Lavender

[jacqulina 162]

its great to see lavender back,and what a beautifull pic too,looks so serene and very scenic,sorry to hear about your pc but at least you have hopefully got it back to how it should be,looking forward to some more great work

[vidioman 21]

Very picturesque! The terraforming is amazing! I think I might bookmark this one and check back frequently! (which is rare for me)

Welcome to page seven, BTW.

[GMT 389]

very cool landscape.

is this wrecked ship a lot or is it picture editing?

[mrbisonm 1,620]

Thanks for the many comments already, I am kinda surprized since I thought that I will have a hard time to get this CJ back into the views again, after so many months of silence.
Yes GMT, this boatwreck is a Nexis BATlot, one of several to come of new Nexis BATs and Lots that we will see in this CJ.

There will be less pictures in this CJ and also they will be a tiny bit smaller and of less quality, but nothing much many of us will remark. The story will be different and richer, and I would even say more interesting and adventurous, maybe even you might become sometimes ......mh......anxious??

Let's start with the story now........

 

Chapter One: Friday, the first day of a long summer.

 

 

 

We all heard the schoolbell ringing in the Maincity's surburbia and it wasn't too long that young Little John came out running through the schooldoors as the first of them all to greet the beginning of  the summer vacation and hurry to his home ,just about at the border of the suburbs, only 10 minutes away by foot. Today he will make it in five.

 

Highschool...

 

Today is a special day , it is the day the long summer vacation starts, but also very special because tomorrow the whole family will leave for an adventure to Great Great Grandfather's soil, the Lavender region.
Little John is anxious, just like his brothers and sisters, to get home and wait for father John to come back from the Main City's downtown. John has promissed his kids that they will be leaving on boat for a four week vacation to the Lavender region, which belongs partially to the family for more than 200 years now.
No one of this family has been there for the last 150 years or so, just about when great great grandfather George died.

Little John is the youngest of the five boys, only 11 years old , but already feeling and acting like a young and proud man. Forests, mountains, lakes, rivers and wildlife are his passions and nothing could have been more joyful to him when he heard that the family owns several thousand acres of pure untouched nature.
Little John's two oldest brothers, Billy (William) and Henry were supposed to go to the city's archives together with father after his office hours and get the map from that region they said belongs to the Lavender family, and this, Little John is so anxious about to see.
The Lavender region is actually north of the Home City, only about 300 kilometers away and the only access to it is still by boat or hydroplane, unless you like to walk for a longtime over mountainous deepforested unknown terrains.
A highway is in the building only about only 40 kilometers south of there, but from there on the forests swallow everything alive and you need to be a fullblooded purebred Pioneer to train these valleys and mountains that never really have been surveyed yet. Father John was informed 3 weeks week only that the highway to the north will be running right through his land and that he was asked to sell a good part of the land for that specific use. It was awakening his memory about the forgotten land. That is also why he talked about it to his family for the first time and why he wants to take a family vacation on this land, before it will get invaded by the human civilization. Father John never really bothered mentioning the lands that he inherited from his father, simply because he is not the nature type, but more like one of the most important buissness men in the City, admiring the people and works of it. We may call him a pure Cityslicker.

The day is Friday, on a beautiful first summerday of 1951, Little John came running from school into the house bursting open the frontdoor and screaming Billy's and Henry's names, but its echo was left without an answer. He is the first one arriving home. Mother Julia is out in the garden , talking to the Gardener and giving him the last directions for what to do in the next weeks, while the whole family will be gone sailing to nowhere's land.
Hastely and out of breath Little John asked loudly standing in the doorway to the garden:
*Mom, did Billy, and Henry got back from the archives yet?* Mother had to calm him first and telling him not to interrupt when two other people are talking, and then answered: * No Junior*, as she calls him, *they are still in downtown and they will pick up father later on before they come home, they said this morning*...*-* Geeee...* Little John almost yelled,*why do they always have to take so loooong?*, and he almost crawled back into the house with a sobing head. Sister Mary-Chess, the oldest of the three Lavender girls, arrived from school and was somehow surprised that Junior has already arrived from school, which was very unusual and asked: * Hey, were you sick today?* Little John just mumbled something , only he himself could understand while walking to the kitchen to fill his belly with an afternoon snack.

