Author: Virginia DeBolt

Writer and teacher who writes blogs about web education, writing practice, and pop culture.

All the Alerts

Think about all the alert sounds you know now that didn’t exist a few years ago. Alerts for games, for Facebook Messenger, for emails and voice mails and Marco Polo talks. Then there’s the horrible one for civil defense alerts or tornado warnings. What we don’t hear is the old timey ‘ring ring’ of a landline. Now phones ring with songs or chimes or clown horns. Modern day smart phone create a lot of interruptions. Don’t pay any attention. Keep writing.

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I Don’t Miss

I don’t miss the traffic and the noise. I don’t miss the crowded parking lots and the lines. I don’t miss the pushy people who seemed to be everywhere. Thanks to Facetime and Zoom and plain old phone calls, I don’t miss my friends and family too horribly. Sometimes I wonder what I do miss and the number of things I’d name is very low. We adapt. We make the most of it. Stay safe.

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Humid

Air so thick, it’s like inhaling clouds.
Sky a dirty grey, tree leaves dark matte.
Bird song hovers near the ground,
Unable to rise.
Airplanes make an unseen roar above us.
I feel soaked through, as if I could sweat
Cool water.

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When I Was Out Walking

Daffodils
Spring flowers

When I was out walking
I felt happy for the sun
Warming my face.

When I was out walking
I admired the spring,
The flowers, the grass.

When I was out walking
I remembered how beautiful
Life can be.

I kept walking.

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Dream

As a kid, my dream was to become a writer. I did that. But it’s funny how I got there. I took a side trip through many years of teaching. My favorite thing to teach was writing!

Those early dreams tell us who we are, what we are. Do you remember your earliest dreams? Did they somehow come to pass in your life?

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Remember

Remember back in the 60s when everyone was building bomb shelters? They planned to move the family into them and live there for months until it was time to come out safely.

We didn’t have the nuclear war everyone was expecting back then, so we didn’t try all living in one small space for weeks at a time. We’re trying it now however. Getting a taste of what it’s like when the world outside the door is scary.

Lucky for us, the grocery stores are still open, the pizza joint still delivers, Netflix is streaming, and your FaceTime conversations with your best friend are still a go.

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How are you?

Been sending a lot of texts these days that open with the question, “How are you?” That’s my main concern for everyone I know – checking that they are healthy and getting through this pandemic all right.

This is my text to you readers, with my hopes that you are all right, too, and that everyone comes out at the end of this in good health.

I started self-isolating about a week and a half before anyone suggested it, so I’ve already done a month of isolation. Even for an introvert (aren’t all writers introverts?) that’s a bit much, and we probably have at least all of April to go.

So hang in there, stay safe, stay healthy, stay home. #JustWrite #InThisTogether

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Board Games

The old fashioned board games, the kind where you have to do the adding and subtracting yourself, were the best. I loved counting up my Monopoly money or figuring out my Life points. Now the board games have electronic ways to keep track of the numbers. It goes faster, but it isn’t as much fun. Let’s dig that old Monopoly board out of the closet, shall we? Oh, wait, what about Scrabble, too?

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The Yard

The little shed in the yard was our secret hideout. The best thing was when mom gave us big slices of homemade bread with butter and cinnamon sugar on top. We took it to the secret hideout where we could plot adventures and share secrets.

The hideout was full of shovels and hoes and things. I thought it would be fun to use them to plant peas. (Mom said it was time to plant the peas.) Nathan wanted to play with the water guns. We decided to do both, but peas first!

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Home Alone

Growing up an only child, turning into a introvert as an adult, being home alone for extended periods of time is no big deal for me. But in this time of a national health scare, many people are trying it out for the first time. Or maybe they are home with family and it’s not as much fun as they’d hope.

I go for walks, play Words with Friends, listen to audio books, watch TV. Sometimes I even clean the house. The days are full, not empty. I hope you feel the same way.

Please use the open space below to share your first 50 words on the topic “home alone.”