Cabelas

Just yesterday, my family and I went on a scavenger hunt with a couple of other friends to Cabelas, an Outdoor Recreation shop. I've been looking forward to going there for a while now, and I was quite impressed at their selection of outdoor equipment. I teamed up with one of my brothers and off we went. While looking for the items on the list, we spent some of our time looking at the various products. A whole half of the store is all hunting supplies: handguns, turkey calls, bullets, and bows and arrows. Another half is all camping and fishing supplies: fishing rods, lures, even live bait, hatchets and tents, and even a huge selection of backpacks. In the center hall, mounted and stuffed on the sides, are bull deer, bears, wolves, and turkey. At the end of the hall is a large, fake mountain with bighorn sheep, foxes, badgers, and lynx, with a tank full of gar and bass at the foot. To me, it's much like Bass Pro Shops, Dicks Sporting Goods, and REI. Hopefully, my family and I will be able to go back there again, and this time maybe I will be able to buy something that I need for my Boy Scout trips and meetings.

The Oddessy Pt.1: Escaping Polyphemus

On his way back from sacking the city of Troy, Odysseus and his men because stranded on an island. While adventuring, they discovered this island was home to a Cyclops named Polyphemus, son of Poseidon and his friends. The cunning cyclops captured Odysseus and his men, and ate six.

"WHAT IS YOUR NAME" bellowed the cyclops to Odysseus.

"My name is Nobody," he answered slowly. Te cyclops fell back laughing, and as he did so, Odysseus and his men took up a large stick, and rammed it into the cyclops's single eye. Roaring in pain and anger, his cries awakened his fellow monsters.

"WHAT IS HURTING YOU TO THE POINT OF BELLOWING?" they boomed at Polyphemus.

"NOBODY IS KILLING ME," HE WAILED, "NOBODY IS KILLING ME WITH HIS CUNNING."

"IF NOBODY IS KILLING YOU, THEN WE WILL LEAVE YOU IN PEACE," they yelled, and walked back to their caves.

While all of this was happening, Odysseus and his men were already well on their way to their ships. Polyphemus groped after his and heard the sound of his laughter.

if anybody ask's you who blinded you, tell them it was Odysseus, the Crusher of Cities, Odysseus called back to the giant. At this, Polyphemus threw his head up toward's the sky.

"OH HEAR ME BLUE HAIRED POSEIDON, IF I AM INDEED YOUR SON, MAKE SURE THAT IF ODYSSEUS EVER RETURNS TO HIS OWN LAND, LET IT BE LATE, ALONE, AND ON A STRANGER SHIP." After he said this, he ripped a huge chunk out of the mountian and threw it Odysseus's direction, but the rock fell short, creating a wave that pushed them out to the rest of the fleet. 

Coral Bleaching

If any of you didn't know about Coral Reefs before, they are undergoing some sort of heatstroke that's causing them to turn white and lose color. This sign isn't because it's dying, it's because it's sick. Only the coral that is near to the shore, like the Great Barrier Reef, are turning white. The ones deep under the water are still OK, but who knows, it could be affecting them in another part of the world. Not only is the heatstroke bad for the coral, but for the animals that live in the coral reef. Coral reefs only grow one foot every 20 years, and once it's destroyed it may never come back again. I have a strong respect for every single animal that swims, walks and flies over the water, and I plan on keeping that respect all throughout my career as a marine biologist when I grow up. I'm going to figure out the problem of why the coral is sick, and prevent it from dying or doing any more damage.

Tasmanian Tiger, Back from the Dead?

You all know, that since 1936, the last surviving Tasmanian Tiger died in captivity . Then, the government classified them as an extinct species. Although they say that, there have been many unconfirmed sightings in various remote areas in both Tasmania and Australia. From my perspective, I think this hunt for an extinct species is like finding Bigfoot. I believe that the species does still survive, just they have learned to fear us and learned how to keep a low profile, like a Crocodile. And now, park rangers have set up cameras and video cameras in remote areas where the sightings have been said found to find this elusive extinct species. The sightings have gone viral on the media, and animal and extinct species experts don't know what to think of this legendary creatures. Tasmanian Tigers were unique in many ways: their endurance to run down kangaroo to exhaustion, unique stripe patterns, the largest marsupial to live along-side humans, and the jaw gape that can open up almost 90 degrees. Most people don't know what it means, but I think it's a warning to back away. There have been no known Tasmanian Tiger attacks on humans, but they did kill sheep. When the hunters saw them, they killed the Tigers, and hung their coats on barbed wire fences as trophies to passerby's. The last Tiger that died was stuffed and put in a museum for all to see. Now with these sightings are making people become curious. They wonder if the species is indeed making a comeback. If it's true this would be the greatest comeback in the whole animal kingdom. We just have to hope that these sightings are indeed true. 

