FUN20090 – Tuskers

Image courtesy of Pixabay

It had been so long since Carly walked down this road. She was quite surprised it was so well kept but assumed the loggers her father allowed on the property were to thank for that. Carly much preferred when the road was a little more hidden from view. The gate made everything look a little foreboding.

She was sweating now from the hike. The midday sun combined with the tiny beads of perspiration made the elephant tusks on her forearm sparkle. She was sure her father would not be pleased that she had a full sleeve of ink on her right arm, but then he had not been pleased with much of anything in her life. After all, she had run away to the circus – literally.

The sound of the four-wheeler broke her concentration. She turned to see her father as he shut off the engine. “Look what the cat drug in.” He was smiling that same crooked smile her mother always said made her weak in the knees. Steve certainly was a charmer. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked her toward the four-wheeler. “Care for a ride?”

As they approached the long driveway, she could see the house in the distance. It had not changed much, but everything else had. It was bittersweet.

It was just the two of them now – at a crossroad that neither of them had ever imagined. It was the first time she had been home since her accident.

Carly seldom told the story in full detail. The fall from the trapeze was the result of a foolish mistake. An elephant literally saved her life. Her fiancé stayed until she recovered, then he did what her mother had done. He walked out. That’s when she bought the bar – Tuskers – named after the elephant that broke her fall.

“I don’t suppose you need a summer barkeep, do you?” There was that smile again. He was gentler now which made her feel more at ease. Her father walked over to the sink to stack their dinner dishes. As he rolled up his sleeves, the tattoo came into view.

“Dad?” She shrieked in disbelief. There on her father’s arm, an elephant balanced in a martini glass. She walked toward him and put her arms around this man she had forgotten how to love. She read the words permanently etched on his arm. Shaken Not Broken. 

He smiled that crooked smile and she acknowledged for the first time, she had the same smile. She breathed a sign of relief. They were going to be okay.

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Fun20090

 

 

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Writing Challenge Invitation – #FUN20090

Welcome to my third writing challenge invitation. It’s time to be creative again.

The instructions are as follows:

1. Write an uplifting or funny short piece. The goal is to lift spirits.
2. Use the hashtag #FUN20090 (today’s Julian date)
3. Pingback to this post or leave a link in the comments to share your stories here. (If you have never commented on my blog, links will need to be approved.)
4. Below you will find several ‘gifts’. Choose one or several to include in your writing. You must choose at least one.
5. Have fun!

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Number #1

Use this photo as inspiration by describing what exists at the end of the road.

 

 

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Number #2

 

 

 

 

 

Make one of your characters a bartender with a tattoo of an elephant on his/her forearm.

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Number #3.

Use one or all of these in your story.

A stray dog, a drone, and/or a neighborhood ice cream truck.

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WDIIA – Monday, March 30, 2020

My first cup of coffee is late this morning because I slept in. Last night I wasn’t ready to go to bed. As I ran through our streaming channels looking for something funny or uplifting to watch, I was sorely disappointed in how much violence, murder and sad drama there is. Most comedy things I found I have seen many times over. So, I dropped into the romantic comedies category and started watching “He’s Just Not That Into You”. I watched the entire movie. If I had checked Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB first, I might have just gone to bed. It wasn’t very funny or even particularly romantic to me. Was dating really that bad in 2009? Anyway, I digress…

Courtesy of Giphy.com

At 5:00 pm today, our governor has declared a statewide “Stay at Home” order. We can still go out for groceries, but the advice is to stay in unless absolutely necessary. We are not buying excessively unlike some people. We have supplies for at least two weeks, but will need to go out at sometime for groceries. Only one of us goes out, and we sort and stage our groceries before bringing them in the house. Every day it seems new information comes out about how long the virus lives on a given surface. Ugh. There are still so many states where people are continuing life as always and I worry about what that means in the long run.

Yesterday I watched a few videos about using watercolor pencils which I have on hand. I also have some postcards made from watercolor paper so I could make some cards to mail to friends someday when people are not afraid of even receiving mail. 🙄

Our garden center is open and they are allowing people to order over the phone and then have the items loaded in your car curbside. Hubby is in the process of putting together another raised garden, so we might order some mushroom compost and some seedlings if we can do so safely. Since he has a truck, things could be placed in the bed rather than in the interior of the vehicle.