 

Downtown Maincity's Archives...

 

So, the rest of the afternoon went by smoothly and most of the family came back home, except for Father John and his two older sons, which of course was driving Junior nuts by now. His twinbrother Allen was not so anxious to see the map, and he just played with the cat in the garden as if it was just a normal friday.
The three girls and mother started working on the supper and the maid was about to prepare the table when Little John heard father's big Cadillac turning into the driveway. Jumping up like a flushed grouse, he ran as fast as he could to meet them, not touching even one of the steps down to the driveway and actually arrived beside the car before even anyone had the chance to get out.* Did you get the map..did you get the map... What's it like? Did you look at it? Do You have it?* were the only words that he was able to say with his anxiousness.
Father John stepped out of the car and reaching back in to get a big tubelike cartonbox from the backseat and showing it to Junior with a big smile, since he knew that he was the worst case of curiosity ever born in the Lavender family. *We got the whole thing, Junior, the map of the land, the region,pictures etc and believe me it looks biiiig*, he said while slamming the car's door shut behind him. With a very big smile Little John cried, * alright, can I see it?*....pointing his index finger slightly to the sky, *ha, slow down Junior, we will have a look at it all together later*, father John added quickly.

Ever since Father John found some old papers in the attic three weeks ago of the Lavender region to get to know exactly what the gouvernment was talking about to run their highway through, most of the kids have become curious also. He did not only found some old papers saying that region belongs to the Lavender family, but also talked about the history of it and their Great Great Grandfather George Lavender who was the first to land there in 1742.
Interested in this mysterious story, the family decided to go on a vacation trip to the mystic land that John is the proudly owner of since his father's accidental death in 1947, instead of heading to the southbeach and spent their summer there in that old and boring summercottage of theirs like every other year. This summer will be different. John even bought a massive sailboat only for the trip, big enough to hold the ten family members, and which all the kids admired last weekend already. This year will be remembered. They want to see this land before it will get spoiled.

*So, let's all have supper now, I am hungry and then we all have a look at the maps*, father said and at that precise moment Little John looked for a second like he was about to crack right there, turning greenish white in a fraction of time, having hoped for the impossible, to have a at least a tiny look at the maps before supper. His heart stopped for a second ,which seemed like an hour to him. He became a stone monument.     

Well, the supper was a quick one for everyone and the Maid didn't even have time to ask who wanted some desert, when everyone was already in the big living room, waiting for father to open that big tubelike cartonbox.

Lavender's Family home...

 

Ahhss and wooowss could be heard by the dozen all around, once the old grey and yellow papers were spred on the tables to reveil the slightly faded maps of the Lavender region. With help of the familybook and the archives numbers, it was time to figure out which,where and what belonged to Lavender. There were so many lots in so many different counties..... But little John already knew it seemed, reaching with his small index right over to the middle of the big map and stating loudly: *That's it, I am sure, it must be it, right there.....and there...and wait, this too.What's this? oh... If I were Greatgreatgrandpa , that is what I would have chosen, the river and...wow...look there, it looks like another river......and a lake and....hmmmmm....are these the mountains???*. Little John couldn't see enough at the same time and his eyeballs were just popping out to gather as many images as quickly as possible. He was all over the maps at the same time. Father had to calm him again, before his brothers will get on his back again and tease him for his behavior.

After almost two hours of mapwandering and measuring, counting and lot numbering, the lines were outdrawn .The Lavender property was staken out, smack right in the middle of the Regional map, just as Little John thought, and now he was smiling ,satisfied of his finds.
Several thousand acres of untouched land belonged to them, separated by the Grand Totem River that comes flowing down from the western mountains. Father John was surprised that he never even bothered to look at what he was paying excessive taxes for all these years. The land is immense and rich looking with forests, mountains, rivers and lakes. Just a plein beautiful valley it seems.

Region picture...

 

 

The same region with its flore...

