Day: April 7, 2021

MLMM Photo Challenge — What’s Left

Fandango16 Comments

The fire marshall knocked on Caryn’s front door. When she opened it, he handed her a small cardboard box. “I’m sorry for you loss, Miss Kavanaugh,” he said. “I know it’s not much, but this is all we could salvage from your parents’ home.

Indeed, it definitely wasn’t much. There was her father’s old 35 mm camera, a tiny toy globe he kept on his desk, a blank tape from his portable dictating recorder, and a Matchbook model of an old VW bus that he told her was just like the one he had when he was in college. Strangely, there were three watercolor paintings by her mother that her father must have kept in his desk.

Caryn took each of the salvaged items out of the box and laid them out on the marble floor of the foyer in her house. She looked down at the strange assortment at her feet. She couldn’t wrap her head around how this small collection of random items was all that remained of her parents’ lives. Sure, she had her memories, but their lives, their home, and all of their other possessions were gone.

Her eyes welled up and guilt overwhelmed her. She had planned to have their 120 year old house updated with new wiring and plumbing last year, but her parents, who were in their seventies, resisted. They didn’t want to have strangers working inside their home during the pandemic. But now that they had both received their second vaccination last week, they finally agreed to let her bring in an electrician and a plumber.

Caryn meant to make arrangements last week, but she just didn’t get around to it. She’d waited this long, what would another week or two matter? Now, after everything was destroyed by the fire caused by an electrical short, it was too late, and all that remained were those seven random items spread out at her feet.

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Photo Challenge. Photo credit: fotografierende on Pexels.com.

12 Bloggerz — April 2021

Fandango10 Comments

It’s been a while since I last did one of Rory’s “12 Bloggers” “thing” he does where he poses 12, oh I don’t know, irreverent questions. Here is what he is asking us this month.

1 – Would you want to be a millionaire and if so why and if not why not?

Would I want to be? Hell yes. Why not?

2 – Do you listen more to the voice in your head or your gut when making difficult decisions?

I’m a pragmatist, so I’d have to say I’m more in my head than in my gut.

3 – Should we be afraid of our nightmares or see them as a sign of improvement?

I may be afraid in my nightmares while I’m having them, but not once I’m awake. Then I am actually relieved to realize that they were just nightmares. Do I see them as a sign of improvement. No, not at all. Just as scary dreams.

4 – Are you a fan of cult movies and if so which ones and why?

I suppose one might call “Rocky Horror Picture Show” a cult movie. I’ve seen that about a half a dozen times, usually at midnight showings at a local movie theater (back in the pre-pandemic days when movie theaters where still a thing). And then there is the John Walters’ classic “Pink Flamingos,” which I’ve seen a few times.And I love the old Marx Brothers movies. But I suppose I’m a cult member of the Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” fan club. I’ve seen and enjoyed that move maybe a dozen times.

5 – What comedy film you could watch over and over?

As noted above, Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” I never get tired of it.

6 – How often can you listen to your favorite music for more than an hour in a day or a week without interruptions? 

I have my TV on all day and when I’m not watching a show, I have classic rock music playing in the background throughout the day. For example, right now, as I am writing this post, Steely Dan’s “My Old School” is playing.

7 – What is in your opinion the best way to make an omelets?

You gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet.

8 – When was the last time you were completely naughty?

At my age and with my memory, I can’t recall.

9 – What’s the secret to making someone laugh hard?

Telling a really, really funny joke. Or telling them to watch Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.”

10 – How forgetful are you and why does the word look so silly when written?

First, the word “forgetful” doesn’t look at all silly to me. Second, As to how forgetful I am, at my age and with my memory, I can’t remember.

11 – What advice did your parents give you about LIFE that you, too, have passed on to your own children or friends?

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

12 – How often do you surf for something on the internet but end up hours later looking at something else? Why does it happen to you, what causes you to stray?

At my age, it happens frequently. It’s not so much that hours later I end up looking at something else, it’s more that if I get distracted, I forget what I was looking for. What causes me to stray? I’m easily distracted, I guess.