stories, photographs, adventures…the next chapter
Inspired by Sunshine’s Macro Monday #31
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I’ve got another mystery to solve.
I spied this random white puff of something on a tree branch in January during a walk in the woods near my home. It was about the size of a blueberry.
I am thinking it’s some kind of fungus, but I have no clue.
A bright spot this time of year is welcome no matter what the source!
Ideas?
Inspired by Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge: Clouds
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A walk on the beach this winter was well worth a look up…as an entire family of clouds floated by.
Frank at Dutch goes the Photo: Yard
Six Word Saturday
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Not a grass blade in sight…as loved ones gathered for Commencement.
Inspired by Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Roofs of Any Kind
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There is a wide variety of architectural styles on display in Washington, DC. During a recent visit I captured just a few examples.
All along the same street!
The most extraordinary thing about writing is that when you’ve struck the right vein, tiredness goes. It must be an effort, thinking wrong.
Virginia Woolf
Two years ago today I started posting on oneletterup.com. At first I just “practiced” and kept the blog private, as I built up courage to go public 2 months later on April 15. I began with my adventures in moving. The empty nest. Stories from childhood.
I had always been a “writer” since I first took pencil to paper in a diary at the age of 9. I put the word writer in quotes because I was in awe of real writers who crafted stories that transported me to exciting places. Writers of actual books! How could I call myself a writer too? A real writer. I could not possibly be in that league.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t help myself. I wrote letters. Cards. Notes. I kept journals. I took a writing class in college. Joined local writing groups. Attended a week long writing symposium at a university in 2007. I wrote story after story about my children’s childhood moments. When the details were fresh in my mind…I couldn’t help it…I just had to record the sweet magic I witnessed. I put together memory books and stories for family. In the 1990s I submitted stories to magazines. A few held on to them…we’ll see if we have a need for this…but ultimately no publication.
There was never enough time to make writing a top priority. Without feeling guilty that there were more important things I should be doing.
Until my husband and I moved from our house to this condo. Until my children were grown and independent. Until I retired from my consultant job in dietetics.
Until I had a room of my own.
Two years ago, I took the plunge and thought…why not? After all, I wasn’t getting any younger…or healthier.
A blog would be a place to write what I wanted. Try to ignore the inner critic. And see what happens.
I discovered the creative fun of writing challenges, photography challenges…and what has turned out to be the best part…
…Meeting and interacting with other bloggers. It is like being in a virtual writing (and photography!) group. I’ve learned so much from all of you.
My mission in February 2018 was to start writing and not look back.
So far…mission accomplished!
A big thank you to all my blogging friends for your support and encouragement,
one letter Up
(aka Andrea 🙂)
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V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #85: Mission
Inspired by Lens-Artists Challenge #85: Treasure Hunt
This week we’re going on a Treasure Hunt! The challenge is to search for specific items – either from your archives or newly captured – from the list below. Extra credit items are a bit more challenging. Focus on quality over quantity and hit us with your best shot(s)!
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A photo scavenger hunt!
This reminds me of party activities when I was a kid – going house to house asking for odd items. Like a feather or a paper clip. We also searched for items in the yard. The object of the game was to complete your collection before anyone else did.
For this challenge, I scavenged through my archives and found these photos.
A bird…painted on the side of a building in Burlington, Vermont.
A dog…missing his humans on Christmas Day in Washington, DC. (also substituting for a person in the “expressive portrait” category).
A waterfall…flowing in a park in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Guitars in the making at the Martin Guitar Factory…in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
A fish at the entrance to a seascape…in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.
A sunset behind a mountain landscape. Boats settled in for the night…in North Ferrisburgh, Vermont.
The End
Inspired by Sunshine’s Macro Monday #30
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While walking along a street in a Washington DC neighborhood last Friday, I passed by a line of trees with small prickly seed pods (?) hanging from the branches. I had never seen anything like it.
My 3 year old grandson thinks they are coconuts, but I have my doubts.
Does anyone know what this is?
Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo: Number
I look forward to the innumerable ways you can approach this theme!
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I have always been a numbers person. When I was in grade school, I made numbered lists of favorite books, colors, records…even friends. When something was numbered, it took on a distinctive degree of significance. And importance.
It was also a way to organize. I numbered all my 45s onto a corresponding divider matched up with their titles, all stored in a bright green case.
The importance of numbers became crystal clear when I started earning money in high school. I quickly realized that saving money – after earning it – was the ticket to the independence I had been craving since entering my teens.
Not surprisingly, my habit of keeping diaries and journals morphed into meticulous record keeping of money spent and money earned. This was back in the days of cash or check. I still have the record of every penny I spent in my last few years of college. Numbers paved the way to learning how to budget. This turned out to be a crucial skill a few years later when raising a family on a limited income.
But I didn’t know that back then.
In 1974 I was still living in a dormitory…on a meal plan paid for by my parents. Food was not a major expense, but other “essentials” added up.
Apparently record albums were a priority.
Numbers added up more significantly once I moved to an off campus apartment the following year…when a garbage can, spatulas and beer mugs took the place of record albums on my list of spending priorities.
At least for a while.
Inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #84: Sun
Let’s evoke the power of the sun this week, with images, poems, and stories to warm us up.
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It’s warmer here Mom, my daughter informed me last week.
I was preparing to visit her & her family in Washington DC to babysit my 3 ½ year old grandson for 3 days of his pre-K school vacation.
I interpreted that to mean Spring warmth. Big mistake. It was still too cold…for me. I did not pack accordingly. Obviously too much wishful thinking.
I arrived on Tuesday to temps in the 40s, but with little or no sun. Which continued into Wednesday, along with a cold biting wind that slowly but surely froze my hands and ears walking with this very active little boy…5 blocks to the library for story time. Next on to the park to climb, slide and run around (him not me) on Wednesday and again on Thursday. The grey day cold seeped in deeper as I had to retrace our steps to get on the right street (he redirected me). Five blocks turned into six…seven….
What is it about a cloudy cold day that can drain your energy more than usual? Even when you are doing exciting things like walking down the street hand in hand with a conversational little boy…following an orange garbage truck to watch the stopping and emptying of trash cans.
Or…Waiting and observing and discussing why 3 workers across the street are just standing around an open manhole cover clearly marked with caution tape…
Grandma what are they doing?
Waiting to see what happens next.
Grandma why are they doing nothing?
The temperature feels colder under a cloudy sky when you stop at every alley to watch for cars or trucks or whatever may come zooming out. Or walk the wrong way…twice…
Grandma that’s the coffee shop! We have to go that way over there!
I have no sense of direction – I freely admit that – but my brain was also frozen. That’s my excuse this week. As well as not being properly dressed for walking the streets of DC in February. My grandson remained unfazed by the cold and our adventurous routes around the neighborhood.
The overcast skies continued…until yesterday.
What a difference that sun can make.
We played closer to home during my last day of Grandma time.
It felt just a bit warmer.
I love sunny days.
Inspired by Fandango’s Friday Flashback: February 21
Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of you earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? …Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year?
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This post is from February 21, 2019
inspired by Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Texture
(The Super Bowl…my, what a difference a year makes…)
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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.
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 