Color!

This one time a few years ago, I was on an island in the keys. I was on an island with no permanent structures on it and filled with tropical trees. The reason I was there was because of a high adventure camping trip with my Boy Scout troop. Part of the high adventure was to spend five days on the island exploring it, going fishing, and reef diving

The fourth night, everyone was in their tents except for man and one of the leaders. It was very warm out and the previous nights the leader had slept outside on a table because he couldn’t stand the heat. I was lying beside a campfire falling asleep, but then I heard some thunder in the distance and it began to rain slightly. So the leader and I quickly put out the fire and went to our separate tents. I didn’t’ think much of it because the hurricane, Katrina, wasn’t supposed to hit us.

The next morning I woke up to violent winds and sounds of my tent ripping. My tent mate also woke up and we both sat on both sides of the tent to keep it from flying us away. I was surprisingly calm. I didn’t say anything or scream. I just sat there keeping the tent together. I felt calm and still unlike the violent wind and ocean outside. I could hear the waves smashing the shore and each other.

Eventually my tent mate and I had to abandon our tent and we walked down the beach a bit to a temporary latrine, which had solid walls. Walking down the beach was a task because the rain felt like needles and the wind made it feel like I could jus up and fly away with it. But still I walked along somewhat fascinated to see the violent ocean and nature’s wrath.

Although the water wasn’t calm that day, I was calm like it normally is. I guess you could call me blue for that. I’m calm most the time but like the water, I’m not in a perpetual state of calmness.

Now speaking of blue reminds me of another trait. Loyalty. I’ve always been fascinated by wolves and their loyalty to the pack. I even use that to gain trust from my friends by showing my loyalty and I use it with being a member of my Boy Scout troop. In the troop, all members get equal help and respect no matter what age or rank. With friends, there have been times when some of my friends are against and mad at another friend of mine for some reason. I’ll usually just stay the neutral middleman in those situations.

For example, my friend AJ, had been getting on my other friend’s Scott’s nerves. Scott eventually got other people mad at him but I just didn’t say or do anything because I knew they’d get over it eventually. I remained loyal to both AJ and Scott and now the two of them are like best friends with each other. I guess you could say my loyalty kept the “pack” together.

Since one might refer to the color blue as calm and loyal, I could call myself blue. Although blue can be depressing and I sometimes do get depressed, but there is plenty of positive to overrun the negative. Therefore the color that I would choose to represent myself would be blue.

Personal Item: Squishy Pillow

If you think about it, there is at least one item in your life that appeals to you and you’d feel really bad if it got lost or taken away. The item for in this situation is my old sand pillow. I got it from Wal-Mart years ago from a huge bin of clearance. I picked out a red one because it’d be easy to find and it chose square opposed to cylinder because it could spread out more. It’s about half the size of a normal pillow but twice as soft. When you squeeze it, you can feel the grains of sand escaping from you fingers and the texture of the feeling are so comforting.
I originally got the pillow to use on my frequent camping trips because it was small but comfortable on those nights sleeping in a tent. It’s also very light in weight so it’s no burden to pack it in my night pack. It’s so soft and squishy and I always brought it on my trips. This one camping trip a long time ago, it was cold and snowy. When I went into my tent to sleep for the night I took a hand warmer and put it in the pillow. It felt so good because the pillow absorbed the heat making it like a heater in my sleeping bag.
Eventually I started throwing it in my bed to add extra comfort to my sleep. I always hold it in my arms as if it was a person there to keep me comfortable at night. The hand warmers on that camping trip made it more like a real person because of the simulated body heat. I do that now but instead I sit it on my bed warmer for a while before I go to sleep. It’s really comforting in the winter.
Whenever I play video games in my room I use it on my lap to rest my hands on or if I’m doing homework or watching TV, it’s always there. If I accidentally leave it on the floor, I find my dog half laying on it because I guess my scent is embedded into it and she always likes to rest on things that smell like me.
Over the years of use the fabric has been thinning out somewhat and if I hold it up the light now I can see the sand inside it. It’s like having the beach in my room but without the mess. Whenever I refer to it, it’s my squishy pillow from the squishy feeling of the sand sliding through it.
The reason why I like to sleep with it is because, once again, it’s like a person to me when I’m hugging it during the night. I love the comfort and presence of someone as much as anyone else might. I just like to always have someone to hug and cuddle and the pillow is the closest thing for when I’m sleeping.
I can get lonely at my house even though I have a girl friend, so I pick it up and it reminds me of her and gives me comfort. I know it’s kind of girlish or weak of me, but that’s how I roll and I’m not ashamed of it. I bet anyone will straddle a pillow at night if they’re felling lonely. I’ve just had a single pillow for years and it’s like the pillow has become a person in itself just to be there.
That’s what my girl friend, Candice, likes to do. She’ll call or text me just to give me company before bed, work, or college. I do the same for her and it can always give us the extra edge we need to keep going. It’ s a great team strategy if you think about it. Somewhat like “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine”.
But that’s what a little pillow can do for a person like me. It’s always there for me to help me sleep just like Candice is always there to help me work and do a good job with whatever the situation is. I bet anyone can find something like a squishy pillow in his or her lives.