Cordially Barbara

  • Coming Soon: Notes on Being Human
  • Spirit of Christmas: A Holiday Anthology
  • Teal Paisley Tights
  • Take a Right at the Mistletoe: A Very Vienna Christmas

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Dragon Elbows

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The transformation would begin at my elbows. Leathery, dry, and bumpy. It seems like the perfect place for magic to begin since elbows are so often forgotten. Magic begins on the edge of being.

The thin pale skin of humans hardens to a thick bullet-proof scale. Scales iridescently creamy with jagged brown claws instead of human toes. In a multitude of blinks, humanness fades and wings fan out carrying me into the clouds where dragon eyes map a route filled with droplets on the verge of snowflakes, cumulonimbus columns, and rainbow roads.

I am a small dragon. Rarely terrifying to those who see me, but never usually seen.

Humanly, too many grocery bags make me stumble. Dragonly, I can rip a healthy, well-rooted tree from the ground with one paw.

We are a family of mythical creatures that are scientifically unrecognized and humanly feared. Dragon soul dwelling in a human body. Occasionally, they do war with each other. I, myself, have seen my dragon head reaching for my human foot that is still in the process of flesh to scale transformation.

My inner core rumbles dragon courage. Allowing the dragon transformation to occur on my flesh is an exercise of will to yield my human sensibilities to the dragon wildness.

The mixing of dragon spirit with human blood is a rare one and unaccepted by all creatures for its break of traditional separation of blood and spirit. Even more so is it an oddity for a human to survive the first dragon changing because it demands total surrender, and to fight the change midway causes a soul tearing that is irreparable.

Surrender is dragon strength.

C L O U D

What About You?

Do you love dragons? Do you sometimes dream of being one?

Why I Donate Blood

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Temperature taken. Iron measured. Eligibility questions answered. I relax into my own blue, lounge chair lined up beside a few others, waiting to be asked which arm that I’d like to donate from. I volunteer my right arm, knowing that I have small veins and no one has ever been able to find a large enough vein in my left arm to donate.

Arm swabbed and blood pressure cuff tight around my bicep. I bite the inside of my cheek while the needle is inserted, trying to steady my nerves by breathing slowly. As my life blood flows into a little plastic bag in a scale below my chair, I open and close my fingers as per directed. My thoughts are with the blood, wondering what person might need this life-giving vehicle to sustain them after a horrific accident or killing disease.

I can help their healing.

The Legacy of Giving

My mom used to give blood when I was young. She’d come home with a huge bruise across the inside of her elbow, and little child me would be distraught that she’d allowed someone to do that to her. “Mommy, why do you let them take your blood?”

“I think it’s important.” She repeated this each time because my question would be asked every time she donated.

I’d shudder and declare. “I will never give blood!”

Why I Donate Blood

My mother’s words stuck close to me, and her constancy in giving despite her physical discomfort branded itself in my memory. When I came of age to donate, I did it in honor of my mother and her father before her. The pain and the bruising no longer scared me, and the possibility of helping someone live inspired me.

My veins are small so donating can be difficult and often times unsuccessful. I keep going back.

I think it’s important.

LEND

What About You?

Do you donate blood and what’s your story that keeps taking you back to donate?

9 Favorite Outer Banks Things To Do

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As a rule, people love the beach. Sun, water, and sand. It’s a type of paradise where laying out in the sun and catnapping is acceptable. Personally, I love staying active on the beach, whether playing in the waves, building sandcastles, or trying some new trick. But sometimes I need new ideas for my beach days or some different scenery other than water and sand.

  1. Bring your phone and take selfies with as many beautiful people as you can.

I’m a bit introverted so forcing myself to talk to strangers and ask for a picture with them was a bit out of my comfort zone; however, I’m pretty proud of the pictures and the different people that I got to chat with. Adrenalin rush achieved.

  1. Challenge another group of beach goers to a sand creation contest.

It might be hard to find a group willing to participate, but if you do manage to get a challenge going, you can ask people walking by to vote for their favorite by placing a seashell near their choice. Castles are a good start, but anything goes!

  1. Night walk the beach with a flash light in hand for watching the side-walking crabs.

Bring your group of friends down to the beach and try to catch your own crab pets. These night critters are fast so the more people you have with you, the better your chances to corner the creature. Buckets and nets will help in your night mission.

  1. Rent a flat board and try out the newest ocean fun.

These boards are longer than surfboards and come with a paddle by which you propel yourself across the water by standing. Quiet waves make flat boarding simpler, but you can mix and match with calm water flat boarding and surprise surfing the waves as you return to the beach.

  1. Reserve a spot to Dolphin Watch along the Sound.

You love dolphins and you aren’t seeing enough from the beach? You can get up close and see many different pods of dolphins by joining a dolphin watching tour along the Outer Banks’ sound. The guides will point out dolphins that they’ve seen in the area for years and you might even see them jump.

  1. Kayak along the sound.

Rent a one man kayak or a two man kayak to explore the sound with friends or solo. Enjoy the quiet of the water and seeing herons, ospreys, and other surprises. When my cousin and I did this together, we turned our water time into an impromptu musical.

  1. Explore the beginning of flight with the Wright Brothers.

These bicycle repairing brothers changed the face of travel for all humankind when they began to explore the option of flight. Delve into some history and learn about how they made their dream of flight into a reality by visiting the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

  1. Climb the Dunes at Jockey’s Ridge State Park and find the buried castle.

The Outer Banks boasts its own sand dunes that covered a mini golf course that was themed with a castle. These days all you can see of the course is the very top of the castle peeking from the top of the dune. Find the castle and try to dig deeper to find more of it.

  1. Visit one of the many lighthouses in the area.

Take the stairs up through the building, forcing your mind to think about the people who cared for the lighthouse and warned ships of the coastline. You can choose to see the Currituck Beach Light, Bodie Island Light, Cape Hatteras Light, Ocracoke Light, or Cape Lookout Light.

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What About You?

Have you ever visited the Outer Banks? What are your favorite activities to do at the beach?