stories, photographs, adventures…the next chapter
Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week: A Photo a Week Challenge – On the Horizon
IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF HORIZONS (PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, OR OTHERWISE).
Walking along the boardwalk one day in late October.
Late morning. Sun is shining. The beach is deserted.
Found a seat on an empty bench.
What a sight.
Banks of fluffy white clouds cushioning the horizon…
…where ocean meets the sky.
Here is my entry for this week’s challenge hosted by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo
The theme this week is: Floor
Days before the sale of our home in 2016
***
Looking from part of the living room into the den…
This floor of plywood 1 ¼” thick – covered with a carpet…supported a family…
Standing. Sitting. Running. Jumping. Crawling. Sleeping. Rolling. Walking.
Witness for more than 36 years.
Sometimes it squeaked in mysterious places at certain times,
but it never wavered for…
An infant crawling for the first time. Never minding the spit-up.
A baby, lying quietly, carefully picking out carpet lint. Fiber by fiber.
Popping it into her tiny mouth.
A toddler sprawled out “reading” a board book. And then tossing it aside for the next one.
This floor held…
Three cousins lying face down, chins propped in hands, watching television.
A sister and brother doing somersaults. Watch me mom!
Monopoly games…bank money, hotels, houses and the boy in charge of the bank.
Father and son jumping so hard the walls rattled when the Red Sox won the series in 2004.
Birthday party marching bands parading up one side and down the other.
Jump shots and slam dunks in the Michael Jordan Shoot-the-Ball hoop on a stand. Until it broke.
A young girl’s entire dance interpretation of NKOTB’s “Hangin’ Tough” including costume changes.
This floor remained sturdy when…
Standing for photos against the bifold doors: Easter. Halloween. Prom. Birthday. Group party pics. Or just because.
Teenagers collapsed in hysterics trying to master Twister.
Christmas trees were decorated.
Waiting for the gifts Santa would put beneath it.
No chimney required.
This floor supported a couch…chairs…coffee table…first hand-me-down…and then new.
Piecemeal furniture piled high with books, records, toys, magazines, framed photographs.
All steady and secure on this base for our home.
One might think a floor is just a floor.
But sometimes it isn’t.
Cee’s Challenge topic this week is Bicycles, Tricycles, Motorcycles, Wagons
My first 2 wheel bicycle was a pink Schwinn.
Zooming down our neighborhood street – with my sister in hot pursuit on her tricycle – was a common occurrence.
As the older sister, I was honor bound to win the race…training wheels and all.
This post inspired by One Word Sunday
One warm summer day
My grandmother and her mother
Posed on a park bench
Complete with handbags, hats and gloves.
Ankles carefully crossed.
I bet my grandfather said “smile”
Before he snapped the photo.
Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week: A Photo a Week Challenge – New
2016 was special for many reasons…
New home. New friends. New life in a new town.
But the most important “new” that year was the birth of our grandson in June.
He is the bright light in our family’s future.
When he was a newborn, he held still for my incessant picture taking.
(now, at 2 ½, not so still…)
Here is my entry for this week’s challenge hosted by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo
The theme this week is: Cold and Warm
Snowstorms happen.
When you own a home…with a driveway…the snow gets in the way.
It is cold…and wet…and heavy.
And – right after it falls to the ground – beautiful.
However, removing the snow can be quite a challenge, especially when over a foot deep.
Which, of course, must be measured and documented.
Staying warm during the snow removal process requires:
Many layers of clothing
Jacket and ski pants
Plus gloves
Plus hat…and hood.
If you are lucky, the sun shines…
Spreading the illusion of warmth.
As was the case… one day-after-the-storm in 2015.
So continued the thought process…Time To Move To A Condo!
Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week:
A Photo a Week Challenge – Eyes
IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF SOME OF THE EYES IN YOUR LIFE.
My daughter was born with the bluest of eyes…which opened and stared into mine within minutes of her arrival. Her curiosity for life already beginning.
Those eyes…she would hold your gaze – even as an infant – without changing expression, as if seriously contemplating the words to follow. Before she knew how to say a thing.
Her right eyebrow arching ever so slightly…posing a silent question we couldn’t possibly know the answer to…
Santa Claus appeared at many different venues when I was a child in the ’50’s and ’60’s. Sitting on some type of chair or throne-like chair – and dressed in his signature red suit and hat, he would wait for children. To sit on his lap. Briefly. For a quick question and answer, smile for the camera..and done! Then a parent would wait in line for the polaroid result of this annual pilgrimage.
I couldn’t wait to meet up with him…(or one of his elves subbing in – the explanation for why there was also a Santa on the street…and in the local Bamberger’s or Sterns department store at a “Breakfast with Santa” event on Saturday mornings)…in order to pass on my requests for presents.
I visited the pre-mall Santas – often appearing at local church fairs…or church “bazaars” as we used to call them. These were simple affairs…handmade mittens, cookies, potholders and such made by the church ladies. In the corner sat Santa – waiting for the local kids to sit on his lap and whisper their wishes for Christmas morning. Santa looked eerily similar to men I would see at church on Sunday talking to my parents, but I never questioned why.
I do not remember what I asked for the year this black & white photo was taken…but Santa looks like he had heard most everything by the time it was our turn.
Almost thirty years later, my daughter sat on Santa’s lap at our local mall. And whispered her hopes for gifts on the 25th. Again there was the wait in line for the polaroid result.
~~~
Pictures with Santa in 2018?
Still at a mall. There is a long wait circling around extending past the stores. Babies, toddlers and elementary school age kids. Some dressed up. Some kids panic at the sight of this large man in the red suit. Other don’t…sitting quietly, not quite understanding all the activity. But still, whispering…something…to Santa. Look towards the camera. Hopefully, smile.
There is no longer a wait for the polaroid print. Now it is air-dropped to your smart phone. For a fee of course.
“Pictures with Santa” has changed in many ways in the past 50 plus years. As one might expect. All things do.
Santa sits on a fancier throne. I don’t see him at the church fairs.
Photos are digital and float through the air.
But the excitement in a toddler’s eyes…
I saw Santa, Mama! I sat on his lap!
The smiles. The jumping up and down…
THAT has not changed at all.
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 