William Cowper in 1785 wrote "Variety is the very spice of life" in his poem The Task. We who participate in the Six Sentence Stories blog hop include those who are just getting their toes wet, so to speak, all the way up to those who have actually had some of their works published. Perhaps to some of the more accomplished writers, this may provide a means of relaxation from a more daunting writing task, while for others writing a story in only six sentences requires immense effort. Being introduced to characters in a variety of venues and circumstances expands one's horizons. Whatever your writing goal is this week, take a minute to consider linking up to the blog hop Six Sentence Stories - goal hosted by Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog. Be sure to click the link to check out the rules for this blog hop, in particular to reading the definition of a story as it pertains to this writing challenge. I think you will like the inclusivity of this writing challenge.
He sat on the sturdy tree branch where he could survey the roiling seawater below the rocky cliffs on the shoreline.
He was undisturbed by visitors walking on the paved trails to the lighthouse.
They were more interested in ascending the spiral staircase within the towering structure and in listening to the volunteers at the surrounding observatory share their knowledge about this noteworthy coastal region.
Some had spotted him and zoomed in with their cameras to take his photo when he turned his head, but they kept their distance.
His real adversary was the determined black crow that dipped and dived toward him from all angles trying to disturb his equanimity.
The goal of this caterwauling, ebony enemy was to get him to fly away from the crows’ tree.
This photo captured my mom's happiness at being with her children when they were both able to be with her in the nursing home.
From my childhood and throughout my life, through her words and actions, my mother's greatest desire was that I be happy. I am thankful for her beautiful example. Thanks to Kristi of Thankful Me who hosts the blog hop Ten Things of Thankful we have a place to share those things for which we are thankful. I am linking up, and so can you every weekend, actually from Friday to Tuesday. Click the link to get the details and to read what other bloggers are sharing.
Time out with my husband and doing it with friends
We got together with some empty nesters in our area for lunch one day and then met with some of my husband’s fellow retired teachers and their spouses on another day. The realtor we worked with to sell mom’s house a few years ago, as a way of saying thank you to clients, paid for them and for us to see the original Mary Poppins at a local theater.Since it had been a long time since we had seen the original, it was nice to be able to see it so soon after having seen the follow-up film. The invitation also included a free meal from the theater’s offerings.
Visitor at our door became the main character in my SSS blog hop post. The visitor has a family, as verified by my seeing a much smaller, and younger gopher snake among the flowers, where I did some hand weeding earlier in the week. These snakes will help deplete the ground squirrel, gopher and mice population that may decide to try to take up residence.
Gopher snake on the threshold of the doorway
Beautiful art and craftsmanship at the Historic Carousel and Museum in Albany OR.
Giraffe and hare on the carousel
My learning to watercolor paint has an added benefit. It turns out that this may be art therapy in that the physical pain I was feeling in the morning eased up during my lesson and wasn’t noticeable afterwards.
The feeling that comes from making progress in the beginners' watercolor painting class
My attempts this week to watercolor paint a couple of leaves
My neighbor’s friendly gesture of loaning me her copy of a video because she knew that I like historical movies. Not only that, I received my very own copy, a gift from my daughter a couple days later . I am really looking forward to watching Jane and Emma.
The feeling of anticipation
Looking forward to Mother’s Day and seeing part of our family
Mothers and all those who mother and care for those around them Quotations about gratitude
"Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul." Amy Collette
How interesting it is that a writer can quickly switch gears almost in the middle of writing a story. It can become a do over if the main character has to move out of the picture because a new one has boldly entered the scene. I wonder how common an occurrence this is. Here is my quick little post for the blog hop hosted by Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog. I will be linking it to Six Sentence Stories - Focus. Click the link to see how other bloggers are responding to the need to keep it short. . .just six sentences. We would love to see you join this parade of writers.
The day was rather on the warm side, so he decided to scoot on over to check on them.
Figuring it wouldn’t be long before they would be heading outside to feed the hummers, he decided to wait in the alcove until they opened the door.
He liked surprising people.
Their response to his unannounced visits were a lot more cordial than some, and besides, they knew he meant no harm.
Like one with season tickets to symphony orchestra concerts, he lifted his head to focus on the resonating sounds coming from above.
When the anticipated moment happened, he was lost in the rapturous moment and didn’t even see their surprised expressions, nor the flashes from the cameras as they recorded his visit.
