stories, photographs, adventures…the next chapter
August photo a day challenge: Pebbles, stones, rocks
During a visit to the Shelburne Museum in Vermont last year, I noticed an odd sign posted in the grass next to the walking path: Please Stay on the Grass.
It was then that I realized I was looking at an art installation. Who knew? I love smooth stones, which I usually only see at the beach. This was something entirely different.
I was intrigued.
The artists’ information was posted nearby:
What a sight it was a week ago Friday.
Six hours of driving (almost) nonstop. Highways to city streets to country roads. Following the GPS lady’s directions – every minute bringing us closer to our CovidCation. The weather was beautiful – almost too good to be true.
Faster and faster we drove (well I did…my husband’s foot is not as leaden as mine).
We were out-running a virus after all.
Get my lunch out of the backseat please! The car was packed with 2 coolers, 2 suitcases and laundry baskets full of necessities. My gluten free toaster in one of them. As we learned bringing our kids to college, laundry baskets work out well for car trips…as they can nest when they’re empty for the trip home.
It occurred to me that travel by car meant I could bring Full Size Bottles of whatever I wanted. So I did.
My laptop and our cameras…carefully packed. We remembered the tripod for a group photo. Paw Patrol bubbles (but of course). Decks of cards. Guitar.
We arrived at the lake house in the Pocono Mountains around 6:30 pm.
Within a minute a short blonde 4 year old came running out…Grandma! And somehow he was up in my arms with his arms wrapped around my neck, legs encircling my waist. I don’t know how I picked him up but I must have. The first full on leap into my arms hug since February. Far too long.
After that, my daughter and I shared a good long hug. Face to face for the first time in 6 months. Then hugs for my son-in-law, my son and his girlfriend. We had tested and quarantined and stayed safe. Carefully planned and orchestrated.
All those hugs felt so good.
Of course we were joined by the two family dogs: Lutra and Taco (who have been featured in this blog before). They enjoyed themselves immensely as well.
We were in our own little bubble.
A four day pause from virus fears.
What a sight to see.
No masks.
No social distancing…except from the family swimming across the lake.
(Grandma which one is the dada and which one is the mama? Grandma I think the bigger one is the dada….)
It was glorious.
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V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #109: What a Sight
Ragtag Daily Prompt: Pause
SixWordSaturday
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Never mind that my husband and I spent our 42nd(!) wedding anniversary Wednesday in our condo garage…wearing our finest face masks & work clothes. Emptying out our 2 storage units for hours. Yeah, we still have too much stuff, but oh well.
The Mold Remediation Company was scheduled for Thursday to clean all 32 units plus the entire garage.
It took hours to move all of our crap stuff into our parking spaces. We were joined by our fellow masked condo dwellers…many initially embarrassed by the exposure of hidden “treasures.” I can’t believe I still have so much stuff. The thing is, there used to be SO much more before we downsized. So, don’t worry about it.
Talk about lousy timing. But that’s 2020 for you.
[Never mind that I alerted the Condo Board to this issue 3 years ago and they didn’t listen to me. I told you so.]
Never mind that even after 4 repair attempts, the refrigerator’s lights still don’t work…and is limping towards its last days.
Never mind all of that.
Why?
On Tuesday we braved the local hospital’s outpatient lab to get Covid-19 tests, so we could be sure we weren’t infected (we aren’t). Even though we have no symptoms.
Why?
Because we are going on a CovidCation.
Today we are driving to the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Pennsylvania to a house by a lake. We will enter a Covid tested bubble of love…to spend a quarantined 4 days with our “kids,” their spouse/partners, grandson and 2 dogs…most of whom we haven’t seen in 6 months or more.
My 4 year old grandson has been asking me on facetime…
Grandma are you excited to go to the lake house?
I sure am!
Never mind that we spent the better part of yesterday (Thursday, right?) moving our crap stuff back into the cleaned storage units. Followed by packing up clothing, supplies (so many supplies when you are older), and food. Hoping we made enough lists and remembered everything. The option of “we can buy it when we get there” is no longer okay…to stay safe.
