The First Fossil Hunters
by Adrienne Mayor
foreword by Peter Dodson
Posted on 05/28/2006 6:09:41 AM PDT by S0122017
Thanks, kind words get me out of bed in the morning.
Got a new album started at Pbase, still chasing critters, until I'm allowed to hunt politicians.
http://www.pbase.com/tsiya/root
http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/tsiya/
The First Fossil Hunters
by Adrienne Mayor
foreword by Peter Dodson
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Thanks, I'll check the photos. Man, you must have a lot of animals in your area.
Dragon Ping!
Just at that moment, the roar of a dragon reached his ears. Ken smiled. He was fascinated by the creatures. They were so majestic, and powerful!
When he was much younger, his uncle had taken him to see the huge Ke’Karnoss. They had faced the beast in its courtyard. For a time, Ke’Karnoss had stared at them, as if studying their appearance. Then he cocked his head in a distinctive manner, and Uncle Faard had pulled him into the shelter of the dragonshield he was carrying. Flames washed over them, slightly singing his curly hair.
After the flames stopped, he could hear the sound of the dragon’s indrawn breath. He was smelling them.
Faard stood again. “This is my child. You will come to respect him as you do me.”
The dragon spoke then, a growling reverberation within the walls. Ken translated the sound, “I know him now.”
It had been a ritual trial by fire. Dragons, though now considered domesticated, were still ruled by prideful rituals of honor and procedure. Woe unto him who tried to take shortcuts!
His uncle had explained it to him. “They are a proud race. They do not consider themselves to have been conquered. Instead, they behave as though we are their servants. As long as we both play that same game, there is no harm, but any fool who tries to push a dragon around soon gets what he deserves, and it still happens quite frequently.”
You need to check your pronoun antecedents here -- it's not clear where all the "he," "him," and "his" are pointing.
Aside from that, it sounds zippy!
There. Fixed. Now for the rest of the book ...
Thanks! Try not to get too excited though. I'm just now putting the story elements together. I wrote that section to give myself a little of the flavor of it.
Oh boy, I was walking with you into the den, I felt the dragon smell me... I think he snorted!
WOW, fabulous and scary.
Dragon Ping!!
Ken sat on his towel and stared out at the sea. He sensed and felt the approach of the dragon. Wind from the wings swept over him, and the ground trembled slightly with its landing.
Ken looked around. There had been no sound.
Ke’Enarsha stood within a pace from him, towering over him.
“I could eat you.” Rumbled the dragon’s deep voice.
Ken rose smoothly, and faced toward the dragon. Naked after his swim, he stood with his arms stretched out wide, and with his eyes closed. Something told him this was an appropriate way to present himself as a sacrifice.
“Eat me, then, and end my troubles. Begin your own.”
There was only silence in answer. Then he heard the dragon’s indrawn breath, and braced himself for what would happen.
Warm air wafted gently over his drying skin, as the slitted nostrils of Ke’Enarsha opened wide upon him. He opened his eyes. Ke’Enarsha lowered his head.
Ken stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the huge scaly head. “I love you, too, Ke’Enarsha.”
The rumbling voice spoke again. “Let us ride.”
Ken grabbed his towel and draped it over the rough scales behind Ke’Enarsha’s short frill, and climbed up to sit behind his head. He held onto the wicked looking horns that came up to form the upper apexes of an inverted triangle.
Ke’Enarsha spread his wings into the stroke position, and Ken could hear the wheezy sound of the organic bellows drawing in air between the dragon’s shoulder blades. With a sound like a small door slamming shut the lungflap closed and there was an immediate thunderclap of noise.
Ken was thrust violently downward as the dragon sprang upward. Then he power-stroked again and again, gaining altitude with each beat of the wings. In a moment, they were gliding South along the coastline, riding the onshore breeze as it rose onto the land.
Ken screamed in exultation. Ke’Enarsha turned his head slightly, looking back at him. The corners of his huge mouth gave a slight twist in the dragon equivalent of a big smile.
Ken twisted the head and squeezed with his legs as if he were trying to control the huge beast.
Ke’Enarsha swayed slightly, dipping left and right. Ken shouted in triumph again. Who could feel gloomy while riding on a dragon?
Excellent!
I think it only makes sense: a few bones were going to be found: and the "classic" T-rex and others absolutely look like the drragons of myth.
When the dinosaurs died, then flexed into twisted shapes as the muscles dried, the result is a "dragon-like" flying shape as well. (Or worm-like Chinese dragon...)
Fahrenheit 451 is one of my all-time favorites.
Is it the genesis of your screen name?
Only incidentally.
"Salamander" has more mythological connotations than most people would ever dream of.
[only part which is the fact that I'm a "fire sign"]....;]
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