The Magician and the Reality of Magic

He nodded once to the one-person audience that was waiting patiently behind the pane of glass. This nod was more than just great showmanship - it was a nod of acknowledgement. With this one slight movement he said, "Yes, I know you're there. Yes, I know what you are waiting for. Yes, I will preform this task - one that you are so grotesquely curious about - one that you deem a magic trick - one that really requires no magic at all - one that I have completed thousands of times. It is only in your perspective that this simple task is mysterious, enchanting, or impossible." With that one knowing, significant nod - coupled with the look of sage wisdom in his black, sinister eyes - he made his one-person audience totally aware of the reality of magic.

He stood a little taller when he was sure the girl was watching. His head was but an inch from the ceiling of the small room. He glided to the far end of the room as he adjusted his classy garb. He stopped just a short distance away from the little white mouse. He moved it into a position that he was certain the girl could see clearly. Before he proceeded, he turned once more to see her face. She had approached the glass partition, and that made him uncomfortable. He waited patiently, staring at her with all the force he could conjure into his beady eyes. She got the message and retreated to a safer distance, grateful for the invisible barrier that kept her safe from a very real kind of pain - very tangible hurt.

She waited patiently, unaware of the curiosity that was shining in her eyes. She watched as he turned back to the mouse. She adjusted to get a better glimpse of his face. She was hidden in a position she was sure he could not see. She moved a short distance before halting - paralyzed with fear that she had made her presence known. she was sitting behind the bed at the other end of the room - waiting in her pajamas because she was too curious to sleep. She sat a little taller when she was sure he was facing the other way, craning her neck to get a better look.

This was real magic. What a wonderfully amazing, mildly horrific, and totally natural phenomenon! Her green eyes soaked up all of the wonderfully intricate wisdom this small creature had to offer as she pushed her hair out of her face. "What a wonderful mystery! How is this even possible? I mean, this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this! It almost looks like a magic trick. Interesting! I wonder how it all works. I've been waiting for a while to see something like this up close. I wonder if he knows I'm here," she thought as she surreptitiously blew her unruly hair out of her eyes once again. She nodded off to sleep watching him - her brother's pet snake - make that mouse disappear.

WHATCHEW TALKIN BOUT WillisTON! (title courtesy of my aunt Jannika)

Would you believe that this was my journal entry from last night? It's all this being out in the wilderness stuff...i'm afraid that it's making me go crazy! ;) Yes, I watched Nebulous devour a small white mouse...which is a whole lot of upsetting...my only consolation is that the mouse (that we bought when he was alive at the pet store) was dead when he was eaten due to the fact that he had been sitting on top of our frozen chicken and next to this week's freezer meals for the past few days. And that's not even a real consolation. =D

North Dakota is wonderful...just in case you were wondering. the rolling hills, the really great trees here and there, the huge amounts of water, the wonderful potholes in our dirt roads that make for a blissfully entertaining ride no matter which way you're going, the adorable drive-in movie that is the only "movie theater" in the whole state (granted, it's the only drive-in, but the other two movie theaters here were built in the 20s = full of character...they're pretty much adorable!) I love this town and all of it's quirks. Tons of mom and pop restaurants (with great food). Dirt everywhere (which gives me something to do when i'm bored: mop, sweep, wash the cars). I think there's a total of three stop signs in the whole town because the rest of the intersections are marked "yield"...if there's someone there before you, then you wait...if there's no one there, then cruise right on through. And of course, I can't talk about ND without mentioning our blue modular home. It's adorable and very cozy. It's completely furnished and what we don't see we either have the company buy it for us or do without. We have already got pictures up on every wall and clean clothes in the dryer. =D

tomorrow (or I guess it's today) we are going exploring...which, in my family, means that we are going to hop in the car bright and early and hit every state park, museum, visitor's center, and tourist attraction there is in a 50 mile radius. and since the sun wakes up around 5:30 and doesn't go down until 10:30 here, we've got plenty of daylight hours to fill with learning about the wonderful new chapter in our lives.

What an amazing experience! And what a positively adorable state! who knew?!?