Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Gimpkos on Kusha

Yesterday we told of the Kabears, the most feared predators on Kusha. Humans rarely see them any more. They were chased away from the areas around Harappa City years ago. Farside still has to deal with them pretty often and the nomads run across them occasionally. I haven’t seen one in at least twenty years, but then I don’t go out in the woods much any more.

What worries most folks more than the Kabears are the Gimpkos. They are biting lizards about a half a meter tall that like the Kabears often walk on their hind legs. Individually they are very timid and a typical human would never see one. However in groups they become strangely emboldened.

Commonly they hunt in packs. Typical game for them is small to medium rodents, house pets and occasionally people. I don’t know that many people have been killed by the Gimpkos but there are attacks at least once a month.

Usually they come after some kid playing ball. The kid wanders too close to the edge of a cleared field and a handful of the quick moving  creatures rush the kid and start biting the calfs. Kicking and running away will usually halt the assault. Just don’t fall down! If the Gimpkos can get you to the ground you may still fight your way out of the jam you’re in but you won’t come away clean. Nasty, nasty little buggars.

I know some of the Mandan eat them. I don’t care for them myself. My wife Ina will eat them when we visit her family and says she likes their flavor. I think it is a little gamey and the texture is very stringy. Besides there is way too much good stuff to eat here on Kusha to consume anything that is not perfectly delicious.

This is my last post of the week but my friend “The Author” will be posting tomorrow and Friday on the technology of the future. I’m sure you will find that interesting.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Wild Kusha

Greetings wild readers. Thanks for being here. I came to Kusha on the first load of settlers with Dorian Thain. The engineers and construction crews had already been here for some time. Still, the world beyond the small area cleared for construction of Harappa City was wild and free.

Most of the planet is still in it’s native state. We humans have only civilized a tiny portion of one continent. The nomads roam the upland plains and they have a few scattered villages out there. There is the small settlement on Farside where Max made her big discovery way back when and there is Harappa City.

The rest of Kusha . . .? I say wild but it is not wild in the way that the Old Forest on Harappa was wild. The Old Forest had all kinds of creatures that wanted to eat you or at least bite you. There were even some that did worse things to you.

Kusha is pretty mild compared to that. There are dangers in the Kushan wilderness but they are rare.

Of course there are the Kabears. Three to four meters tall, they often stand on their stout hind legs. Their front legs are smallish and not much use for anything beyond putting things in the creature’s mouth, which is wide and lined with triangular, razor sharp teeth.

They are furry but their hair is not like any hair humans have known before. From a single stem the hair branches out almost like a downy feather.

There are a couple of interesting facts about the Kabears. First their method of locomotion when in haste is interesting . . . they skip. It is a silly thing to watch. A giant ferocious beast skipping like a little child. The can move surprisingly fast in this way. It also makes them very hard to shoot when they are charging since there is so much up and down motion, which brings us to another weird habit of theirs.

When charging someone they will often pull up just short and wildly wave their arms to the side and above. Apparently this is a display to ward off aggressors and apparently among other Kabears this works. Most human hunters have learned this and use the display as the most opportune time to shoot the creatures.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss the gimpkos.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: The End of Harappa

Greetings amazing readers. Thanks for being here. Last week we discussed the ecology of planet Harappa. Sadly the world is due to become a dust spot on the surface of its sun within a few weeks, maybe a few months. We’ve never seen the end of a world before. Astronomers from around the galaxy are gathering to witness the event.

No one lives there any more. It’s way too hot for anyone to survive there. I understand that they have set up a space-station with a solar orbit to watch Harappa’s demise from a safe distance. I assume there will be vids and pictures all over the Encyclopedia Galactica when this happens.

I and many others still think of ourselves as Harappans. We just live on Kusha now. It’s mostly us older folks. The kids who grew up here on Kusha, of course, have no connection to the old world.

Us older Harappans must now learn to be Kushan. I’ve been here over eighty years and it still seems new to me. 

Perhaps it is the ever changing sky or the amazing fecundity of the fields and meadows and forests. There is always something new to discover about Kusha. A flower you’ve never seen anything like before. A different light than you have experienced or some other nuance this world offers the senses.

Kusha certainly has a history before humans got here, but we all know the historical disputes about just who owns the place. Therefor I’ll just content myself to ponder Kusha’s recent history. From just before humans got here to now.

Tomorrow: what was Kusha like when we first got here?

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Musings from Bubba's Desk: The Good Guys are Winning . . . Honest.

Notes from the author: Musings from Bubba’s Desk

Recently one of my Facebook friends posted that she was not enjoying her life. I’ve had the JW’s (that’s what Jehovah’s Witnesses call themselves these days) come to my door to tell me that we are all going to hell in a hand-basket.

