprising.

He changed into beginning to think that each one the testimonies approximately the mountains have been authentic.

And his inner voice changed into speaking pretty loud to the warrior now.

His inner demon.

The inner voice that turned into supposedly "attempting" to look out for him, "trying" to help him however become no longer honestly assisting him at all:

"Why are you doing this? You don't need to... "

"you could just turn again now and nobody would be too afflicted."

"you're tired now, time to show again"

He neglected it.

He'd come all this way.

He wouldn't forestall until he reached the top and past.

He knew his intention.

He understood his aim.

He persevered.

every other day and another night time on the mountains.

The terrain had come to be steeper.

there was no taking walks now, it was more like scrambling on all 4′s.

The warrior was exhausted, his body cut and bruised but he stored shifting forwards.

For the first time in days, on top of all the fatigue and exhaustion, he had started to sense lonely.

Miles away from home and starting to become despondent, the warrior had no concept where he was and whether or not he became close to the top or now not.

He turned into careworn.

Thick mist had wrapped itself round the mountains.

Like an internet of chaos.

It became as though the mountains were attempting to test the younger warrior.

Did he really need to finish his quest?

All he should make out amidst the mist became the rock and gravel around him.

He changed into dangerously excessive and could slightly see in the front of him.

He changed into convinced that he changed into being watched as properly.

He changed into exhausted and desired to give up.

He kept moving forwards.

He resorted to crawling.

The rain changed into whipping down now.

The heavens seemed to be final in.

The winds have been robust and the warrior had to use all his energy just to cling onto the face of the mountain.

anything it became that the mountains were guarding, they were not going to provide it away too without problems.

His pores and skin was soaked and bloodied.

He shuffled a few extra metres forwards and collapsed.

He felt finished.

He wanted to surrender.

He lay there, nonetheless, completely out of breath.

the entirety became a blur.

He had no greater electricity to provide.

The warrior lay there at the mountain top, motionless, crushed and feeling like a failure.

The rain worsened and there has been a crack of thunder inside the sky that lit up the mountain.

That turned into the ultimate element he remembered.

***

It turned into morning.

He must have fallen a nap.

He became woken by using a ordinary sound.

a sound that he hadn't heard in days.

His eyes had been nevertheless closed.

Birds have been making a song.

The warrior felt surprisingly calm.

He may want to sense a warm temperature on his pores and skin that made him need to stir.

He slowly opened his eyes.

The wind had long gone and the darkish skies have been replaced with a beautiful blue.

A blue so deep that it can were wrong for the ocean.

The mist had lifted and sunshine became embracing the mountain tops.

The mountains had been no longer horrifying.

They have been lovely.

The warrior looked round.

changed into he become at the top?

Amidst all of the dust, thunderstorms and chaos from in advance, he hadn't realised that he had reached the mountain top.

A rainbow appeared to have shaped inside the sky. an entire array of colors brightly shining towards the right blue sky.

never earlier than had the warrior visible a rainbow so shiny.

now not best that but there, beforehand of him regarded to be a peculiar object close by.

gleaming at him.

at first the warrior idea it changed into the reflection from the sun.

however it wasn't.

This gleam become spectacularly bright.

no longer too far from in which the warrior lay, at the base of the rainbow lay a present.

a gift to the warrior it regarded.

Gold?

It became vivid, it become vivid, it turned into clearly gold.

The warrior slowly got to his toes.

He was silent.

He still wasn't quite with it, which became to be anticipated after the adventure he'd simply had to undergo but he slowly stumbled across to the bright glimmers.

He ran his hand through it.

It become true.

The warrior had discovered gold.

He let loose a massive cry of joy which echoed throughout the mountain tops.

A cry of elation, happiness and remedy all rolled into one.

He had ultimately located what he become searching out.

This changed into the mountains present to the warrior.

For going through his fears.

His reward.

His prize.

The warrior had endured pain, suffering and the adventure of his lifestyles to say his gold.

Others had attempted before him, they'd given up or turned again.

He hadn't.

He changed into effective.

He lay there in the warm sunshine, with his pot of gold, smiling to himself.

The sky changed into a really perfect blue.

now not a cloud inside the sky.

He commenced questioning.

He started to reflect onconsideration on all his buddies and own family back at home and how they had doubted him.

He wasn't indignant with them for dis-believing him. He wasn't pissed off with them for laughing at him.

however extra sad?

unhappy that they nonetheless lived in worry.

sad that they nonetheless feared the mountains

And sad that they'd in no way attempted to triumph over their fears.

He notion approximately his "inner voice" and the way loud it have become while things began to get difficult.

The voice that desired him to live in his consolation area and flip lower back.

The voice that only began speaking to him when he turned into feeling susceptible, tired and insecure.

He remembered how he stopped taking note of it.

He notion approximately how near he become to giving up.

after which how he remembered why he started out this adventure inside the first region.

He checked out the pot of gold.

He was proper.

The mountains had been hiding some thing however he understood why they had been.

He understood that sometimes in existence, obstacles are put in your manner to see if what you need is honestly really worth preventing for.

the soldiers achievement wasn't determined by whether or now not he stood up to the mountains but greater to do along with his attitude.