 

 

All of sudden the map rolled up and father John stuck it back into the tube in no time while looking at his family and said: *Tomorrow will be a long day. I have to see at the Industries, the farms and also drop by at the office one last time, before we leave to Alexis harbour to baptise the sailboat. Mom and all you others , you will be preparing all the stuff we will need for the two weeks on the water. So let's go to bed and be well rested before we leave.*, and without arguing, everyone without acception slowly disappeared at their turn and went to bed. Little John was hardly able to reach his bed, so tired and outworn , head filled with ideas and dreams. * Good night Mom, good night Pa*, were the last words heard in this big house that night, before everything went dark ,the silence installed itself after a very busy day after all.

 

 

Nexis of Genesis became a success because of all the readers it had, let's hope that Lavender will follow in its steps. I hope you all like it and are anxious to read the continuing story every weekend (at least) and maybe even get encouraged or inspired on your own region or maybe even learn a thing or two. Enjoy Lavender now, I'll be back soon....

 

mrbisonm

[mrbisonm 1,620]

Before I continue this CJ, I have to get used to this new forum, because at this moment, I have no idea to upload the pictures, could take some time......

Although changes are nice, I personally don't like them, because I always have to re-learn and re-learn and that kinda gets boring and is discouraging to continue. I just started to get used to the older forum and now that is all changed ......

Be back, when I found out how.

BTW, is there's place where the uploading of pictures is explained? I have no idea what *url of the image* means........!

[Shadow Assassin 336]

To upload the image, just go to www.imageshack.us [or www.imgcity.net - whatever floats your boat] and upload your image there. The URL is the link that refers to the image. You must use tags for the image to show up. An example URL is this: www.imageurl.com\img\yourimage.jpg

[for some odd reason, forward slashes don't work on here, so that's why they're backslashes]

edit: Silly me. I forgot. Great start to the story, mrbisonm. I shall keep an eye on this.

[sloppet 3]

Well.. url of the image is it's address...

like here...

the url of your image is in the red box (it's the direct link to the images...)

[img ] your address to the image ft>

and it'll look like this...

isn't it easy?

[mrbisonm 1,620]

Thanks...but this I know. Only one problem, that is what I didn't mean. Am I not able to upload any pictures to this site anymore?. Imageshack and all the others do not work for me, since my connection is too slow probably. The only pics that I can upload there have to be very tiny, like my banner below. As soon as they reach a certain size, the site will tell that it takes too long.......

Hope we can still upload pics to ST, otherwise, that'll be for me!!! No more bats/lots, nor CJ'.s. Sorry.

[sloppet 3]

Originally posted by: mrbisonm

Hope we can still upload pics to ST, otherwise, that'll be for me!!! No more bats/lots, nor CJ'.s. Sorry.quote>

oh no! I hope that this will never happen!

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Like i said in Nexis, just send the pictures to me by e-mail like you did with the region view awhile back and I will upload them for you and give you the link.

Looks good, can't wait for more!

[mrbisonm 1,620]

Thanks Leech, I probably will do this. First I will let settle this new site down until it functions probably again, then maybe I find out how to upload pics to this site, I think one can, but no one seems to know exactly and besides those who say, don't explain properly.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Hmm. I get the feeling you "Attach it" using the Attach Files thingy...

[mrbisonm 1,620]

While I try to figure out how to offer you fullsized pictures, let's continue with the story.

New Forum....New Problems and now we all have to get used to it. I have difficulties with it, maybe because it is unknown , or maybe because everything ain't working properly yet. Hope that it will get better. Anyways, let's hope that Dirk's work was worthwhile. Looks good sofar though.

Annex One: History of the Lavender family

Before we continue with the story itself, maybe we should introduce a little more of the region and the family, that bear the same name. Some statistiques, explanations and history might come in easy later on in the story for a better understanding.

1742 was the year that George Lavender and his wife Rose imigrated to the new world. Already having been a Baron in the old world, he was given many acres of savage land on the northern half of the continent. No one really was (and still is not) sure exactly how many acres exactly there were, but looking at the latest official calculations in 1944, there should be somewhat around 6400 acres (approx 3000 ha).

The land was rich in forests,lakes and rivers, which was ideal for the plans that George had.

