A Thousand Words
by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
– Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”
So we were tasked by NorseGamer to write one thousand words on something. Anything. Part of me was tempted to simply write “This or that place was really really really really really (x 994) great!” That is what you call a loop-hole and an article that would never get published. Well, I sat on my new nDreams patriotic ‘hog’ motorcycle in the Lockwood Prairie and watched people. I watched the place and how people acted and interacted. This is a pastime of mine that I do when I can. I sat under a tree, behind the barn to the left of the entrance. I saw some gals taking some pictures by the train. There were a lot of people in the entrance paddock waiting to get in. This brings to mind two big thumbs up for Lockwood.
That’s me, hopefully looking scary, but the swing kills the tough, especially when I’m on it.
They allow any LMO (locomotion) portable item to be used in the space regardless of what developer made it. The very hog I was on was made by nDreams. This is in contrast to some other spaces, like when Granzella made the Valentine’s game at the Tropical Hideaway public space, you had to buy and wear Granzella items to play. I am not bothered by this, really, and I am a big fan of Granzella. I do place them in the upper level of developers here in Home. I did buy the gray horse — for the record, I went with the whole Pale Rider image. Is that scary or silly? I choose scary.
OK, so I sat in the shade of a tree and watched the “goings on” in this space. It was actually worth the time that I sat and watched. I had not seen much action there of late, and thought that the dust had settled. I was wrong.
As I sat in the shade, I allowed myself to soak up the scenery and fantasy of the place. Then it hit me like a bullet from a quick draw gun (insert “pew pew” sound). The sun was high, as it always is there. There were small winds that kicked up the dust. There was a sense of the day being 95 degrees and that the shade tree was really helping. Just outside of the fence there are animals roaming free. There is a ranch house, a water tower, and an abandoned train that sits, waiting to be stood on. There are water troughs, and hay bale seats. This space even has the much coveted free items. These are great items and I won’t take the time to list them for fear of spoiling the fun of collecting them for those who haven’t been there. As I sat, a couple of guys came around to chat. One never really fully came into the picture as his LMO never solidified, so from where I sat, he was sitting, floating in air. The other rode a unicorn. We chatted for a while and the time passed. I rode around and parked in a few places to see the place from different angles.
The Robert Frost excerpt above is one that has stuck in my head since I first saw it on a poster in my junior high English class. It always made me want to take the road less traveled, and on many an occasion I have, and for me it has made all the difference.
It is a fun thing to simply go to a place and sit and watch the people and soak up the environment.
There were not a lot of people this day, but they are there to watch. This is me on a quiet day there.
Home (as well as all the developers) has done a masterful job at making this a place that we can sit in and enjoy some beautiful scenery. There are places that I love, whether they are public or private. I have so many places in my private spaces list that are just so beautiful, even the few that are dystopic in nature. There is the beauty of the Japanese Tea House and its changing seasons. The older, but not faded, Waterfall Terrace. The stark concrete of the Post Apocalyptic Bunker, the grand view from the Eden’s Primarch Vigilarium and the view that greets all of Home’s population: the harbor that gives The Harbour Studio its name.
There are some fine public places too. The Heavy Water D20 district is a futuristic place that is dystopic and muggy, but has a flavor all its own. The Glittering Sands beach has the feel of a real beach where you can almost hear the crunch of sand beneath your feet. You can definitely hear the water and the sounds that make it believable.
The other dimension to sitting and watching is when you watch the people. Sure there are the trolls and nuisances, but that is not what this article is about. This is to say that when you watch, the people are as intriguing as the place, if not more. You can see people running around trying to get free items, or “spamming” the usual “Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello”. There are always people that are out to find friends and make some kind of connection. In a place like the prairie, people are very willing to display the rides they have. There I saw unicorns, black horses, “hog” motorcycles and jet cycles, among others. Then there are other people that simply enter without a mount of any kind activated (Lockwood sees your profile and the presence of a horse to allow people in, and you don’t have to be on a horse) and simply stand around and do the same as me, look around at the locals.
One of the features you can see there, the ranch house. Looks so real!
All places have a charm and quality that is all their own in Home. Sit in any public place and let it all soak in. I do, and for this assignment, I did just that. Perched on my hog in the Prairie by Lockwood, I got to just sit and see the place and indulge in the environment, and what a fine and absorbing one it is.
OK, NorseGamer, I tried what you said, and I came up with 1048 words. Do I get any extra credit?
May 12th, 2013 by FEMAELSTROM | 3 comments
FEMAELSTROM came to Home in June 2011 and never wanted to leave, even at weekly maintenance when he usually gets booted. The sand box environment appeals to the explorer in him and often is out and about as he ‘geeks’ out dressed like some sort of sci-fi character, while he people watches in popular public spaces. An artist and writer, FEMAELSTROM loves making friends and meeting people. He loves sci-fi and decorating Home estates and loves to respond “here” when people ask “where are you from?” in public places.
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One of the great secrets of this kind of writing assignment is that you are not actually writing about the thing itself, but about how it connects to other things, and your reactions to it. This is why it’s perfectly possible to write a thousand words about a single brick.
This is not a theoretical example. I recently ran across this article about a single brick and its implications in “The Atlantic”. In this case, it’s an article about historical connections and the science that unearthed them. But it could just as easily been about the author’s reaction to a 2,000-year-old paw print, found half a world away from where it was made, and what it says about the nature of serendipity, and cats.
Love your article and I love that Robert Frost poem, always have.
I find “people watching” to be an exciting activity in any space. It allows me to take in the scene, find the cliques as well as those doing their own thing. When I encounter others sitting/standing off on their own, I am even more intrigued.
On many occasion, I have approached those on their own and often found out they were having a bad day “IRL” and came to Home to find some peace and calmness, and to enjoy watching others “loco-ing” around.