His attitude become more critical than conquering the mountains of worry.

The warrior had been relentless together with his quest.

He had stored shifting forwards.

He persisted treacherous climate.

He survived the rocky trails.

He braved the haunted forests.

He had fort off wild animals.

How?

through braveness and perseverance.

thru preference and determination.

He stood as much as the mountains of worry.

He took them on and beat them.

He had a hunger to overcome them.

the subsequent time you come across an obstacle to your existence, but big or small, some thing this is retaining you again from what you need to obtain.

something this is preventing you from where you need to get to.

something that you're afraid of doing or tackling.

consider the warrior and the way he overcame the Mountains Of worry.

wanting to over come your fears is in no way enough.

You must starvation for it.

Your starvation and motivation should be so robust so as to over come your boundaries in an effort to always come your way during your adventure.

i'm hoping this story has stimulated you to tackle the barriers for your life and has stimulated you to confront your personal fears and release your very own inner warrior.

And bear in mind, boundaries do not need to prevent you.

you've got simply were given to find a way spherical it truly is all

just like the warrior did.

speak soon,

Sam

playstation  - here are a few fees that genuinely resonated with me whilst i was penning this.

i am hoping they do you too

"courage and perseverance have a paranormal talisman, earlier than which difficulties disappear and boundaries vanish into air."

mountaineering is considered one in every of the intense game activities. It isn't always clean to climb the ones hard edges and there may be constantly a danger lurking round you. Many people have misplaced their lives to this hobby. So, why do human beings still preserve doing this hobby? it's for thrill, excitement and for the texture of risk. a few mountains are clean to climb whereas some are difficult. let's see the ten toughest mountains to climb.

1. K2:
K2 lies among Pakistan and China and it's far referred to as the second maximum mountain of the arena. it's also called the hardest mountain to climb. It has the peak of 8611m and to climb that top is not an easy feat. After achieving certain altitude, humans will start to feel oxygen deprivation. This mountain has been nicknamed because the "Savage Mountain". This nickname itself speaks lots. Many people have died in their quest to attain its peaks. this is due to its tough and steep route together with its bloodless and very unpredictable weather. The climbers tend to die when they're approximately descend the mountain in place of while they are mountaineering it. some other thrilling fact approximately this mountain is that it is rumored to were cursed for girls.

2. Nanga Parbat:
Nanga Parbat is any other mountain on this list whose altitude is better than 8000m. It lies in Pakistan and has the peak of 8125m. it has been lovingly named as "guy eater" and "Killing Mountain". The motive behind such names is its high mortality rate. it's far mountain made from ice and rock. on the subject of technical problem, it is available in par with K2, which is the toughest mountain to climb. Now, you can imagine what it ought to be like to climb it.

3. Fitz Roy:
occasionally when people say "splendor kills", then you must believe it. This announcing is proved by means of the Fitz Roy mountain. Your breath may be hitched when you study it. however, behind its striking splendor lies the story of severa deaths. It lies in Pantagonia and its peak is ready one 1/3 of Mount Everest. however, do no longer make the mistake of underestimating it due to its height. It presents excessive technical difficulties to the climbers. On pinnacle of that it's miles placed in a totally isolated location and has extraordinarily risky climate.

4. Kangchenjunga:
With growing mountain climbing strategies and safety measures, humans generally tend to suppose that it is straightforward to climb mountains in recent times. this is the truth concerning many mountains besides for Kanchenjunga. no matter what number of superior techniques or protection measures are used, the demise toll seen in this mountain is increasing instead of lowering. it's far 8586m excessive and lies among Nepal and India. The motive why this mountain has claimed many lives are its avalanches and totally unpredictable climate.

5. Annapurna:
This mountain lies in Nepal and is 8091m high. a complete series of collection of peaks are named as Annapurna but, whilst people say they want to climb Annapurna, then they're referring to the highest peak in that collection. This mountain has claimed a massive quantity of lives and is called one of the damaging mountains. but, with the use of superior mountain climbing techniques and protection measures, the mortality rate has long past down a little.

6. The Matterhorn:
This mountain is a Swiss icon. It lies among Switzerland and Italy and is 4478m high. no matter its low height, it's been capable of declare hundreds of lives. The purpose for that is the surprising avalanches and rockfall, excessive technical problems and overcrowding of the mountaineering course. it's miles tough to agree with that overcrowding is one of the causes of high demise costs but, it's miles the truth.

7. Baintha Brakk:
Baintha Brakk is likewise called "The Ogre". it is positioned in Pakistan and is 7285m excessive. it is known as one of the toughest mountains to climb due to its history and perilous climb. despite the fact that one batch of climbers became successful to climb it in 1971, nobody dared to climb it till 2001. The motive behind this became that, the first climb become so tough and threatening that nobody had the center to reflect onconsideration on mountaineering it. Its altitude, steepness and granite terrain are the reasons of its reign of terror.