George had two sons and one daughter. The daughter drowned in the Grand Totem River only two years after their arrival. She was only 5 years old and which left the family disturbed. Both of the sons helped the family to cut the forests, clear the land and rebuild the terrains to make it fertile enough for agriculture, which took almost 15 years. George accidently died on the farm in 1801, when the sons were about 22 and 23 years old. The farm was going great , but both sons didn't have the heart to continue. So the land was abandonned and both brothers left to the Maincity, only 300 kilometers southward, where all the action was. Mother continued the farm for two years with the help of a hired hand but also abandonned the farm and joined her two sons, once they were making a lot of money in the great city.

Stimulated by the inventions of modernizations of things ,the Lavender boys started some buissnesses with all kinds of merchandise. When the Civil war outbroke, leather objects such as boots and saddles etc, were manufactured by the thousands and the Lavender family became well known in the buissness world.

Generations passed and so changed the interest of the Lavender family. At one time when the automobile was invented, the Lavender Industries , already called this by the turn of the 19th century,made its fortunes with autoparts and oil products. Just after the first worldwar, only one Lavender family member had survived and inherited all the Companies. It was John's father, Charles Lavender.He knew about the already forgotten land, but really never had the chance to have a good look at it, nor was he very interested since WW II staretd and it was time to make money again. Planes, war machines,food and outfits were manufactured during these terrible years, which really made the family rich and well known. Lavender Industries now counted more than 14 manufacturing departments and also some farms that father Charles liked so much.

A few years after the war , Charles Lavender was killed in an airplane crash and both sons, John and Frank took over the industries. In the first year of their running the firms, Frank died of cancer at the age of 39 years only and John was the only inheritant of the family. Which brings us up to 1951, where our story begins.

Let's meet the family:

John married Julia, a gouvernor's daughter, 23 years ago during WW2 and had 8 children since. Five boys and 3 girls. The oldest is Billy (William) (19yo), followed by Henry (18yo), the third is Kevin (17) and then Mary-Chess (16),after the little pause came Jessica (14yo) and Helen (12yo) and to finish it all the twinbrothers (not identical though) Little John and Allen, both eleven years old.

Charles Lavender wife and John's mother Louise, still lives in the old Lavender Mansion, that we get to visit one day. She is still more or less the head of the family, now aged in the late sixties already.

This story will be mostly about Little John and some of his brothers and one sister, we will follow their entire lifespan of Glory,celebrity and nightmares.

Lavender industries today produce and manufacture all kinds of things, such as rubber, plastics, other oil byproducts and also tools, auto and airplane parts. But also they still own the very big Lavenderfarms, just outside of the Maincity, and which Billy (the oldest son) is so interested in.

Most of the Manufactures are in the Maincity, but some other branches are now situated in other Major Cities around the country. Lavender oil Co. is in the southern hemisphere of the world on another continent. This was purchased only about 15 years ago ,just after the war,and is only barely starting to bring profits to the family.

The region that we will be playing in, was partially forgotten with time for several generations, until about three weeks ago, when the Gouvernment contacted John to inform him that Highway 12, one of the most important eastern highways, will be elongated to the north to reach the third biggest City in this country. The problem, if we may call it so, is that the Lavender region, which was sleeping until now,is right in the pass of that highway. The disccussion 0of the sale of some of this land should be discussed later this fall, when the highway will be approaching Lavender.

John knew that he was paying taxes for the land, but never really knew where it was situated, nor did he realize the size of it. Being a real Cityslicker and not liking anything that is alive and has more than 2 legs, John never bothered going into the details of Great great Grandfather's terrain, always thinking of it as something of an unimportant heritage, until today, where his family senses were awakened and he started to get interested in his family backgrounds. He never even bothered telling his wife nor his kids about it, and it was quite a surprize to all them when he finally spit it out. Mostly Little John, who is the family's patriot, couldn't believe that father John never mentioned where they came from.

Up until last year, the family spent their summer and winter vacation on a mile long beach that they bought in the south, where they have another smaller Mansion. The discovery of the Lavender region changed the minds of the whole family, even father John. A sailboat was bought and delivered to Alexis harbour near downtown, especially for this trip to that region. It will take only a few days to reach the mouth of the famous Grand Totem River, where many mystery stories were born. From there the Lavender region can be easily reached in the inside of this valley. Some mysteries they say are that the riverbanks further upwards are seeded with totem poles from ancient aborigins to keep the white invaders out of their domains. Well, we may find some surprizes here and there in this new region to discover and maybe some very interesting ones.

