Category Archives: solitude

Waterfall, what? – Trifextra challenge

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The basin at the bottom of the waterfall would always dazzle my reality and expand my myopic view of what beauty can truly look like.  The naked man swimming there didn’t hurt either.

raoul_bova_4

~~

(image credit: hunkdujour.com)

And on again to the weekend Trifextra Challenge:  On to the weekend prompt. This weekend we’re asking you to add thirty of your own words to the following three words for a total of thirty-three. Good luck!

myopic
dazzle
basin

– See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.xTpk2xs6.dpuf

Let the hibernation commence

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Winter has officially arrived, maybe not in terms of the winter solstice, but the white stuff looks like it is here to stay.  And with the first sighting of snowflakes my gut reaction is to forage for and store food. Although my foraging consists of pushing a cart up and down the aisles of the grocery store I still tune into the barbaric voice in my head that urges me to gather my supplies for the upcoming onslaught of nasty weather and get ready to hibernate.

Taking full advantage of my opposable thumbs, I turn that cart full of goodies into homemade soups, chili and stews so I can be self-sufficient during those times when the roads are closed, the snowflakes won’t stop falling and venturing out in the open world is ill-advised.  The picture below is my actual house during a two-day barrage of snow last winter.

Picture 260

Animals hibernate out of necessity for survival.  Humans hibernate because it’s cold outside.  Having lived all of my legal driving life in a rural community I am well-versed at driving in treacherous conditions.  Given the choice between practicing my defensive driving skills or laying on the couch with a steaming bowl of homemade soup, I’ll take the soup any day.

My freezer is now stocked with Cauliflower, Pear and Aged Cheddar soup, Broccoli and Stilton soup, Cream of Mushroom soup, Corn and Bacon Chowder with Shrimp and Chili that has been made with bacon and some dark chocolate.  (judge if you will, but it’s delicious).  There may be a few more additions to the soup list if I feel creative any time soon but, for now, I’m ready for you Old Man Winter.

The Quest for Love

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I wish, oh, I wish

that I could open up your heart.

I want to get to know you

but that’s the hardest part.

I know you from the outside,

your voice I recognize.

But the real you I’m looking for

is always in disguise.

Sometimes looking into your eyes

I can read what’s on your mind.

But then you turn and look away,

afraid of what I’ll find.

I want to know what makes you tick,

what makes you run away.

I’d like to understand you,

there just seems no easy way.

If I could find a way beyond the wall

I know you’re waiting there.

Searching just like I am.

The quest for love is never fair.

Requesting a favor

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Hello to all of my blogging, Facebook and Twitter friends.  I am appealing to you for a bit of help.  I have started a new blog for Shamrock Lodge (my new job) and would love and appreciate it if you could check it out and follow if you could.  The more exposure we get, the longer I get to keep my job.  😉

Here is a picture of where I get to go every day to work, and below is the link to the new blog site.

IMG_0749

Shamrock Lodge

A moment of disquiet

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I have no words.

I feel imprisoned within four walls that don’t belong to me.

Lost in a familiar setting, missing the comforts of home.

Thankful for the roof over my head, but a stranger in these confines.

Going through the motions, watching the clock.

Incessant thoughts running through my mind.  Can’t sleep.

Life is out of my control.

Cracks in my resolve.

I am a creature of habit.  I miss my routine.

I make the best of my dilemma.  I rise above and adapt.

Fleeting moments of angst are replaced by gratitude.

Calming breaths.

Hope for resolution and restoration.

Longing for Mr. Sandman.

Maybe sleep will come tonight.

sleep

Stuck – 100 Word Song

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If only I could let the world see me,

see where I linger.

Caught between two worlds, separated only by a reflection.

I continue to write my words, words that come from a place deep within myself,

but those words will never be seen.

Reality lies above and below me.

I can hide in both of these worlds, torn between them,

never sure of which world I will feel truly defined.

I play a role in each of these spaces.

I let those others who dwell here see only pieces of me, not the whole picture.

Caught between my realities.

Above-and-Below

~

(image credit: naturesedgestudio.ca)

Written as a first attempt at the 100-Word Song Challenge.   Lance introduced me to this challenge and I thought I would give it a try.

This is what it’s about –  A song is chosen and the post that is written has to be somewhat based on that song and written in exactly 100 words.   This week’s 100 word song – Above & Below – The Bravery. 

‘Til Disaster do us Part – Trifecta Challenge

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It was a mistake.  It was a disastrous mistake and one that he should never have discovered.  It only happened once, okay maybe more than once but, to her, it really meant nothing.

Her day had begun perfectly.  The sunrise was breathtaking and the streams of light tickled the beading on her designer wedding dress as they rose to greet the morning.  One Mimosa turned into several as her bridesmaids tended to her every need.  Hair was curled, make-up was applied and swollen feet were wedged into dyed stilettos.