The Theory of Natural Selection

Charles Darwin was the first one to come up with the theory of Natural Selection. Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection is when More individuals are produced each generation that can survive. Phenotype variation exists among individuals and the variation is heritable. Those individuals with heritable traits better suited to the environment will survive. Like when a male animal with wide paws mates with a animal with long claws, those traits are passed onto the next generation, and maybe the new generation will have new traits. Hopefully, the next young animal will mate again and pass on some of his/her traits into their offspring. Sometimes, the animal doesn't look anything like their parents, and when the genes are split, sometimes they mutate. This creates an animal with more survival tools in their arsenal, making them more likely to survive in the wild. Now, they will pass on their traits to their young, and them their cells might mutate too, and allowing that species of animals to thrive.

The Unwanteds: Dragon Captives

Magical twins Thisbe and Fifer Stowe were venturing into the darkest part of the Jungle. Suddenly, three noises were heard on either side of them. They were trapped. One of the creatures turned out to be a giant clay Scorpion trying to eat them. The other one was an ebony panther bounding to save them, knocking over the scorpion. Letting out a scream, Thisbe accidently shot magic from her fingers, cutting panther in two. Suddenly, before the venom in the scorpion’s tail could strike, a large sandstone cheetah named Simber plucked them up and carried them off. Upon arriving to the magical land or Artime, Fifer and Thisbe realized their brother Alex Stowe, the head mage of the magical world, was going to be angry at them. He was furious to find out, and after a heated debate, Alex threatened to lock up the twins until they learned self-control. Feeling ashamed, Fifer and Thisbe hastily left the room, while Alex contemplated over what he just said. Resigning to his living quarters, he meditated over all the people he lost because tomorrow was the Day of Remembrance.

          It had been 10 years since Queen Agarla caused Alex’s arm to go limp and no longer work anymore, and he in turn killed her by sending her underwater because her people can't swim. The next day, while the girls were sitting with their friend Seth, two outlines appeared over the water to the west. It was Pan, the coiled water dragon and her son Hux, the ice blue Dragon. Hux needed Alex to return with him to the land of dragons not just to make new wings, but because if he didn’t return, his sister, Aribis the Orange would be killed by the Reniver. That night, Alex consulted with his friends: Samheed, Artime’s theater instructor, Lani, a young woman whose legs were paralyzed, Aaron, Alex’s identical twin and husband of a girl named Kaylee and father of a boy named Daniel, Fifer and Thisbe, Thatcher and Scarlet, two orange-eyed people from Warbler Island, Carina and Sean, a couple who stood by Alex from the beginning, and Crowe, Fifer and Thisbe’s keeper. Alex wasn’t the Alex he used to be, and was constantly holding back. Back then, he didn’t hesitate to rescue people. Only one person could bring that Alex back, Sky, Crowe’s sister and the love of Alex’s life. Alex was afraid he wouldn’t make it back and decided not to go to the land of dragons, making his friends upset, especially Carina.

That night, Thisbe, Fifer and Seth snuck off with Hux to rescue the Dragons. Alex was upset when he found out his sisters gone, and Carina with Seth. Sean was up too, so they decided to put a rescue team together and find them. Pan was there, and when Alex asked her the way to the land of dragons, Pan said she would only tell Simber. Alex was beside himself, fumed and upset. Carina and Simber, along with Thatcher, would go and find them. A short time later, the team was packed and off they set, diapering within minutes. Alex, feeling helpless and destroyed, stood long after the others had gone, thinking about the long-ago battles.

Meanwhile, the trio on Hux were just getting to the giant waterfall that had push Artime’s ship over years ago. From there, Hux took flight and took off to the land of dragons. Upon arriving, Seth gets captured. Fifer and Thisbe try to rescue him, but end up getting captured too. Using Heart Attack and Scatterclip components, Seth broke free, and later found the five dragons in stalls with magic muzzles around their snouts. Carina, Thatcher and Simber found Seth bring the Dragon’s wings to live with the component word, “Live.” Then, with the help of Simber, Seth successfully freed all the Dragons. Whiile the Dragons carried Carina back to Artime, Simber, Thatcher and Seth took off to rescue the twins.

Shackled and forced to walk, Fifer and Thisbe stumbled through the darkness. They arrived at a town square, from there they were tied up and people tried to auction for them. Thisbe put up glass barriers to protect herself and Fifer. Then they saw the Reniver, a black cloaked woman with icy blue eyes. Suddenly, Simber swooped in, but by looking at the Reniver for a split second, he didn’t see the glass walls. He smashed through them. Thisbe was untouched, but Fifer fainted when she saw blooming red stains appear all over her body. The Reniver made off with Thisbe, but Simber was able to snatch up an unconcise Fifer from the ground. Upon arriving at Warbler, they found Scarlet and Copper, Sky’s mother. They said that while Sky was trying to stop the volcano from plunging, it went down unexpectedly, taking her with it. With Sky gone, Thisbe in the dungeon, and Fifer wounded and unconcise, Alex was going to be so overwhelmed and heartbroken at the news. The time of peace was over.  Chaos has returned to the land of Artime