If the stars align and health prevails, we will soon be on the road today: Friday. Six hour car trips are a huge challenge physically – and I haven’t attempted one in 3 years, but…
I’m excited to go to the lake house!
My daughter made a spreadsheet of the menu and I am also excited about that. We might even make s’mores – and I’ve been told they will be GF (Gluten Free aka Grandma Friendly).
So I may be absent from my blog until next week.
CovidCation here I come.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge Special Request: Wilting, dead, or aging flowers and leaves.
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Unusual special request, but I understand it.
After all, beauty comes at all ages.
I found two examples.
Tulips – while wilting – took on a “life” of their own a few months ago. A different kind of beauty. One worth documenting.
A vine of leaves added a unique touch while weaving its way through a fence along the river’s edge. Stopped me in my tracks.
Still hanging on…
…and showing off.
I am always impressed by my fellow bloggers who are so adept at photographing the tiniest members of our nature community. I try to avoid…at all costs…these many legged creatures who always seem to show up uninvited. (except for butterflies of course!)
One of my favorite (in a weird sort of way) laughing childhood memories (in retrospect, but not at the time) was pointing at an errant spider or mosquito or ant or something tiny and gross crawling up my younger sister’s arm or neck…or even worse…her face. And yelling there’s a bug on you! there’s a bug on you! Followed by much swatting and slapping and inspection and running around. And general – genuine – hysteria.
Or conversely…spying it on myself and jumping around yelling there’s a bug on me! there’s a bug on me! The fact that I react with massive swelling to bites plus I’m allergic to bee stings didn’t help. It became close to an almost sacred anti-insect ceremony…one of the few things my sister and I bonded over. The trespassers usually saved themselves and escaped.
Apparently now I’m too old or tired to get as wound up about it. A mysterious brown bug fell on my leg in the bathroom this morning. I think it had just woken up too and kept trying to fly away. There’s a bug on me! I grabbed it in a tissue and it was gone. Happy Monday.
So, back to Macro Monday. I waited for this bee to settle down and pose for a photo when visiting a neighborhood flower bed last week…and it kind of did.
My first Bug Photo…even if it is a bee’s butt.
citysonnet photo a day challenge: Visitor
A Photo a Week Challenge: attitude
IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT PORTRAYS ATTITUDE.
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Right from the start…
And so she persisted.
A Polaroid proves…who could have resisted?
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #108: Sanctuary
This week we invite you to share what Sanctuary means to you, where you find it or how you create your place of calm and healing.
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Ellen Glasgow
Since the pandemic started, the Squamscott River that runs through Exeter, NH has been my sanctuary of sorts. The town “parkway” runs next to it and has been closed to traffic since March. Walkers have been able to go “one way” on the sidewalk and “one way” back on the street towards downtown. Social distance and all.
It is peaceful and calming…and what more could I ask for during these times?…
Unsure of what’s to come…
A chance to step back from life’s new realities.
Reflect on what remains to give comfort.
A sanctuary…a safe place.
V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #107: listen
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Breaking News! – more bad stuff happening everywhere!
Well, technically, that’s NOT what is announced nightly from my television. But it might as well be…as an earnest news anchor rattles off the News Headlines Of The Day when the show begins. She leaves the one bright spot – a friendly citizen delivering food to a neighbor or making someone smile – for the last 5 minutes of the broadcast. Saving the feel-good news for the end.
So…I ask myself…why do I listen at all? To the TV reports. To news radio. I jokingly (but not really joking) reply…well maybe there will be a cure! a solution! a miracle! Either that’s a sign of my foolish hopefulness or unfortunate naivety. I guess I want to know what’s (mostly) going on. It’s the continuous not knowing that I find so hard to live with.
So I turn on the news and try to pick up on what positives I can. There must be something hidden between the lines to hold on to. If I pay close attention.
However…what would I rather listen to?
The sound of waves hitting the beach. It’s predictable and calming and I don’t have to pay close attention.
This video of Hampton Beach, NH is from last year. Now, due to COVID-19 restrictions, it is next to impossible to access the beach in person. Too many people. Not enough parking.
I could listen to this all day.
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 