Their vows drew tears from family and friends, promises of a love eternal, but below the surface it was all a lie.  He played the part of the dutiful groom, picking up the train of her dress when she walked and catering to her every whim.  All of his smiles for the photographs seemed so genuine and full of love.  If she had only seen the hurt and anger bubbling below the superficial quality of his grin.

His thank-you speech began as she has seen him rehearse it many times but what followed was a shocking turn of events.  She was initially intrigued but her curiosity suddenly turned to horror as his words fell heavily on her ears.  The sea of dismayed and tortured looks rested solely on her.  Each guest held a photo in their hands of a moment in time she would regret for the rest of her life.  Three days before the wedding she had slept with the best man and every person in the room held photographic evidence of her betrayal.

Her exit from the reception felt like it was in slow motion.  The limousine that waited to whisk them away to their honeymoon sat idle and she jumped in the back seat.  They drove for an eternity and finally found a small, seedy pub in the middle of nowhere.  She entered and ordered a drink.  “Give me a Zombie, and keep them coming until I turn into one”.

drunk bride

Written for the Trifecta Weekly Challenge and inspired by what is, most-likely, an urban legend.  (Photo credit: flickr.com)

And now, the weekly prompt.  Make sure you’re using the THIRD definition of the word, as always.  Good luck and bottoms up!
1
usually zombi

a :  the supernatural power that according to voodoo belief may enter into and reanimate a dead body

b :  a will-less and speechless human in the West Indies capable only of automatic movement who is held to have died and been supernaturally reanimated

b :  a person markedly strange in appearance or behavior

2
a :  a person held to resemble the so-called walking dead;especially :  automaton

Life in a costume – Trifextra challenge

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He did what everyone expected of him.  His screams cut through All Hallows’ Eve and the full moon only served to intensify his anguish. His cries echoed. His mask can never be removed.

swamp_illustration

Artist credit: Dan Duford
www.poisonedplayground.com

***

Written for the Trifextra Weekend Challenge – Give us the 33 words that follow this illustration.  What happens next?

Reach out and touch someone

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For those of us old enough to remember, this was a slogan for AT&T that was coined in 1979.  It simply encouraged people to pick up the phone and call their friends and family, to reach out to those who meant the most to them.

As I was driving to work this morning I was thinking about all of the great friends I have that I never get to see, or talk to, during the busy summer months.   For me, working in the hospitality business is great.  There is an influx of people with a myriad of personalities that make each and every day a veritable smorgasbord of entertainment.  But at the end of my shift, as I ease my wearied bones into my car, the cacophonous thunder of voices that surrounds me during the day is quieted.  I am soothed by the sounds of silence and the last thing I want to do is go out to a noisy bar or add to the number of hours I have acquired on the phone during the day.

I lose touch with those familiar voices for a few months, but instead of wondering why my list of recent calls never displays their number, I get it. They, like me, see countless people day in and day out and, after a long day at work, want only the dulcet harmonies of nature to fall on their ears and nothing more.

reach-out

(image credit: telephone.com)

The madness of summer is now a distant speck through the rear-view mirror.  As we forge ahead into fall, the friends that I have not seen begin to come out of their hibernation and we slowly assimilate to life as we remember it.   This morning I came out of my cave, yawned and stretched and went in search of the sustenance that my friends provide.  I reached out, touched someone and reconnected with those voices from my not-so-distant past.  Soon the wine will be opened and those soothing voices I have longed to hear will once again infuse themselves into my reality.

I almost mastered nothingness

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Everyone is entitled to have a lazy day every once in a while.  It recharges our batteries and gives us a much-needed to chance to store up the energy needed to face the days that follow it. Sometimes we just feel unproductive and unmotivated – and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, within reason. If your lazy days start turning into lazy weeks, you may want to rethink your strategy.

I used to have a real problem letting myself sit and do nothing. My brain always kicked into the guilt gear and I was forced to get off the couch and do all the things that were nagging at me from the back of my cranium.  I’m over that.  I am now able to embrace the feeling of not accomplishing a single thing.  There certainly are moments of boredom encompassed in that lazy day, but if I take that moment to remember the fast pace of any other day, that boredom is replaced by bliss.

(image credit: Bill Watterson)

The lazy day becomes about taking time for me and not stressing myself out if the laundry doesn’t get sorted or the dust accumulates for one more day.  Although today was not a completely lazy day.  After giving myself permission to actually sleep in, I did clean the house and I vacuumed the inordinate amount of dog hair from my carpet that seems to increase exponentially!!  But the rest of it was spent in a suspended state of oblivion…..and it was just what the doctor ordered.  I focused on what I needed instead of what needed to be done.

Those rest of those chores will still be beckoning  me tomorrow, but today the deck furniture and the couch won the argument.  Today is about my three favorite “R” activities – reading, red wine and regurgitating the countless words that whirl around in my brain. (there may be a movie thrown in for good measure)

I hope you all take the time to let yourself breathe – spend a lazy day doing the little things that make you feel human again.  And if you have any suggestions for things to do on that day of nothingness…..feel free to send along some suggestions…..I’m always looking for new ways to achieve lethargy!!