h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

---Water---

I swim
submerged
in the pools of your eyes


---Earth---

Soft loam bed
arch your back
to meet my kiss


---Air---

Gasping
I pull away from
your soft lips


---Fire---

Heat radiates
Your lithe body now quakes



B4thefeelingbecomes2intense

Definitely up the the challenge.

I may be the only person still subscribed to this entry.

Well, Phred, that's okay. Thanks for the thumbs up on the short bit of work. I personally found it an intriguing challenge, in that it required brevity, yet still convey the meaning. It's the way of poems: cut right to the chase, give the reader vivid imagery, make a point with whatever words it takes to drive the reader to a conclusion / feeling / understanding / 'aha! moment. My work with haiku stood me in good stead for this challenge, in that respect. Because of this challenge, I've taken it to mind to try variations on this theme, perhaps other topics with a different set of constraints or--conversely--the opportunity to dissolve perceived boundaries. If I come up with something interesting, I'll copy you on a 'new challenge'. How's that?

B4idecide2becomeaneditor&anthologist4allmannerofprose&poetry

B,

I see that we both grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida...I'm from Tampa and I also spent some time in the USAF...are you still cleaning up nuclear waste?

You see my breathing mask and protective clothing? Yep. In point of fact, I'm taking an upgrade position during our Refuel Outage #15, to act as a Laydown Coordinator (logistics for moving items into / out of our Reactor Building for maintenance activities). Typically, my duties include laborer / porter services, building scaffold, setting up office space and furnishings, mowing grass or shoveling snow, acting as a chaffeur or a parts runner, and sundry grunt labor.

When I was stationed in the Panhandle, it was at Eglin AFB, near Ft Walton Beach. It was much like being home in Ocean Springs, MS, (across the bay from Biloxi) and gave me the opportunity to visit my parents often. The longest trip I ever took was from the base down to Miami to visit a girlfriend and go to DisneyWorld. I drove straight through, right after a full day's work, not counting the cost in hours or dibilitating effects on my constitution. Didn't get sick, but I was dragging for a couple of days before I recovered from the trip. Jet lag? No. Rocket lag.

Tell me more about Navigation and how it has affected your life. I've looked, and you seem to drink the heady wine of sophistication. Or at least you chug a grand brew or two of the thinking man's stream of consciousness. Do tell more.

B4ilearnanewname&aseefromanewperspective

Did you ride a motorcycle to Miami? That would be very tiring.

Has navigation effected my life? Probably by giving me an appreciation for how alive travel makes me feel and for a quick lesson in how quickly technology can make technical skills obsolete.

Were in in Biloxi this fall. I took some pictures. I also went to electronics school in Keesler.

You may not recognize the place.
http://thefirecloudreport.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Phred, concerning the Gulf Coast: I didn't recognize it the moment we found the NOAA link to the satellite views, just after Katrina. Whole sections of the land mass were rearranged or missing. It took almost a week before we reestablished contact with my Mother, and she was one of the lucky ones to get power within a reasonable amount of time. That calamity, the hurricane and the storm surge, came hot on the heels of my Father's death in April of that year. My Mother was so busy trying to survive and rebuild (roof damage only), that she didn't have time to grieve a lot. She enlisted a lot of aid from reputable sources and has the house in order again, awaiting the next big one.

Thank you for sharing your photos and your experience traveling the country. It wasn't the first time I've read through your adventures on the road, as I had stumbled upon them several months ago. I would have commented then, but work got in my way. I was blessed by your write-ups and observations of what you saw and felt. So, once again, "Thanks".

You went to Keesler for Electronics?! How cool is that? I've only been to Keesler for two training sessions during my USAF career: High Reliability Soldering and O&M training on the TSQ-111 CNCE (mobile Tech Control facility). On the other hand, my Dad used to teach avionics maintenance systems out there for many years. He'd brought us to Keesler and Ocean Springs in the mid-1960s, and we homesteaded there. He went from being an Air Traffic Controller to an Avionics Maintenance Tech to an Instructor on those systems. He only took two short unaccompanied Overseas tours, thus allowing the family to stay rooted in the same home for almost all of my school years. My Mom still lives outside the city limits on the east side, just off Highway 90, and tends her property and her garden.

Do tell more about your own self as you have time. I’ll reciprocate.

B4thisbecomesanunmanageablylongpostingwith2manyreminiscences