One more thing, I started some little BATting and Lotting again and during this CJ we will see some new Nexis BATs and Lots and I might even upload some to the STEX, if I can find some help later on to tweak the lots (something that I don't do and don't wanna to do neither). Here are some teasers...

I will be back with Chapter two in a few days, whether during this week or at the latest, next weekend.

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Looks good, can't wait for more!

[mrbisonm 1,620]

Found a hosting site where I was able to upload pictures to. Lucky me......lol

Chapter Two:

June 14th, 1951

Saturday, 9:30 AM, little John finally awakens from his dreams and slowly opens his eyes only to see that the sun is already high up in the sky. With one jump only, he got out of his bed and slipped into his pants. Nervous as he is, it didn't take time to reach the kitchen downstairs and see who and where everyone is. The house is empty it seems, so he started walking towards the backdoor to see if anyone has started packing the boxed yet and what a surprize it was to him, to see that most everything was already packed and that two of his brothers are playing in the backgarden. Mother Julia is siiting on a longchair and reads the .....oh my god......the MAP! Junior had to see it again since he dreamed of it allnight, and he sat beside mother, who asked * So? Did my little boy get a good night sleep?* It was only a tiny *hm* that answered the question and Little John had his eyes blocked already on that interesting map.

Out of the house came Helen, the last of the girls asking Mother Julia for a hand with her clothes, she had problems what to take along, because only a smaller bag was allowed to bring on the trip as father John told and ordered everyone last night. He probably didn't want to hire any moving vans to bring the stuff to the sailboat. Mother handed over the map to Junior and said: * I'll be back in a minute, be very careful with that map*...Eyeballs popping out and the colour changing from darkblue to light grey, he eagerly took the map in his hands and surely it couldn't be in better hands to take care of. His mouth slightly opened as if he just saw the most beautiful Cookie in his life. One could swear that he was about to produce an extra load of saliva.- The world around him just disappeared and his mind left his body to join the map, once he slightly opened it. It was old, grey and faded, looking like a hundred years old newspaper, but it was interesting, so intense that nothing could get him back into reality for the moment that he was enjoying his trip into Great great Grandfather's land on the map. So many mysterious things to see and read.

Mother came back, but left the map in Junior's hands, which he thanked her with a satisfying look. Then he asked:...*Mom? Where's Dad?*...With a little smile on her face she answered in a low voice:...* Don't you remember? He was going to town to get everything ready and see to the buissness for a last time, so that we can leave tonight. Don't worry, Junior, he'll be back before you know it.* Little John nodded his head, he remembered and was assured. Now back to the map.

John Lavender was indeed in downtown and this since very early this morning. He wanted to go to the office one last time and give last directives to the ones that were working today, on Saturday.

The Lavender HQ office is right smack in the middle of the MainCity, and it is a very modern building for the middle of the 20th Century. It was built only last year by a plan that John himself designed.

But at the time that Little John woke up at home, Father John has already been here and leaving downtown now on his way to the Manufacturing industries just outside the City and near the harbour. Here he only is about to have a look at the mainoffice and leave a note to one of his Directors. He knows that he will be missing all this for the next four weeks and his worry and unbalance is already showing on his face, when he walked into the office building. The receiveing Secretary saw and realized what is going on with John and very calmly told him: ...*Mister Lavender, I can see in your face that you will have worries again to leave the Company for a few weeks and let it managed by others. May I remind you Sir, that for the last 10 years or so, whenever you went to the south, the Company was ok when you came back?*...The little smile on John's left side of the face was all the Secretary needed to tell her that he understood, and John told her to spend a nice time of her own also.

Back into the car and John left to the MainCity's heights, right on top of the mountainous plateau, where all the Lavenderfarms are. Raising mostly cattle, the Lavender farms exist since the late twenties when Grandpa Lavender found the pleasure of farming. The farms have been kept and enlarged almost every year, now counting approximativly 800 ha and a total of around 700 cattle.

