Aging Capriciously

As part of a writing assignment, I describe one of my favorite hobbies.  I love to collect interesting and unique dragons.  Dr. Wedin, our writing instructor, asked each of us to do a short piece on any hobbies that we had.  The following is my contribution to this assignment for our writing club.  I have included a few of my dragons. 

I collect dragons.  Dragons are popular in many world cultures.  Three countries have dragons on their national flags.  Many more places such as Moscow also have dragons on their flags.  In China, the color of a dragon is symbolic.  Red, yellow, green, black, purple, white or gold, they all have different meanings.  A purple dragon represents love and romance.  A gold dragon symbolizes wealth and prosperity.  A white dragon is an omen of death.  There are nine types of Chinese dragons.  Some fly, some live underground, some have horns, and some are spiritual.  Dragons in China are generally benevolent or helpful to people.

In Western culture, dragons are usually depicted as evil.  We are all familiar with Saint George and the dragon and of course the famous Smaug in Tolkien’s story, the “Lord of the Rings.”  Throughout medieval history, one of a knight’s principle roles was to rescue women from dragons.  Why dragons loved to steal women is a good question since I have never heard of a dragon that ate a woman?

While most people regard dragons as mythical creatures, some people believe that dragons once really lived.  There is some evidence of this in the Bible.  The Book of Job, chapter 41 — seems to describe a dragon in great detail:

“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form. Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth” (NIV).

In Indonesia, you can still find a live dragon known as the Komodo dragon.  It does not fly or breath fire, but you would not want one as a pet.  The Komodo dragon is actually a species of lizard, but who knows, maybe the Komodo dragon is a descendant of some long dead dragon that once roamed the world with dinosaurs.

I am fascinated by the variety of dragons.  Some are cute and cuddly.  Some are mean and ferocious.  Some are noble and dignified.  Some are evil and malignant.  You can find a dragon to represent just about any value or virtue that is important to you.

My dragons keep me company and help reflect my different moods.  I have dragon paintings, dragon sculptures, dragon paper weights and a computer dragon which watches over me while I am writing or engaged in some internet search.  At night, my dragons keep the evil spirits of the world from entering my house.  They are my guardians and my friends.

When I pass from this world, I hope my wife will bury my dragons with me.  I will need to take them to the next world to begin a new adventure with them there.

Time for Questions: 

Do you collect anything?  Why or why not? If so, what do you collect?  Why did you choose these to collect?  What is the most fun for you in terms of collecting?

Life is just beginning.

You can’t take it with you, so who will you give it to?