R E F L E C T I O N S

If you've kept up with my blog you know about the mushroom kit I received as a Christmas present.  If you like you can fined the posts by using the "Search" gadget under the "About Me" gadget. There are tabs for This Blog , Interesting Links and The Web.   It should be under the This Blog  tab. Well I was supposed to put the kit in a dark place and spritz it with water twice a day to keep it moist. This time I left it on a tabletop and never watered it. One day I noticed that the mushrooms were back! They're supposed to be edible "oyster" mushrooms. Last time I let them dry out instead of eating them. This time I may take a chance and try one.

Before finding this blog I never knew about an art form called ACEO.   It amazes me how Jan can make such miniature beautiful paintings.  About ACEOs... "ACEO is an acronym for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  They are always 2 1⁄2 by 3 1⁄2 inches (64 mm × 89 mm),  about the size of a sports trading card today.  They are never larger or smaller than this size.  An ATC (Artist Trading Card) is this same size." ~Jan The link: ~Sharing My Thoughts Today~

It's a new micro-poetry blog by  Teresa Evangeline called Bayou Summer.    "Each day I will be posting a poem with an image." The link: bayou summer

Over ten years ago I put these figures on a basement windowsill.  For all that time I only glanced at them as I walked passed.

The Pilum was a javelin w ith a hard steel head attached to a soft neck. It was designed to bend once it landed if it did not hit an enemy soldier. If the pilum missed the target it would bend over making it useless. This way it could not be thrown back at the Roman soldier. If the  pilum would penetrate the enemy shield the soft neck would bend over.  Removing the head of the pilum from the shield would take too much time, so both pilum and shield were then thrown away leaving the man defenseless.  http://www.jaysromanhistory.com/romeweb/romarmy/equip.htm When Roman Soldiers confronted their nemesis in battle, they would typically throw the Javelins first trying to take out their enemy before they had to face them head on. When they did have to face their enemy head on, this is when they would draw their Ancient Gladius Sword. The Roman Warrior usually led with their Scutum (shield) and used their sword as a weapon for...

I'm not sure why ancient Roman warriors fascinate me.  Maybe it's just that they were the best military force for over a thousand years! I'm against violence but there must be a bit of violence in the human genetic makeup.  The evidence is the almost constant state of war we are in, the excitement of battle, movies, video games... All glorify murder! I took most of the information from various websites but mosly from: http://www.jaysromanhistory.com/romeweb/romarmy/equip.htm Gladius ( Short thrusting Sword) "Roman battle tactics called for close - ordered, disciplined troops fighting as a team as opposed to individual heroics as used by many of their enemies.  Trained soldiers, standing shoulder to shoulder for twenty minutes at a time, methodically killing their opponents.  When an occasional lucky stroke by a barbarian warrior brought down a Roman soldier, another of his brethren immediately stepped forward to fill his spot. ...

Taken from web and from  http://jaysromanhistory.com/index.htm My next post will cover weapons.