John himself comes by here once a month to see if things are all in order. Many hands have been hired to work on the farm and it is one of his best and trustfully men that is taking care of the farms since almost 20 years. John wanted to see him one more time before going back home and help therest of the family to prepare the baggages and then visit Grandma for supper before leaving to the harbour, where the sailboat already waits,floating on the water.

Billy, the oldest of the Lavender boys , is the one who spends most of his freetime here on the farms, just like an ordinary farmworker. He loves the smell of the country cool air and the harvested hay, and he loves to work hard and almost fall dead to his bed every night after, completely worn out by the hard physical work. John is already thinking of leaving the farms in Billy's hands a little, so he can get more in touch with its soul. Billy would love it, John thinks, but yet he did not mention it to anyone, not even to his wife. Maybe

once in the Lavender region, a perfect moment to tell this will present itself. Of course, agricultural studies will be necessary for Billy, meaning that he will be still going to school at least three days a week, but he is almost 20 years old, John thinks and at his age, John was already running his father's buissness fulltime.

After having talked to Andy the Farm manager and both agreed to wait for his return to sell of the surplus of the cattle, John hopped back into his Cadillac and drove off to home, this time taking the road through the little canyon. Although he is not really into nature and its beauty and things like that, John likes to drive through the canyon with the windows open. Here you can smell the decaying leaves of the dark and moist forest ground and the mossy and humid rocks, which is almost a perfume to him. It probably reminds him of his father taking the trip to the farms every sunday morning with him in his boyhood. The valley is only 1 mile long and very narrow, which of course leaves very little sunshine to enter it and the air is always a lot cooler and refreshing here, than anywhere else.

Back home, the kids have almost finished to prepare all the baggages, it was more the girls than the boys though, since they spent their time in the backgarden playing soccer.

Julia was awaiting John at the front door:...*Is everything ok in town?*...* Yeah, it seems ok for now*... John answered, still showing a little worryness on his face... *Oh c'mon John, you know that'll be fine like always, it has been for the last 10 years, now stop that sillyness* ...Julia added, while taking on her serious look. Again John gave his leftsided smile, which was more than an answer to Julia, who returned the smile with a little kiss on the cheak.

Little John was still in his world appart somewhere on the map, when all of sudden he awoke while hearing his father's voice. He is very close to Dad and everyone knows.

...*Pa...come here, I found something on the map that surely you don't know of*, he loudly shouted towards the open living room door. Without a hesitation John appeared in the doorframe and walked towards him while saying:...*So what did the little one discover again?* Little John's finger was already on the map precisely where the discovery was. * Look at this and tell me *,Junior announced, * does that look like waterfalls or what?*. Father had a serious look and agreed while saying: *Yeah, it looks nice too, maybe we can reach it by boat and have a closer look.* John answered silently. Little John's eyes glowed when he heard this.

Everyone was doing their thing for the rest of the afternoon, preparing all the things for the long trip. The maid and the gardener were given last directives and Dad's big Pickuptruck was charged with all the baggages,beddings and other stuff. John's best friend and neighbor came by and helped him a little bit. John asked Richard, his friend, to keep a close eye on his home like all the other years. Of course Richard willingly accepted. The Company's Bus was already waiting in the driveway and while everyone was having a last look at the house while entering the bus, John started the pickup and yelled that they will all meet in 15 minutes at Grandma's place, where John's mother has been preparing a good family meal for supper.

Grandma Louise Lavender, the widow of Charles, has been very quiet since her husband's death five years ago, and spends most of her time reading, gardening and playing cards with some other widowed friends of hers. But to have her family over for supper surely enbrightens her moments and she couldn't be in a better mood then, eagerly awaitening the Lavender bunch as she calls them. Her other son Frank, John's only brother, never had the chance to get married and have kids before he died.

