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

Aunty, I was just about to tell you all about the mare Peace, when I thought "why bother to retype it, when I can cut and paste...?" So here is the original passage where she, along with her companions, was introduced. The original forum is from "The Dragon Queen of Damogran", a place where I often visit:

*****************

Good Evening, bluDragon. I am pleased to announce that I have
brought you a great gift. Perhaps "gift" is too strong a word, as they
are not mine to give, nor did I bring them, but I whispered to them of
the wonders of your court, and was sure they would be along shortly.

Before you are three white mares of Egyptian descent, pure of blood
and purer of spirit. They are called Peace, Vision, and Virtue. They
come freely to your court because they have heard rumor of your
wisdom, and wish to grace your kingdom with their presence. And
they come to you under the condition that they are never to be
separated, as one is nothing without the other two.

They must never know bridle or bit or strap. They should never be
fenced in (although they should be granted shelter from the worst
weather), but rather ask to roam your land freely. Although fleet of
hoof and strong of back and noble of heart, they shall not be ridden
unless they offer such services to members of your court (although
they have often been sighted carrying small children to and fro, simply for the pleasure of it). They are here as a sign of the wonders and beauty of your kingdom (queendom?).

The three come of their own accord, and will leave of their own
accord if the qualities represented by their names cease to be
honored in the land.

The tall dark stallion you see just past them is called Strength. He
follows the mares and keeps them from harm, but if the mares choose
to leave, he may well stay on. While Peace, Vision, and Virtue graze
in your land, Strength will stay off by himself, and will seem a bit wild and wary. But if the mares leave, he may well let you catch him, and he is indeed a noble steed. But watch out, for woe to the people
looked over by the leader who possesses Strength without Peace,
Vision and Virtue.

May the Mares stay long in your kingdom.

*curtseys deeply*

(Pssst. The horsies love maple candy.....)

*Peace nuzzles the Royal Seal affectionately*

********************

So there it is. I have taken the liberty to borrow her, and bring her from that forum to this. Due to Eddies in the space-time continuum, it is possible, here in H2G2, to be in more than one place at once.

Lil, I'm sure she would love to get acquainted with Ferarri.

(whispers) um, is he gelded, by any chance?

Gelded?

No, he's entire, but he's trained, socialized, if you will. Peace is obviously not in the mood for love, so he'll just make her acquaintance.

Mike, calm down.

That's a lovely story, and in such splendid courtly language, too. Ferrari just showed up and next thing I knew he was part of the action. I'm thinking about looking for an extra horse for myself, partly to keep him company -- they are herd animals, after all and hate to be by themselves -- and partly because Ferrari has really bonded with Mike, and I hate to interfere with a beautiful friendship...

billypilgrim, what a lovely story of how your horse came to be i think that Ferrari will be a perfect gentleman to her ...why don't we allow them to wander down to that field just around the corner from here and get aquainted?
AA

Indeed.

Lil, I'm sure Ferrari will never forget who his true master is...

Well, the exercise does you both good, and you're probably the first human he's met who is even more reckless than he is!

It's a wonderful afternoon and my taxes are done and life is good. Unpredictable but good.

taxes, that is a naughty word around here dear Lil .....i hate thinking about those types of things, i do hope they posed little trouble for you and that you were able to enjoy the rest of your day .....
would anyone care to see if they can name the various flowers and trees that are around us? maybe tell us a little about where they came from originally and a bit about their uses?
AA

Well, the bread and butterflies are buzzing near the fairy floss flowers over to your right.
The rocking horseflys are inspecting the butter cups and saucers to your left...

Oooh lummee, I can't name a flower or tree for the life of me!
I'll stay by and listen then, eh?

but my dear Mike A, i am sure you could tell us a bit about some of them, like maybe where you have seen them before or possibly a memory that one of them may bring up for you
take those dandylions for instance, i recall as a young child picking these for my school teacher whom i respected a great deal. i would wrap the stems in a wet paper towel then carry them on to school with me. once there i would find a paper cup and fill it with water then set them on her desk. i did this for a month or so until one day i brought them into class and noticed the funniest black bugs on them, i never found out what they were but decided that maybe i had best just leave them outside from now on.
or how about how when i was a young child and the dandylions went to seed. i used to enjoy blowing on their seed pods while making wishes. it was not until i was older that i understood why this upset the adults so much. every seed pod that i blew on for my wish caused another dandylion to sprout with the rains .
AA

*Lil has been blowing the tops off dandelions -- stops and looks guilty*

I was never very good at naming wildflowers until I went to work in Corfu one year and discovered that asphodels grow wild in the fields there. Asphodels! I always thought that was a mythical flower that grew on the Isle of Avalon.

Look, here's coltsfoot and clover...

do not look guilty Lil, i happen to love dandylions and really don't mind you blowing their seeds around .....
clover, now that brings back memories as well, searching for hours on end with my friends for four leaf clovers then pressing them between the pages of books
do you see the honeysuckle plants over there?, i have always loved the way honeysuckle smelled when the wind would blow on them
AA

Sorry, the only flours I know are plain, self raising and wholemeal.

My little brother and I used to drink honeysuckle nectar; it's really quite wonderful. You pluck the flower by pulling it away from the green part -- it's a technique, you have to hold the flower at the very bottom. Then you catch hold of the stamen at the bottom of the flower and pull it toward you gently. The pistil acts like a plunger, trapping the nectar and pulling it out the bottom. Then you apply bottom of flower to mouth and capture the drop of nectar.

It's one of the purest tastes in my memory. And honeysuckly is so generous with its flowers that there's plenty to go round for both children and bees.

Hey, these stories -do- bring back memories. I remember eating a dandelion to see what it tastes like. It was icky *^_^*

I got off playing football today cos my foot is bruised. As I walked on the edge of the field staring at the ground I noticed all these little cute blue flowers. They were tiny things, no bigger than the grass. I walked on and realised I was walking through a patch of the things, and accidently stepping on them all while I was at it *^_^*

You seem to be accident-prone!
Why don't you tell the nice agony aunt about your cartouche? She must wonder when she sees it so often in your posts.

What, you mean this: *^_^*

well, it's become a habit. I have a list of smileys I printed off from h2g2 back in october, and a month or so back I looked through it to find some stuff appropriate to what I was writing. The *^_^* seemed best for a 'meek grin'. And it's become a habit *^_^*. Along with ending a sentance with '...'

Hey, these things happen... *^_^*

LOL

i do recall honeysuckles , i remember loving springtime because they would go into bloom. my friends and i would spend hours drinking the necter from honeysuckle flowers.
mike a, i must say you do have a lot of time on your hands now don't you ...though i have to admit that i find the various smiley's you do quite cute
AA

Yeah, I have so much spare time, yet so much to do. It's odd, I have so much to do, yet still enough spare time to have an hour online. Go figure...

Drinking nectar from honeysuckles sounds cool...