Moray Eel

Writing is a funny thing. You start with nothing and by the time it's over, there's an entire world you've created and you have characters that makes it alive. I don't know if other writers feel the same way, but I fell in love with a lot of the characters. Maybe it wasn't a lot of them, it's probably all of them. But how do you love something that absolutely frightens you?

A moray eel is occasionally known to take body parts from divers. They're a bit freaky to me in many ways but amongst the ways is the odd fact that they have two sets of jaws they use to snatch prey. One that you see and one inside that can protrude like the jaw of the alien in Aliens. Creepy, but for some reason, I felt the need to have one in 'The Pod'.

Moray Eel, the character in the book, is the guard to the kelp gates that protect a highly valuable ocean dweller, Otter. He's very protective of her and untrusting of strangers. Many of the whales in 'The Pod' are complete strangers to Moray so he treats them with quite a bit of veiled disdain. The real trick is getting him to lift the veil and give you directions on how to find Dear Otter. The scene below is an argument that arises between Right Whale and Moray.

He's a small character both physically and in the book, but he was fun to write for because he's an angry little guy with tons of attitude.

The Wandering Whale Shark

I can't remember exactly how it went, but my sister convinced me that I needed to have a whale shark in my book about whales. When I first came up with my character list, a whale shark wasn't on it. Afterall, a whale shark is a shark, not a whale. It does behave somewhat like a whale in that it filter feeds like a baleen whale, but other than that, it's all shark. They're beautiful creatures and I like them, but I just didn't see how one of these would fit into my story. That changed..

My sister Julie invited me to come see her in Atlanta and the only thing on the 'to-do' list was go to the Atlanta Aquarium with her and her son. When we got there in the middle of the school day, in the middle of the school year, we were in the middle of about 2,000 kids and chaperones. But the excitement of the ocean filled every corner of the building and spilled out into world around the aquarium. No doubt, countless dreams and stories left that building that day and many days before and since that one. One of stories was my own because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with a whale shark in my book about whales.

One of the first things I noticed about these gentle giants (the Atlanta Aquarium has 4 of them) was that they never stop moving. It made sense that a shark that doesn't breathe air would need to keep moving, but I just hadn't thought about it. Seeing the whale sharks in person changed my idea of what one could become in a story if given a few human characteristics. I thought to myself, a spy is always on the move, always gathering stuff about this or that and filtering through it. A whale shark does too. It also has little remora fish following it around and the fish help them out. Maybe if a whale shark was truly a spy, these remora fish would be passing the shark secrets. There's also little known about whale sharks because they tend to do their own thing after feeding, perhaps it's because of their spy secrets..

The Wandering Whale Shark bloomed out of a trip to the Atlanta Aquarium. He's a wanderer who picks up information and spreads it to whom he sees fit. Luckily for 'The Pod', the shark thinks kindly of them, though 'The Pod' itself is not so quick to trust this stranger in the same way that they trust one another.

Dear Otter

The sea otter is roughly the size of a golden retriever, I say that because some are bigger than others and some sea otters are bigger than others. They vary in color, but usually have a blondish face and a darker body. They boast a long tail, claws, sharp teeth, and they wrap themselves in floating kelp to keep from drifting out to sea while they chill, pretty much all day. Their primary source of food is abalone, but they'll eat a variety of sea life. They're found in the north of the Pacific Ocean and always near land. They are found in Russia, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Canada and most importantly, in California. This is where our Dear Otter spends most of her life hidden amongst the kelp.

There is nothing more majestic than watching an otter move, so when I created Dear Otter, I wanted her to have these majestic characteristics. I made her an oracle or an advisor to the whales. She's an older otter and doesn't have much to give other than sage advice, but she's happy to give it. I feel that even though she's in her twilight years, she's still radiant and beautiful.

"Dear Otter Hidden in Her Kelp Forest" 

by Andy Graham

The Route the Whales Take

When I was writing 'The Pod' I had an outline that I adhered to and more importantly a map of their journey. It's been my intention to have a copy of it inserted into the book so you could understand the scale of this undertaking. They end up passing all seven continents and swimming each of the seven seas on their search for The Green Man.



I've attempted to mark all the important spots where they travel without giving away too much of the story or how it ends. I hope it's not a spoiler and that it just helps you as you read the songs of these whale's daily lives.

If this map looks a little off to you, it should. Either that or you've grown up looking at a more accurate map than I have.  Usually the western world countries are shown to be much larger than they actually are. I guess that makes us feel more important in the west, but globalization of this world is slowly changing all of that. Or at least I hope it is.

Home Is Where You Anchor Lies

My Grandfather was a sailor.  Sailing is what caused him to meet my Grandmother. They met during the trying time that was World War II and never forgot one another. When the war ended my Grandfather sent my Grandmother a telegram that she kept with her until the day she died. It contained two simple words that carried an incredibly deep story with it:  "Marry me"

When my Grandfather was still alive, I used to go visit both of them. Grandma would always make me a sandwich with ham, cheese, butter or mayo, tomato and iceberg lettuce. Then she would ask me how I wanted it cut, diagonal or straight.  I always liked it cut diagonally even though my hero and idol was sitting across from me with his pumpernickel sandwich cut straight.  Maybe it was because the sandwich looked like a sail..

It kind of feels odd to be telling you about my Grandfather without telling you what we called him. To my family, he was Papa. Sometimes I called him Pop for short. He was a handyman that learned to be a craftsman by fixing steam engines on his ships, but he didn't start out that way. And the reason I know that is because I used to ask him open ended questions and then listen to every word that followed. Two such questions painted an incredible picture of his life for me, a picture made of words.

