Month: September 2017

Around and Around

Fandango12 Comments

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I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m cheating. But it’s a lazy Saturday and I’ve already posted twice today. So deal with it.

How am I cheating? Well, when I saw today’s one-word prompt, “circle,” I immediately thought of Joni Mitchell’s song, “The Circle Game.” But then I remembered that I had already used her song for another one-word prompt, “carousel,” a few months back.

So I tried to think of another way to incorporate the word “circle” into a post, but my mind was stuck on Joni’s song. So I figured, what the hell, I’m going to recycle that earlier post for today’s prompt. If you like Joni Mitchell, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, even if it is a rerun. If you don’t like Joni Mitchell…well, you obviously have no musical taste, so who cares?

The older I get, the more I feel that the years are going by as quickly as revolving doors or merry-go-rounds.

In fact, I’m reminded of Joni Mitchell’s classic song, “The Circle Game.” You know the lyrics, right? Sing along:

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

If you’re not familiar with this song, take a moment to listen. You won’t regret it.

Day 30 — It’s a Wrap

Fandango5 Comments

IMG_2619Today is the final day of Suzanne McClendon’s “Back Where I Come From” September Challenge, so it’s fitting that the last question is a “reflection” question.

Day 30: What did you think of this challenge? Did you enjoy it? Do you have any suggestions for 2018’s challenge song?

First, I’d like to thank Suzanne for this challenge. I truly enjoyed conjuring up many mostly long forgotten memories of my youth and the town in which I was raised. That has been fun. And most of all, it was great to read how other bloggers who also participated in this challenge answered these same questions.

That said, though, I am a private person, so revealing some of the details from my youth did cause some discomfort. Also, there wasn’t anything special, unique, or even interesting about either my youth or my hometown. I couldn’t help wondering why anyone would want to read posts about the place where I was raised. Still, I’m glad I participated.

As to a suggestion for next year’s challenge, I got nothin’.

SoCS — Do You See the Dew?

Fandango6 Comments

E1E0FEAD-5BA6-44E7-9051-764476758B21“Do you know exactly how much is due?” George asked his wife, Alicia, who was staring out of the kitchen window. When she didn’t respond, he said, “Earth to Alicia. Hello? Hello?”

“I’m sorry,” Alicia said. “Were you saying something?

“Yes, I was asking you a question, but you appear to be transfixed on something,” George said. “What are you looking at?”

“Oh George, come see this. It’s beautiful.”

Reluctantly, George got up from his desk and joined his wife at the kitchen window. “So, what’s so fascinating?”

“Do you see the dew on the grass?” Alicia asked. “The early morning sun is glinting off the dewdrops. It’s as if each blade of grass has tiny little crystalline pearls hanging on them.”

“Yeah, very pretty,” George said sarcastically. “But I gotta write a check to your dentist, so if you can take your eyes off of the dew, do you know how much is due?”

Written for today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt from Linda G. Hill. This week Dan Antion subbed for Linda, who is on a book-signing tour. The prompt for today is: “do/dew/due.” Use one, use two, or use all three.

Fishing For Compliments

Fandango12 Comments

58E1A47C-87FF-465F-B530-A6159BF5C2D0When my wife read my response to today’s one-word prompt, “witty,” she chastised me. “That was an obnoxious post,” she told me.

“What? Why would you say that?” I asked, honestly having no clue what she was talking about.

“You blatantly and shamelessly fished for compliments,” she said. “You were just begging for people to read you post and tell you in the comments how funny and witty and humorous you are. Admit it,” she insisted.

“No, I wasn’t fishing for compliments,” I protested. “I was just being brutally honest and confessing that I’m just not that witty.”

“That’s bullshit! You are so transparent. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“No!” I said. “I was being sincere, genuine.”

“And delusional,” she said. “I’m going to stop following you blog. And for what it’s worth, you aren’t very witty.”

Damn that’s harsh.

I’m kidding, of course. I’m very witty and my wife loves my blog. She just has no sense of humor!

#writephoto — Snow Day

Fandango11 Comments

E46FDEF0-53D9-480E-A3CE-D15234A2DBDFSam and his young brother, Tom, were thrilled that it had snowed enough the night before to have covered the ground with a few inches of fresh, soft, fluffy snow. And more important, the snowfall was enough for schools to be closed for the day.

After getting the blessing from their mother, who had to begrudgingly stay home from work because of the school closings, they headed out to the woods a few blocks from their home.

The boys were running around, trying to make snowballs to throw at each other. But the snow was too dry and fluffy to make good snowballs, so they decided to go exploring deeper into the woods. That’s when they saw something strange in a small clearing in the forest.

They both ran toward the object that attracted their attention. “That’s weird,” said Tom.

Sam looked around. “Hey, there are no footprints in the snow around this thing, but there’s no snow on it,” he said.

“So what does that mean?” Tom asked.

“It means that it was put here after the snow stopped,” Sam answered. “But how did it get here? Who put it here and didn’t leave footprints in the fresh snow?”

Tom looked at the object on the snow. It had three animal skulls, antlers intact, on something shaped like a yield sign. “I don’t like this,” he said to Sam. “I think it’s a warning. Let’s go home.”

“Don’t be such a wuss, Tom,” Sam said. “I want to find out what it means and who put it here. Are you with me or not?”

Tom could feel the stream of urine trickling running down his leg. He was as scared as he’d ever been in his young life. “No I’m not with you. I’m going home. Are you with me?”

Sam looked at his little brother. “Fine,” he said, “but one of these days you’ll have to develop a sense of adventure.”

When the boys walked into their home, their mother was sitting at the kitchen table sipping some coffee and listening to a news bulletin on the radio. The announcer’s voice conveyed a sense of urgency.

Authorities are urging people to stay away from the woods just east of Carroll Township, where police found three deer carcasses in what appears to be some sort of ritualistic ceremony. The animals were apparently decapitated and their heads are yet to be found.

Sam and Tom looked at one another. This time it was Sam who felt the trickle of urine running down his leg.

Written for Sue Vincent’s Thursday Photo Prompt.