What’s wrong with these people? There are fewer people engaged in armed conflict than at any other time in human history. Poverty and crime are down. Science is making new discoveries on an almost daily basis. Our understanding of the nature of matter and the universe is expanding like never before.

This is a wonderful time to be alive. Gay people and women are getting access to the rights they should have had all along. Like him or not, having elected a black man as president speaks to an increasing amount of tolerance in society for those who do not look like us.

I just don’t get all this doom and gloom. Yes, there are problems to deal with. The environment is going to be a huge job to repair, if that is even possible. We still have religion and all its associated problems to deal with but there are signs that they are slowly fading. Corporations have way too much influence in society but there are people becoming involved in that fight.

There is in America a very vocal minority who wish to impose on us all their particular political bent. But, even the Tea Party seems to be fading.

Life is good. Try to hang on to that thought. I understand that we all have our own personal demons and issues to deal with. I’ve been called the meanest man in the world a couple of times in my life. I get sad and angry at times but I never loose my love of life. I’m having too much fun. 

This is a great time to be alive. Don’t listen to the turkeys who are selling this negative thought system. Humans are getting better all the time. We don’t go to stadiums to watch people hack at each other with swords. We don’t stage public executions for our entertainment. We are safer, healthier, wiser than we have ever been.

Relax people, enjoy your life. It’s OK.

Work for good, but know that we are winning.

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: What was that awful smell?

Welcome endearing readers. Thanks for being here. Something about planet Harappa that I and most Harappans did not know until we moved away was that Harappa had its own peculiar smell.

This was due mostly to the oceans which had a healthy population of algae. The algae became one of the main sources of food for many Harappans. Those of us in the White Mountains did not eat the stuff. At least not if we didn’t have to. Fortunately for me my wife grew up with the Mandan who also did  not eat the green goo.

I do understand that the Mother does like the stuff. Apparently she still has it for breakfast. The Kushan oceans have salt in them and the algae wont grow there but commercial ponds were set up out side of Harappa City. I don’t know many people who still eat it but I’m sure as pond as the Mother wants it someone will grow it.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Early Harappan Ecology

Greetings wise readers. Thanks for being here. Humans landed on Harappa in the Earth year 2190. There actually two ships that were a part of the Arc of the Millenium. The first ship carried a small corp of engineers and construction workers. Johnson himself landed with this group. The bulk of the colonists arrived six months later.

One of the main features of the environment of Harappa was the Dark Times. Every twelve years the Blud Moon would pass infront of the sun blocking its warming rays for over a week. In that time the planet froze. The oceans became the consistency of oatmeal.  

Harappans learned to go underground for that time. It became a family time a party. We’d head to shelters and huddle together drinking Oodo and wine (not together of course) and eating ourselves sick. The first two Dark Times were spent in the caverns of the Librarians on Mount Cailas.

There weren’t many large animals on Harappa besides some of the bigger insects. The most notable animal of the planet was the black wolves. They looked a little like a dog or wolf but hairless and metalic looking teeth. They were very smart. They hunted in packs and often used an organized assault. I know, I survived a few of these attacks when Dorian and I were escorting Rodin to see his leaders before the Battle of Caelum. That was also when I first met my wife Ina.

The other feature of the Dark Times was the life that came out after. There were these slags, something like large Earth slugs. They were as big as a grown man‘s foot or bigger. They came out after the Dark Times and literally covered the ground. Walking was difficult with the slimy, things carpeting the ground.

After their reproduction cycle was over they’d die, having left their seed in the ground to wait for the next cold snap to wake them up. It was a real mess to clean up.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Death Watch for Planet Harappa

Greetings dynamic readers. Thanks for being here. We’re discussing the planet Harappa. Yesterday I mentioned that many Harappans are starting their death watch for the world they came from.

Typically when Harappans gather to mourn the often sing an old Harappan folk song called Sweet Peace. It has a sad melody and the words recall a loved one, wishing them sweet peace where they lay.

A lot of Harappans are singing that song these days. In a matter of weeks our world will be no more. 

I’m an old fart in every sense of the phrase. I’ve lived on Kusha for eighty years or so. I remember Harappa but Kusha is my home now. I’m not much for sentimentality so I for one am not spending a lot of time watching the vids from the planet.

The EG has daily updates and vids on  Harappa. It no longer looks like the world we lived on. The oceans are gone, boiled away several years ago. The last of the harvesters were pulled off world last year. What ever illumaphane is still there will fall into the sun very soon. Harappa is now a molten furnace of rock and lava. The White Mountains where I lived have been overcome by a super-volcano that rose out of the Black Range to the North.

I do feel some sadness at the demise of this world, but more than that I feel anger. Anger at the strange series of events that led to Harvest Day, the death of Paladin and the End of Harappa.

Tomorrow: Harappa when humans first got there.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479