The first of the two memorable questions was "what was your first job?" He told me that his first job was selling honey.  He'd pick up 6 for a penny and sell them for a penny each. When he had enough pennies to rub together, he'd go see a motion picture. The first job I had was mowing lawns for cash, but my first job where I got a paycheck was at a movie theater. I don't think that was a coincidence. I've loved movies as long as I can remember and most jobs I've had were somewhat related to that business. Movies drew me in, but the sea drew him in. After he told me about selling jars of honey, I heard about a newspaper job and then another job and another. When he was old enough, he went to sea. He eventually became a Merchant Marine and brought many supplies to men that were on land. On a ship there's lots of time to read, so my grandfather used that time to educate himself on steam engines that powered the ship. He qualified to become an engineer without ever stepping foot on a college campus because he studied on his own.

As much as Papa loved the sea, he never married it.  Instead he married my grandma and found a career on land. When the war was over, he had a career waiting for him checking steam engines all over Louisiana. He worked with that same company doing the same job until he retired. And that was the end of his story about his first job. It took him about 2 hours to answer it. You could easily feel how much he loved being on the water. He talked about all the things he was able to see because of being a sailor. It got me hooked on the idea that I need to see the world from a boat.

The second open ended question was "how did you meet Grandma?" They answered that one together. It was their life story. Grandma was born in Wales, lost both her parents and lived with a kind man that knew her mother when she was growing up. When she was entering her teens, she went to live with an Aunt because the man didn't want rumors about them flying around. She spent the war in fear of being bombed by the Luftwaffe. There wasn't much food to go around, to give you an idea of how little they had, she told me they would use the same teabag at least 3 or 4 times before declaring it useless. At night, if you lit a single candle, the whole neighborhood would chew you out because the Germans were bombing the area with some regularity. Light meant life and the Germans would aim at even a candle. Cardiff, Wales was a tough place to be a young woman during that stretch and it shaped her into a tough and honest woman. She didn't take guff from anyone and she didn't ever cheat or want to be cheated.

Papa's job as a merchant marine wasn't easy and it was dangerous, but they were paid regularly and ate square meals. It was dangerous because submarines and bombers were always on the lookout for supply ships. Cutting off the supply line was better than winning a battle, so they were sitting ducks out there. But the people that deliver meals have access to their fair share of food.

My grandparents didn't have very many dates before getting married. You could count them on one hand and have a finger or two leftover. The second date was the most memorable and to listen to the two of them describe that date is amongst the greatest experiences I've had in my entire life. They planned to meet up because they had seen each other the previous day. My grandfather went back to the ship and down into the galley. He asked the chief cook for a special sandwich for his second date. The chief cook knew what was going on in Cardiff so he grabbed the biggest loaf of bread he had and exaggerated the contents of the sandwich. My grandfather told me about how he took his knife and cut the absolute thickest slices of ham he'd ever seen. How he got a huge amount of butter on his spatula and spread it all over the bread. Then he filled it with iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. It was the same sandwich I had been eating for years.

That sandwich made it to the front door of Grandma's Aunt's place and it was dismantled by the starving Welsh family. They stripped the butter off, the ham, and the veggies. They made a small sandwich for the two lovers to split on their date and they all shared in a sailor's gift from the sea. Anyone who brings food to the starving is a hero and like all good heroes, he never thought he was one. But I know he was a hero because he was mine.

This story and many more stories that I haven't shared stayed with me. So now I feel it, I know it's my turn to sail. My turn to see the world from a boat. I'm selling my house and I'm going to use the money to buy a 36 foot Pearson sailboat. It will look somewhat like this:

    
The sailboat will be where I live and my home will be where my anchor lies. I'm excited to get going. Everyone that I tell about this idea to sail about the world seems to like it. My plan is to learn to sail the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico, cross the Panama Canal, go to New Zealand to pick up a Kiwi friend of mine and head back to Pakistan. The birthplace of my book, 'The Pod'. It's the place where I learned about the Green Man, Khizr. The place where I found out about Sufism and 'The Conference of the Birds'. It's also the place where I learned to see the world with a new eye.
  

Read Every Word: The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence
Authored by Thomas Jefferson

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

______________________________________

It's a great piece of literature, but if Jefferson could have said Indian Warriors instead of "Indian Savages" and it would have been pretty darn close to perfection.  This declaration has stood the test of time.  My hope is that 'The Pod' will stand the test of time as well and my whales from the story all sign their own version of a Declaration:

The Fourth of July

It's the 4th of July, early in the morning. People are shooting off fireworks within the city limits and that's illegal. I can't help but think that they're doing the right thing though. The 4th of July is a celebration of rebelling. It's a celebration of telling the law that it's unjust, that freedom will be practiced no matter what.

Booms are followed by sparkles. It's a beacon to all, a beacon that says this is okay to tell the establishment that they're wrong about their rules. Surely the folks that set off these works are doing the work of our American ancestors. They're making noise, they're doing what they feel they have the God given right to do. What's more American than that? They're saying, "yes I can".

To all those that are stopped, know that someone will pick up your cause and fire off a round of their own because we can. We've gained freedom over and over in this country and that freedom has spread worldwide, so fire off what you have and tell the world around you, "I'm free.. and so are you."

But there's never a need to take the freedom or safety of your neighbor and make those inalienable rights your platform, so put out the fires you find. Let them have peace, let them have safety, let them be. Find the balance when you fire off another round because the balance is what makes this day work. Be the beacon of freedom today because today is yours.