8. Vinson Massif:
The Antarctica continent is a difficult vicinity to attain. Now, upload the very best mountain of that continent, and then you have were given yourself one of the hardest mountains to climb. it's far 4892m excessive and is well-known for its excessive death rates. It showers the climbers with first-rate technical difficulty and cold and unpredictable climate. due to the fact that it is positioned in Antarctica which itself is an remoted continent, no assist can attain on time if any accidents happens.

nine. Pomiu:
it's far a part of four girls Mountain. Now, just due to the fact the word "lady" has been used, do not dare to underestimate it. This mountain can show you the actual energy that is hidden in every girl. it's far located in China and is 5413m high. notwithstanding its low top, no longer many people dare to climb it. Its sharp peaks and tough terrains are the purpose why people are afraid of enduring the quest to climb it. however, it's miles one of the beautiful mountains and had it no longer been so tough to climb, it'd were one of the popular traveler destinations.

10. Lhotse:
Lhotse is attached to Mountain Everest and lies in between Nepal and China. it's miles 8516m high. With many failed attempts and excessive dying rates, it could be listed as one of the toughest mountains to climb. It has the steepest face in the entire world. Its south face will prove to be hard for the climbers to climb. but, its north face is extraordinarily easy to climb so, that people who are on their manner to climb Mount Everest spend a while in its north face.

Monday, January 21, 2019

"Isn't This a Lovely Day," by Irving Berlin was written for the movie Top Hat (1935), starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The song has been recorded by many of the jazz greats, including the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald.






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Sunday, January 20, 2019

Tomorrow, the nation celebrates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. Here in Birmingham, Alabama, we will have our annual Unity Breakfast downtown. there will also be a number of hands on service projects throughout the city on that day.

We have all heard snippets of King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, but it is important to stop and listen to the entire speech from time to time. Today, as we hope for some glimpses of the better angels of our nature, here is the speech delivered in its entirety by Dr. Martin Luther King in 1963. It takes about 17 minutes to view.





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Thursday, January 17, 2019

Photo from Orion Magazine
There are some people who, when they die, all you can think of is the light that they imparted.

It was sad to hear of the death of Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Mary Oliver. She said in an interview on National Public Radio that "The two things I loved from a very early age were the natural world and dead poets, [who] were my pals when I was a kid."

To read or listen to NPR's recollection of the widely loved American poet,  visit the link at "Beloved Poet Mary Oliver, Who Believed Poetry 'Mustn't Be Fancy,' Dies At 83"



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Wednesday, January 16, 2019

I just finished reading a beautifully written novel by Attica Locke, Bluebird, Bluebird.  I heard about it when I listened to an interview with the author on NPR while driving to work over a year ago. I was intrigued by the interview and the discussion of the book. As soon as I parked the car, I took a notepad that I keep near the dashboard and wrote, “Bluebird, Bluebird, Attica Locke.”  Time passed and I came across the note. Remembering that is was a good interview, and that the book held some insights into race relations in the South, I decided to find the book.

Since my wife and daughter had given me a Nook last Christmas, finding the book was as simple as a search on Nook’s shopping page.  The novel is something of a crime drama, or a mystery detective story involving an African American Texas Ranger who is caught up in one unsolved murder as he goes down to investigate another murder in the rural East Texas town of Lark. That one is actually two murders. The body of a young black man washes up in the bayou, and the next day the body of a young white woman washes up in the same bayou.

Attica Locke’s storytelling is compelling and tightly woven.  Her story sheds light on the intricacies of family relationships as well as the complexities of race relations in small southern communities. One gets to hear about black families who migrated north to escape the oppression of the South. The reader also gets a view life for those who stayed.  As Locke puts it as she narrates the story, “Most black folks living in Lark came from sharecropping families, trading their physical enslavement for the crushing debt that came with tenant farming, a leap from the frying pan into the fire, from the certainty of hell to the slow, hot torture of hope.”

Bluebird, Bluebird is a suspenseful page-turner of a novel.  A great story with fully developed characters, but more than that, the writing is sheer beauty.  Locke expresses every detail of the world she invites us to inhabit so that we get the sounds, the colors, the sights and the smells of the full environment. I could almost feel the humid summer night air by that East Texas bayou as the tale unfolded.

There is one scene in which Darren, the Texas Ranger, is riding in his truck with Randie, the widow of the young black man whose murder he is investigating. He rolls down the window for a moment and then puts it back up. Even in that simple moment, Locke fully describes the aromas of the night air, the feel of the wind in the cab of the truck, and the sounds that are made by the air as the truck window closes. It is the many details like that make this make this a rich, dynamic and unforgettable story.

I can highly recommend this book. I have no disclosures to make. No one asked me to write this review. Barnes and Noble is not paying me to say I read it on my Nook, nor do I have any financial investments in Nook or any other Barnes and Noble products.  Moreover, I am not employed by NPR. I’m just a guy who listens to Public Radio and enjoys a good book, passing this one along to you.

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About halfway into the novel, the title is explained when the jukebox in Geneva’s café plays a John Lee Hooker record as the protagonist is leaving and he hears the opening line, “Bluebird, bluebird, take this letter down south for me…”







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