During supper the main discussion was about the Lavender valley, its history, location and so on. Grandma liked the idea for her son to have a look at it with his family, because this is what Grandpa always wanted to do, but never really found the time and she kept on telling the story of Charles and her memories. John also explained to the family that he may be taken some flightlessons in the fall, like his father, and maybe buy a small Beaver Hydroplane also, that could easily access the promissed land better and easier. By the way, he mentioned that two of the sons will be old enough next year to sail the boat up there by themselves, without mentioning any names though. This was like a lightening strike to Billy and Henry, which like woke up in big surprize and joy to hear father himself saying this. Of course they both knew that he was talking about them. Then John mentioned something about building a cottage, just like they did in the south and so on and on. Julia looked a little surprized at John, not being sure that she is really listening to her husband, John Lavender. Is he already talking about next year plans, even if he didn't see the region yet.....she thinks? Little John was all ears also, listening to every word Pa and Grandma had to say. He was even chewing his meal very little and slowly, making sure not to miss any words spoken.

The evening went by smoothly and John wanted to leave early, to be certain that they arrive before the night falls, explaining to Grandma.

* One thing I would like you to do before you get onto the waters,* Grandma said looking at John and Julia, * I want you all to go and visit Grandpa in the cemetary and tell him where you are going. His spirit will come with you I am sure...., please* ...*Ok Mother, we'll do* John said. How could John refuse this favour?.

Off they left to the cemetary, which is on the way to the harbour anyways, and after they all arrived in time in the harbour, where the sailboat was waiting to be borded. It took them almost one hour to place all the stuff they brought along and get settled in. The bus and truck were driven back home by two of John's employees. While John, Billy and Henry were detaching and releasing the boat to let it sail out the big harbour, Julia prepared some hot chocolates for the gang that she loved so much. Four of the kids were already in their bunkbeds with heavy eyelids and that before the sun struck the far horizon of the sea out in the west.

* Northward here we go*, John yelled turning the wheel, pointing with his right arm to where he thinks north is and taking a sip of that delicious hot chocolate. Julia smiled. Little John was sitting all by himself right in the front of the boat, as if he wants to be the first to see the new land. * What's happening to Junior,* the little Helen asks, * he acts kinda strange lately.* Mother just her in her arms and said: * he's just anxious to get there*.

Just about 30 miles north of the maincity the sun disappeared behind the horizon and left the world with little light. The sailboat took the direction of a nearby quiet bay to anchor and spend the night. Everyone was already asleep, even little John was brought down by his father awhile ago, when he fell asleep on the deck.

Only Julia and John admired and savoured one more moment the endless seasky and the little strip of orange light it beared. * It will be in three or four days when we reach the Grand Totem River entry, from there it will be only one more day to reach great great Grandpa's land. You think you can handle all this?* John said to his wife holding her closer. Nodding and a certain smile was the answer and both disappeared below deck for the night.

Chapter three, next weekend, if I get enough people interested in this story.....

mrbisonm

[Micah 16]

Ahhh... man... Well, I read the story, but sadly your photos aren't working. Yeah, it's probably the coding.

[sloppet 3]

great update mr. bisonm!!

[mayormommy 8]

Wow, I'm glad the story is really going now. Your characters are much more filled out and interesting in this CJ. And of course, the pics are quite nice too.

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Looks good, can't wait for more!

[cowcorn 11]

Excellent story! It's nice thatyou choosed to make Lavender a controlable CJ compared to Nexis of Genesis.

[mrbisonm 1,620]

Thanks folks for the comments. I will have another update, plus a preview of the Maincity (another region that will enter this story) in a day or two.

Also for those that await the end of Nexis of Genesis, I started writing the story, but I have lots to do, so be patient if you want to have all the details of a good ending story.

mrbisonm

[rooker1 4]

Awesome pics.

[i-cube 1]

breathtaking scenery. love that terraforming !!

[Fabiocb 1]

nice story and the attention to detail on the city is great.

[mrbisonm 1,620]

CHAPTER 3

It was kinda strange waking up to the sounds of silence. Only the little splashing sound of the water against the shell of the boat could be hardly heard. Little John took some minutes to realize that the dream was finished and that reality has taken over. Lifting his head, he saw that Billy was awake also, getting dressed already.

The first night on water was over, and after a good breakfast and a swim of the two oldest boys and the oldest daughter Mary-Chess, the boat was back on its journey northbound again. Kevin, the third son was holding the wheel today, standing proud like an old seawolf. Hardly any wind was blowing and the sailship was going at a slower speed than yesterday. Father John was calculating with the map that it will take less time though to reach the river's mouth than anticipated... *By the end of the day we will have made approximately halfway...*, he finally said to his crew of mostly little ones, which of course was joyful to most of them. After the diner the wind picked up and John took over steering the boat to the rivermouth.