Isn't it an interesting world in which we live. Some weeks fly by, others not so much, where each day seems like an eternity. No matter the speed of one's weekly journey, there are things we can can find to appreciate, even if in some weeks one might have to put themselves in a different position to see the blessings. That is one thing about participating in the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop, a hop that causes one to look more closely at his/her surroundings and the events that are transpiring and how they might be a blessing when all is said and done. Then the next step is to consider whether, or not, to express thanks. Sometimes just talking or writing about these things is just what someone else needs to hear or read and just might be good reading material for our future selves. Thanks to Kristi of Thankful Me we all have a great place to link up our Ten Things of Thankful posts each weekend. She is a great encourager and she see's the sunny side of life even when life throws her an occasional challenge. Click the link and go see what others are sharing this week. You might even read a comment or two in a post that resonates with something that has happened to you.
Phones
Because we have phones, we were able to arrange for someone to work on our tractor mower. There was nothing in the manual that indicated a Mohawk cut (my husband's description of what was happening) was even an option for our lawn. I love his sense of humor.
Being able to read
Thanks to Clark Farley, I have had an opportunity this week to read more from Almira. You might remember that name if you have read any of his TToT posts.
Ears to hear and eyes to see
One could spend endless hours reading and watching live feed speakers online. That could take more time than most of us even think is healthy, but there are some things that just seem to draw me in. For instance, this week I listened to several of the keynote speakers at the Second Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security held at the United Nations in Geneva. While one of my daughters was able to attend the BYU Women’s Conference held this week, I was able to watch some of it live on my iPad at home.
Doctors and others who are able to respond quickly to save a life
This week I learned, after the fact, that the young granddaughter of a friend very quickly went from a state of wellness to septic shock. What a scary close call for this little girl and her family! I am thankful that she is on the road to recovery.
Orders delivered on the day they were supposed to come
Having gone through the experience of ordering something and being told it would be delivered on a certain day and then having it arrive a month overdue, it was wonderful to receive my ordered art supplies arrive exactly on the day it was to be delivered, the day before my next class.
A surprise gift from a friend, just because
A friend who is so much more of an artist than I am (like super talented!), but who is encouraging me in my artistic attempts, knocked on my door to hand me a package of artist pens she thought I might enjoy, just because.
Junco friend
It is not everyday one gets to make friends with a bird. I didn't start my day with that intent, but I think being squatted down and hunched over pulling some weeds around some shrubs apparently seemed an open invitation. Since my face probably wasn't even visible to him because of the large brimmed floppy straw hat I was wearing, the dark-eyed Oregon junco probably thought I was also foraging. I could hear his quiet chipping sounds every once in a while and saw him about three feet away from me completely unafraid of my presence. I was beginning to think he was going to fly up onto my hat. Perhaps he wanted to tell me to give my husband a message. I think my husband heard him, as there will soon be a source of water for our chirping friends set up before I finish writing this post.
Easy fix for why the pump was turning on so often
One afternoon and evening we noticed that our pump was turning on more than usual, especially considering we were not running any water. The thoughts of possibly needing to fix a leak somewhere was not something we were wanting to add to the to-do list. The next morning the thought came that I should go check one more outside faucet. That was a good call as it was turned on just a little ways causing a small, but constant, stream of water to spray out on the ground around the faucet. The ground was quite wet! We do have a lot of deer in the area, so perhaps one of them bumped the handle, or maybe a raccoon wanted a drink. We have no idea how that faucet got turned on.
Copy machines/scanners
There was a time when these were not so commonly seen in homes and required a trip to town to make a copy or to have something scanned. This week I made a copy of a photograph I took to use for a pattern for a future watercolor painting. In addition I pulled out some old family history documents so I could scan them and attach them to my Family Tree on FamilySearch and to my family tree on Ancestry.
Death certificate of Susan Johnston, nee Durbin Died from heart failure following LaGrippe (name given to the Spanish Flu that killed so many during 1918 and 1919)
Repurposing Years ago, I did a little tole painting and turned an old metal cafeteria tray into a frame for small photos. This week I bought a couple of plastic food trays which I found at a thrift shop. I will add them to my watercolor painting supplies. The white one will be a pallet and the yellow one can be a cover for the pallet. Four binder clips will hold the cover in place.
Family photos framed in a repurposed metal cafeteria tray, painted burnt orange and tole painted
Thanks to Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog, the link is open for this week's blog hop Six Sentence Stories - Stable. I appreciate how reliable she is in attending to her commitment as host of this long-time blog hop and always coming up with new cues. Click the link to read more about how you can add your six sentence stories and also so you can read the other six sentence stories written this week.
