Author: oneletterup

One year later…

~ oneletterup ~ 18 Comments

How hard it is to escape from places! However carefully one goes, they hold you — you leave little bits of yourself fluttering on the fences, little rags and shreds of your very life.

Katherine Mansfield

 

office window
Desk View
February 26, 2019

~~~

And so it goes.

The places that define you.
House you. Comfort you.
Where you play. Where you learn.
Where you work. Where you love.
Climb. Fall. Get up. Explore.
Write.
Ones that remain
Ones you enjoy
All add up.
To the next.

 

One year ago today I published my first post on this blog.

I had recently moved to a new home. For the first time, I had a small room of my own. Complete with windows to let the sun shine in.

A new place to write. Reflect. Remember. Read. Share. Plan. Challenge.

And the best part?
…meeting other writers across the world in blogging land.

 

diaries line up

 

Flower of the Day – Crocus

~ oneletterup ~ 9 Comments

In anticipation of Spring…
My contribution to Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge

Towards the end of February and the beginning of March, I always looked for signs of crocuses in our front yard. A first sign of Spring. After tramping through the soggy grass, I’d discover them poking up out of the ground despite the cold weather or lingering patches of snow. It wasn’t long before they were in full bloom.

A family of crocuses appeared every March right next to the maple tree. A hardy little bunch, they managed to muscle their way through massive amounts of roots, thatch, rock hard soil and mulch. Year after year.

No gardening effort required on my part.
Very independent.
I liked that.

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Hello Spring!
March, 2010

Song Lyric Sunday – Music Memories

~ oneletterup ~ 2 Comments

Tonight is the 91st Academy Awards. My ballot is printed. Ready to be filled in.

Full disclosure: I love the Oscars. I write the date on my calendar as soon as it is announced. Back in the days of 3 networks, I was glued to the TV screen for the entire broadcast. I remember watching when “The Sound of Music” won; being also impressed I had managed to stay awake until 12:30 AM!

There may have been a few years I missed it, away at college with no television. Or later, ensconced in early parenthood fatigue and exhaustion. But not many.

My contribution to this week’s Song Lyric Sunday (prompt: Harmony/Melody/Music) honors the 1973 Academy Award winner for Best Song.

“The Way We Were” performed by Barbra Streisand – the ultimate professional of harmony, melody and music. It was the title song from the movie of the same name.

The Way We Were

Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Music by Marvin Hamlisch

Memories light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories of the way we were
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were

Can it be that it was all so simple then
Or has time rewritten every line
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we?
Could we?

Memories may be beautiful and yet
What’s too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it’s the laughter we will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were
The way we were

 

 

Photo a Week – Black & White

~ oneletterup ~ 6 Comments

Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week – Black & White

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE).

 

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A moment’s rest on campus in North Carolina

 

College visits.
Many years ago, my son and I spent a week together driving from one southern state to another. Visiting potential colleges.

One college campus per day. Tours. Info sessions. More questions than answers. Trying to decide which one was best…for him.

Not an easy time in a teenager’s life.
Or his parents’.

 

 

A long time ago

~ oneletterup ~ 10 Comments

This post inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #36: Wild Card

…Go back over the last week’s worth of posts or so, and notice any words or phrases that repeat themselves. I’m talking adjectives, or verbs, maybe nouns.

 

diary

Long ago at the age of 9, I received
…a small red diary with a key.

I was one among many children
Armed with a powerful place,
To preserve what happened…
in the illusion of privacy.
Safely locked up tight with a tiny key
Hung on a tiny ribbon.
So long ago

And so it began.
This writing life.
For me and many others
A lifetime ago.

Pouring out our secrets. The ups and downs.
Today I went to school…After school I played outside...I collected bees in a jar…I poked holes in the lid…I did my homework…it was hard.

Scrawled sentences tucked in at day’s end…I got in trouble…I cleaned up the playroom…Nobody loves me…It is boiling hot out.
or
Today was an exciting day…we had hamburgers…went to the Dairy Queen.
I watched: The Addams Family…Valentine’s Day and Gomer Pyle.

Important pages to a young writer
Who never imagined
They’d be such a treasure
Many years later
When the age of 9 would be…

Such a long time ago…

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Texture

~ oneletterup ~ 13 Comments

Cee’s Challenge topic this week is Texture

Some textures just say Crunch. As well as Deliciousness.

As they did amid the whooping and hollering and cheering during the Super Bowl game a few weeks ago. With friends. In front of the television. Wearing the appropriate team gear.

Such textures were necessary stress relievers during this momentous game watching experience.

sweetchips
sweet potato chips

 

 

rice chips
bottom of the bag rice chips

 

peanuts
jumbo peanuts

 

Quotes of the day…February 20th

~ oneletterup ~ 4 Comments

Empathy is the antidote to shame…The two most powerful words when we’re in struggle: me too.

Brené Brown

chair

 

There is no shame in feeling broken…Sometimes it is the breaking that leads us to the source of our own becoming. But we need not suffer alone. When you feel trauma or shame, if you feel depressed or alone — speak your truth, ask for help, insist without ceasing on the support that you need.

Jeanette LeBlanc

 

To mark today…February 20th…

To grow up bathed in shame.
Each sunrise
Struggling to crawl out to you.
Hope slipping back

I always wondered why.

Cracks appeared
Despite stretching
To reach you
Through the fog
Left alone. Numb.

I always wondered why.

Until running bare
Into the dark
Finding every door
Slammed
Sealed shut.

I stopped wondering why.

The only path
For survival
Finding
A new truth
Of my own.

Minox slide show 085

…for my mother, who would have been 90 years old today.

Photo a Week – Pink

~ oneletterup ~ 2 Comments

Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week: Pink

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) FEATURING THE COLOR PINK.

Once upon a time…decades ago…my daughter was all about pink. Pink shirts. Pink pants. Pink sweaters. Pink tights. Pink Care Bear. Pink pj’s. Pink robe. And slippers. You get the picture.

And on the occasion of her 5th birthday, appropriately dressed in her favorite pink lace covered party dress, she was thrilled to open a gift…and discover it contained…a pink raincoat.

At age 5, there was no such thing as too much pink.

1987 bday044 copy