Yesterday I went on my Facebook page and posted links to several fellow-bloggers’ Amazon pages for my friends that love to read. I hope someone gets a purchase or two out of the sharing. I will do another group next week.

What are you looking forward to after this is past us? Seeing family? Hugging friends? Gathering in groups? Going to the movie? For me, I look forward to no longer living in so much fear and uncertainty. And hugging my family again. I miss my children and grandchildren so much.

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What Day Is It Anyway, hosted by Linda G. Hill

Song Lyric Sunday – See Me, Feel Me

Jim Adams gives us the prompt of touch/feel for this weeks’s Song Lyric Sunday. Lots of songs came to mind, but this is the one that stuck.

The English group The Who recorded the album “Tommy” in May of 1969. They played all of “Tommy” at Woodstock in August of 1969. “See Me, Feel Me” was sung just as the sun came up on the third morning after three days of rain. This performance was captured on film and is included in the film “Woodstock”. This performance helped launch Roger Daltrey as a sex symbol and solidified a place in American culture for The Who.

Tommy was written primarily by Pete Townshend and was influenced by the teachings of Indian spiritual leader the guru Meher Baba. Townshend tried to interpret his teachings of unity and translate them into music. It took six months to create the material to have it ready to take into the studio to arrange and record.

”See Me, Feel Me” does not appear as a separate track on the “Tommy” album. It is instead the third refrain of “We’re Not Going To Take It”. “See Me, Feel Me” and “Listening to You” were eventually released as a single in 1970 and reached #12 on the U.S. charts. It was also released in the U.K. but did not chart there.

”Tommy” was later developed into film, opera and broadway.

The entire story of “Tommy” is an interesting story indeed. Perhaps I will write about it at some later date.

See Me, Feel Me
lyrics from societyofrock.com

See Me
Feel Me
Touch Me
Heal Me
See Me
Feel Me
Touch Me
Heal Me
Listening to you, I get the music
Gazing at you, I get the heat
Following you, I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet
Right behind you, I see the millions
On you, I see the glory
From you, I get opinion
From you, I get the story
Listening to you, I get the music
Gazing at you, I get the heat
Following you, I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet
Right behind you, I see the millions
On you, I see the glory
From you, I get opinion
From you, I get the story

SoCS – This Little Phone of Mine

I first saw Linda’s SoCS prompt yesterday afternoon:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “beside you.” Write about whatever is beside you when you read this prompt. Not when you sit down to write, but whatever is beside you right now. Take note of it if you think you might forget. Enjoy!

I looked beside me and there was my phone. I was not happy this was what I needed to write about, but today I feel differently.

I woke up with vertigo this morning. It is a relatively mild case, but it is enough to be unsettling and make me feel uneasy moving my head too much. So, when I woke at 6;30 am, I took my Dramamine and decided to lie down again. I was restless, so I sat up slowly and unlocked my phone, found my 6 hours of spa music on YouTube and let the music lull me back to sleep.

Normally, I write my blogs on my iPad, but the head tilt required is limiting me to writing on my phone. Hubby helped me prepare my coffee and I am sitting against a back massager with heat, writing.

Earlier, I was able to check in on family via texting from my phone. Some jobs have been lost and many are feeling the pressure of staying afloat. I am thankful this phone allows me to connect with people.

This phone also helps me continue with daily videos. I am on day 113 now and these videos have helped me process all the emotions associated with these trying times. I am thankful.

My phone is red. Part of Apple’s Project Red which supports the AIDS project. I bought a red case to match. Red is a favorite color of mine.

My phone serves a lot of purposes: camera, photo editor, an occasional game, a texting device, a weather station, a video streaming device, a video camera, an alarm clock, a note taker, an email device, a browser, a timer/stopwatch, a flashlight, a bird tracker, a word processor and especially concerning – a resting place for germs! Sanitize you’re phones, my friends.

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This post us part of Linda Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday. If you want to play along, you will find the rules here.