Ma, I think for the good of this community I best become a member, come hell or high water. Things are just getting out of hand, and with more locals coming to the aid of the police, the faster the scoundrels will receive their due reward. Not only that, we need to look after our own, and the A. H. T. A. does a good job of that. After all, my own brother just had his horse stolen from the livery stable last week.
I suppose the next thing you will be wanting is an automobile so you can chase them down quicker.
The link is open for the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me. I am grateful for this weekly blog hop that causes participants to consider those things or happenings that make them feel thankful. In this case it is not just considering them, but actually making a written record of them on this blog hop for all who choose to read and contemplate. If you are a visitor reading this post and do not have a blog, you can always just write what you are thankful for in a journal if you have one. This practice has proven to be quite helpful for many people. Be sure to click to the link to read the other bloggers Ten Things of Thankful posts.
Bursts of energy
There were several times this week when it seemed that I had more energy than I’d felt in some time. One morning I was awake before 5:30 am and ready to be awake and out of bed. It was a nice to be able to use that energy in productive ways.
Remembering
Remembering a recipe I used to occasionally follow to make meatloaf, I went looking for it. We had eaten it often enough that I had included the recipe in a small cookbook of some of my favorite recipes to give to our children and to a class of teenage girls I was teaching at church at the time. This week I made meatloaf again, the first time in I don’t even know how long.
Discovering
When I made a simple dessert this week, I found out what happens if you accidentally leave out one ingredient. Thankfully it wasn’t ruined. It was just a soft dessert instead of a crisp, but still tasted good.
Learning
In years past I cooked meatloaf in a loaf pan. This week I tried something different and decided that will be the way I will do it from now on. I put the prepared meatloaf mixture in a greased loaf pan and put in the refrigerator to chill. When it was time to bake it, I ran a spatula inside the sides of the pan and inverted the pan on a broiler pan rack until the shaped loaf descended. Any fat drippings drained into the pan below the rack during the baking process.
Coupon via my phone
This was the first time I had accessed a coupon on my phone. I imagine many of you are chuckling by now, but hey, better late than never. In my defense, I have had my new phone less than a year. You are probably thinking, that isn’t much of a defense. . . but I am on board now. Besides getting 40% off a regular priced item I wanted to get for the watercolor painting class I am taking was an unquestionable incentive.
Poetry
When I was in grade school I discovered Trees by Joyce Kilmer in an old book of poems we had in our house. There was something about that poem that resonated with me, and still does. I am thankful that I was motivated to peruse several volumes of poems this week.
A well worn path in the grass in a grove of pine trees
Walking under and through the pines
There is something awesome about walking through acreage where years ago my husband planted young pine seedlings. Now of course the pines are towering above our heads and provide quite a different habitat than was the case when we moved here. The deer seem to be enjoying it too, as they have left several impressionable highways through the understory.
There was a time when stores were closed on Sundays. There still are some owners of stores who choose to keep their stores closed on the day which is their particular Sabbath day. (I remember seeing my Catholic grandmother cry when her local grocery store started staying open on Sundays.)I am thankful for this special day of the week when I am not disrupted by weekly tasks, am able to attend church, study scriptures and gospel topics and serve my family and others in various ways.
My husband and family
I love and appreciate their goodness and desire to help their families and others and wish all that is good for each of them.
Although I am linking up to Six Sentence Stories - Memory just a little late, I had not forgotten. I just had a few irons in the fire. Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog provides the link up for this blog hop. Don't forget click here to read the other Six Sentence Stories. You will be glad you did.
When she told them what had happened, she could sense their doubt, but even repeatedly telling them only caused them to try to distract her by changing the subject.
Her vocabulary, once on the tip of her tongue, now was often captured, like a victim held bound tightly to her tongue.
People no longer had names that she could remember, although some faces still looked familiar, but the setting was all mixed up.
She had so many things she wanted to say, but her words and recollections combined in a jumbled up fashion when she occasionally was able to utter something, and those not used to communicating with her sometimes just raised their eyebrows or shrugged their shoulders not knowing how to respond.
The questions she had fluttered like butterflies in and out of her mind, never there for long, and not allowing her to give them a voice.
She could only hope that someone, anyone, would somehow instinctively know what she needed and when because her entire life was becoming a fleeting memory.