All of sudden Jessica shouted: *...Hey guys, there's a small boat coming...* Indeed, this was the only encounter of the morning.

John talked about Fleckstone City that they will encounter later on the day,the last bigger town before the Totem River's entrance. ...*This City was were Great Great Grandpa's sons made their first fortunes, once they have left the farm after their father's death*... he said during diner...* This is where it all started for our family and this is where the Lavender Industries were founded in 1802, but they moved to the Maincity in the late 1800's*... he added. Julia, his wife didn't believe again what she heard, her husband being interested in his family's history. She said, ...* I believe you have been studying the map and the family book lately, now haven't you, John?*, and that little leftsided smile of John that Julia loved so much appeared again confirming that he indeed was informed by now and Julia was right as always.

After one full afternoon of sea traveling yesterday they followed the coast today, meet some settlements and a farm here and there. The temperature was perfect in the afternoon,sunny with a nice 24 C (76F) and light winds just perfect for the sailboat to float silently. Each member of the family had their turn on the wheel today. Allen and Billy were the only ones that liked the idea of steering the boat, the others didn't really have interest in and were mostly inot fishing from the side of the ship.

All of sudden a bigger boat was seen later while Kevin was holding the steering, it was a ferry, meaning that Fleckstone is about to appear on the horizon, the last biggest town towards the north.

John took over the guiding of the sailship for the rest of the evening.

Later into the day father John was pushing the boat northward a littler harder with full sails opened. He wanted absolutley pass the City of Fleckstone before anchoring for the night, and he did. By the late hours the City was reached and familiar sounds could be heard over the water. The sound s of machines, automobiles and the other regular sounds that humans make. Julia brought this to her husband's attention, and now he also realized that man has been sound polluting our world.

It was all agreed that it also would be nice to take a walk on solid land after these long hours on water, and off they went with the small boat towards the beach to spend an hour on land in the darkness, lighting up a small fire on the banks, after they lost the view of the civilization again. Most of kids stayed on the boat, belly filled with an excellent supper and eyes that slowly close for the night. A bottle of wine was brought alongshore and slowly devored before the warm fire. It didn't take too long for the other kids to disappear one by one to the sailboat and only little John was still on the beach, curled up in the warm sand near the fire.

The night was good and refreshing and everyone was up in early hours...* That's it boys and girls*... father shouted on deck, *tonight we end up near the Totem river, if everything goes well*...followed a by a loud yahoo from everyone. Little John passed by his father to take his place as the scout in front of the boat, before the floating home started moving again, out of the bay and back into the sea.

Meanwhile back in the Main City stressfull life keeps on continuing, now almost totally forgotten by the Lavenders. The CEO of the Lavender Industries ,and also one of John's most trustful partners, decided today to buy the Wilkinson Appartment blocks near downtown, something that John has been asking him to do for the last months. John has decided to start a new deppartment of the Lavender Industries together with the investors. *...The future is in the Appartment homes...* John said on his last meeting with his folks, just aboput a week before the vacation, * and that is what we will invest in starting next year.* The Wilkinson Appartments were the most modern homes yet, the Lavender Corporation bought the homes, the idea and the plans, only to make it their buissness from now on.

Before noon, John talked about this to his wife, who wasn't really clearly informed of his intentions with this idea of housing developments. Explaining every detail, she agreed that it be quite worthwhile and that one has to believe in the future if one wants it. And off they went with the wind again.

Here are two preview pictures of the Maincity, another region that will soon enter the story. It has a population of 2.1 Million.

[sloppet 3]

OUTSTANDING work mrbisonm!! this is sooo insane!!

[cowcorn 11]

Great update! Despite this CJ being very different from Nexis of Genesis it is unmistakably your's. You have your own CJ style that is distinctive of any other CJ author.

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Looks good, can't wait for more!

[jacqulina 162]

awesome work on them updates,fantastic harbour,very nice details all round,i love the design too,pics are very pretty,and as for the story its great

[bat 6]

Nice Cj and nice updates!

Fantastic work... and a nice story

bat