Shadows

I’m fascinated by shadows. Sometimes shadows are more interesting that the solid object that creates them. These shadows in an Italian church caught my eye, as shadows often do.

I live in a land of strong shadows in the Southwest, where the light is powerful and clear and the shadows are often strong and distinct. Today we are having a cloudy day and there are no shadows. A rare event here. I always thought I didn’t like cloudy days because I missed the light. But today, I’ve decided I miss the shadows. Shadows provide . . .

Honey

Each spring brings a wave of honey consumption into my life. Local honey. Not because I love the sweet taste, although it is good. Not because I need to add calories to my diet; I clearly don’t. No, it’s about spring allergies. Local honey helps bring the sneezing, sniffling, itching throat and burning eyes under control. Another measure I’ve reluctantly learned to take in the battle against the runny nose is to wash out my sinuses with salt water. Ew. I like the non-drug, old timey remidies because . . .

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “honey” or something suggested by the photo.

Breezy

The radio weather girl said, “sunny and breezy.” In Harry’s mind, that meant he could go without a jacket. So he did.

He drove to Mike’s. They sat around for a while talking about what to do. Finally they decided to drive up to Sandia Crest and hike. Each of them grabbed a bottle of water.

It was about 20 degrees cooler at the crest, and the wind whipped them around at 40 miles per hour. Mike said, “Once we’re in the trees, the wind will die down.” They headed down a well-used trail along the crest. As they moved among the shadows of the trees, . . .

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “breezy” or on a topic suggested by the photo.

Happy Birthday, Ronni

Today is Ronni Bennett’s birthday. She’s the country’s leading elderblogger with her Time Goes By blog. She’s showing us all the way to elderhood and leading the fight to earn equality for elders in all aspects of living. Happy birthday, Ronni, and best wishes for many more to come.

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “happy birthday.”

Daffodils

I love daffodils. Simple and beautiful. And yellow. Anything yellow is pleasing to me. And I love words. Daffodils always remind me of the words to “Love you to the Letter” that Anita Baker recorded years ago. The lyric is

Like water flows down from a hill
And yellow grows on daffodils

Somehow that image of yellow growing on daffodils is perfect to me, the kind of phrase that writers wish for and seldom find, the kind of phrase that sticks indelibly in the mind.

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “daffodils” or something suggested by the photo

The forest

Jeff knew that his feet and years of walking helped pack the path he walked upon today and every day. He watched the forest every day, knew where the owls nested, where the rabbit burrows were, where the deer visited a remote spring and which rocky hill attracted the rattlesnakes. There was something evil in the forest today, something he didn’t know was there. He . . .

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “the forest” or a topic suggested by the photo.

Too early

How to know you got up too early.

1. You listen to the same hour of Morning Edition on NPR twice.
2. When the sun finally comes up, you’re ready to go back to bed.
3. You’re ready for lunch at 10 AM.
4. You call someone at 6:30 AM when you know they sleep until 9, but you forgot how early it was because you’ve been awake for hours.

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “too early” or a topic suggested by the photo.

Cat

The cat is moving in with me. This happens from time to time. The cat never comments on it once the move is complete. She comments plenty during the drive from one place to another. She yowls the whole damn way. Yowls loud. We tried tranquilizers and it didn’t help.

The cat person is in the photo. I’m not the cat person. But I can live with the cat when circumstances demand it.

Sigh. I think I need a better vacuum cleaner before the hair generating device arrives.

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “cat” or on some topic the photo suggests to you.

Family tradition

Around these parts, y’all, the most enduring family tradition is to have a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake for birthdays or any other excuse we can dream up. In fact, just about any great moment in life calls for a trip to the ice cream store. Baskin Robbins should give my family some sort of loyalty discount because for over 30 years we have busily gobbled down as much of their product as humanly possible.

This weeks we’re celebrating  . . .

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “family tradition.”

A New Day

This season brings blooms to my Christmas cactus. It is a bright spot in the winter, a symbol of the coming of the new year. A fitting reminder that each new day, each new year, offers the potential for growth, love, hope, success, and good.

It’s not always easy for me to ban the cynic, the bitter, from my thinking. It’s not always easy to greet a new day with optimism. The celebration of seeing the cactus in bloom helps . . .

Please leave a comment with your first 50 words on the topic “a new day” or some topic suggested by the photo.