WDIIA – Friday, March 27, 2020

I am coming off a rather sleepless night. I took a decongestant yesterday. One type keeps me completely awake and the other puts me to sleep. Yesterday was the stay awake variety and I am paying for that today.

Don’t talk about the virus, don’t talk about the virus…..there must be other things!

US Government, 4H Emblem, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons

We watched an episode of Barnwood Builders the other night. They went to a 4H club and taught the 4H members how to construct a pioneer log cabin. It made me think back to the time when I was a member of 4H.

The 4 H’s stand for head, heart, hands and health. Their motto is to ‘learn by doing’. Growing up in the country, much of the programming centered around agricultural interests.

In addition to 4H, Future Farmers of America (FFA) and Future Homemakers of America (FHA) were also very popular extracurricular school clubs. These are all skills that would come in handy during the times we are experiencing. My sisters were both members of FHA. Then we moved to Ohio when I was in 6th grade and those clubs were nonexistent there.

I had a nice long chat with a good friend this morning. We talked about so many different topics – blogging, baking, cooking, gardening and art. It was really nice to just chat for a while. We were both inspired to get to work on some small focused projects. I hope we can all reach out and stay connected to one another.

It is another nice sunny day, so I will wrap this up and get outside and enjoy a little sunshine. I hope you are able to find some stress-free hours in your day.

What Day is it Anyway

 

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#WDIIA – Thursday, March 26, 2020

I am so glad Linda Hill suggested this great idea for keeping track of life during these crazy times. I just did my daily read of the news and now I can feel the stress rising, so why not write instead?

This afternoon hubby and I watched a Facebook Live feed from author Louise Penny. She is of course in isolation in her home in Canada. It was interesting to ‘see’ her. She took us on a tour of her home, talked a lot about her husband who she recently lost and answered fans questions about her writing. If you are on FB, you can go watch it by going to her FB profile.

The sun was out again, so we decided to take a little walk around our neighborhood. There is a huge rock that rumor says was used for ceremonial purposes by the Cherokee tribe. We decided to walk down to it before the trees and brush completely leaf out. The rock has some huge fallen trees on it. Here’s a pic of hubby checking it out.

I decided to brave my way down and snapped a few pics and took a couple of short videos. None of the photos or the videos really show the rock well. My friend said she always felt an electrical energy when she stood on the rock. We did not feel anything.

We saw a few people out walking. Everyone kept their distance. It’s a strange reaction to feel everyone you encounter could potentially be dangerous to your health. Such a weird time.

What’s for Dinner?

We are doing all of our eating at home. No drive by or curbside pickups. Hubby has made two batches of soup — vegetable soup and Hungarian potato and sausage soup. I made a batch of vegetable jambalaya. Tonight we will grill some chicken and bake a potato as a side.

We have to do our own grocery shopping, so we are trying to stretch things as much as possible to minimize our time outside with people. This morning this video came across my FB feed about how to stage groceries into your home after purchasing. Some good tips, so I will share here.

I am not doing well the last couple of days on being creative. Yesterday, we did watch part of a YouTube live video by Baumgartner Restoration. He was restoring a painting by one of the Hudson River School painters, George Hetzel. The video was long, but we did enjoy all of his responses to viewers’ questions. This is the video,  it he has several others on his YouTube channel if you are interested.

That’s about all for me today. I must tell you, I really appreciate the sunny days. Spring is in full bloom here and being out in the sun is a godsend.

 

#FUN20083 – The Dentist

Christine woke up with a horrible toothache. Things like this never happened conveniently in her life. Her whole life seemed to unfurl one step too late or too early for everything. She fell in love with Donny Cooper, but kept it to herself too long. He asked her sister out and the rest was history. He was now her brother-in-law. When she set her sights on her dream job, it was offered to the woman who had the interview right before hers. Nothing ever worked out for her. Nothing.

It took almost two hours to find an emergency dentist that would take a patient on the 4th of July. But she had to get there quickly or she would miss the window he would be in the office. Luckily, the office was within walking distance because there was no way a car was going anywhere until after the parade ended at noon.

It was a perfect day for a parade, she had to admit. Sunny skies, but too many people and too much noise already. “Just get me 235 Main Street before I kill someone,” she mumbled under her breath.

Christine pushed herself through the hordes of people, thankful she knew the streets like the back of her hand. She only had thirty minutes before she would miss her appointment. The crosswalks were blocked off, but she knew she had to cross the street regardless. She saw a break after the high school band turned the corner and she bolted across the street.  Then she felt herself falling to the pavement just as she heard the crash of the cymbals and felt the skin peeling off her elbow. “Shit.”

As she rolled over to stand up, a man in a clown costume reached his oversized white-gloved hand down in an effort to help her.

”I’m ok. Just move, will you!” Christine was mad at herself and embarrassed at the whole situation.

“Let me help you up, miss.”

This guy wouldn’t give up. Why did men think all women needed to be rescued? “I told you I don’t need your help, Bozo.” She dusted herself off and pushed through the crowd.

Five minutes later, she arrived at 235 Main Street with 15 minutes to spare. Christine went to the restroom to tend to her elbow then took the elevator up to the waiting room. Her tooth was pounding now.

”Miss Spencer, the doctor will see you now. Exam room 2.”. Christine walked past the receptionist and into the room marked #2. The smell of alcohol filled her nose as she slid into the dentist chair.

“What seems to be bothering you, Miss Spencer?” The voice was vaguely familiar. She glanced over her shoulder to see the dentist approaching her wearing a giant red ball on his nose. “Excuse the outfit, I just left the parade.”

Christine closed her eyes. It looked like she did need Bozo’s help after all.

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This story is part of my writing challenge #Fun20083. Why not join in the fun?

Writing Challenge Invitation – #FUN20083

Well, this will be my second attempt at a writing challenge invitation. I had one person respond last week, so that’s enough to get me to offer up another challenge this week.

The instructions are as follows:

1. Write an uplifting or funny short piece. The goal is to lift spirits.
2. Use the hashtag #FUN20083 (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. You are welcome to save it and include it if you so desire.

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Number #2

Use this line somewhere in your story.

“I told you I don’t need your help, Bozo.”

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Number #3.

Use one or all of these objects in your story.

A dented can of beans, a dentist, or a marching band.

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One Liner Wednesday

One Liner Wednesday