While I was creating this island with the Terragen landscape generating program I was reminded of my schooldays; and in particular Miss Broadbottom's history class.
While she would be droning on about the Kings and Queens of England, I would be lost in my latest buccaneering fantasy, busily sketching another imaginary island in my jotter. It was her wont to frequently waddle up and down the aisles between pupils' desks checking that her words were being diligently recorded when, on more than one occasion, she would stop mid drone. Thirty or more bored heads, eagerly seeking distraction, would turn towards where she had stopped; behind my desk. Her remonstration at my inattention was both swift and dismissive: a corrective slap across the back of the head accompanied by a shrill cry of "Fiddlesticks". I'm quite sure this was the strongest expletive she could find in her vocabulary. She would then allow the stifled sniggers to subside before she waddled on to continue with her monotonous listing of the succession of monarchs.
Of course, Broadbottom wasn't her real name. It was probably something forgettable like Jones or Brown. Although it is fair to say that, to put it in nautical terms, there was a fair distance between her port and starboard extremities.
Now that's a shaggy parrot story, if ever I heard one.
You can see the full size image here at my Flickr webpage.
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