Serenity

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Inspired by Lens-Artist Challenge #52: Serenity

 

sky kites
Kites in Flight
Hampton Beach, NH

When I was a young girl – a very young girl – I dreamed I could fly.

All by myself.

It was glorious while it lasted.

This photograph reminds me of that dream.

Lying in bed trying to fall asleep was not always easy when I was a child. Feelings are hard to sort out, identify and soothe when you’ve barely learned to read and write. I was also expected to solve my own problems.

Maybe it was watching the Mighty Mouse cartoons. I couldn’t take my eyes off his soaring figure and trademark cape…flying high to Save The Day. Or maybe, later, it was the view from the branches of the tree I loved to climb. Peeking out from behind the leaves.

For whatever reason, I transformed to a girl in flight during nighttime dreams. The dream began as I started running…

…running across my backyard. Faster and faster. Through the neighbor’s lawn. Until the grass was a blur. The trees were a blur. Only the sky still in focus. Always a blue sky. When my legs could run no faster, I’d jump. Without fail, Up I Went. My arms straight out to my sides, waving up and down birdlike. Flying away. Just like that…

Directly into a calm place of peace. And sleep.

I learned to start this dream at will.

I wish I still could!

 

Reclaim

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This post inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #55: Reclaim

 

rock wall woods

 

The things that women reclaim are often their own voice, their own values, their imagination, their clairvoyance, their stories, their ancient memories. If we go for the deeper, and the darker, and the less known we will touch the bones.
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés

 

What’s done is done.
What’s over is over.

One by one she closed the chapters
Convincing herself
it was so.

She shelved them high…year after year
Dust settled slowly
Coating spine after spine.

But that glimmer still surfaced
Again and again
A nagging suspicion…

Is done really done?
Is over really…over?

So she emptied the shelf
And cracked open each volume
To travel chapter by chapter

From whisper to shout
Addendum in process
The jury still out.

 

 

 

 

Pupil

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Inspiration: Ragtag Daily Prompt: Pupil

 

5th grade
Public School Fifth Grade
New Jersey
1964

I rarely hear the term pupil anymore. At least as it applies to schoolchildren.

However, back in the olden days – the 1960s – I was a pupil. One of many pupils in my 5th grade class. A large class by today’s standards…after all we were the babyboomers.  Schools would be scrambling to accommodate us for years to come.

Bizarre at it sounds, I still recognize those classmates – and can name almost all of them. Perhaps not always for the best reasons.

Fifth grade – when I turned 11 – remains sharp in my memory.  There is Andy, twin brother of Ellen, who I had a mad crush on. Probably because he complimented me on my kickball skills at recess. Debby…whose house I visited to play games and sleep over. Patti Ann, Judy and Dianne…the mean girl trio who took turns making my life miserable. Except when they didn’t and I thought we were friends. Kathy…the girl who was taller than me…a rare occurrence. Johnny…whose science experiment once blew up. Meredith…bullied because she was overweight. Eric…the boy who I think had a crush on me…although I was as clueless as they came. So who knows.

The only dress code of sorts applied to girls. We had to wear dresses or skirts. Except on once-a-week gym days. My favorite day of the week…pants!…sneakers!

Boys could wear whatever they wanted. Neckties only came out on school picture day.

In addition to Math, Science, Reading, etc., we were also graded on Penmanship, Behavior and Effort. Girls had gym and health class separate from the boys. Often a pupil…like me…stood in front of her class and gave the Spelling tests. And missed Social Studies to correct them for the teacher.

I wonder what happened to those kids. Now in their 60’s. The mean girls do not look as mean as I remember. I see no angry faces…or narrowed eyes…or…evidence of what happened. I also look happier than I was. It’s an odd perspective.

My family moved to another town when I started sixth grade.

I never saw those kids again.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Lines & Angles

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This post inspired by Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Lines and Angles

 

 

museum ceiling
Boston Museum of Fine Arts
café ceiling – January 2019

 

Remember to look up…

I remind myself…more and more
As the years add up and time rushes by…
Realizing there is so much I have been missing…
From a lifetime of purposeful paths and forward focus.

One winter day…
While sipping a hot cup of tea in the museum’s cafe,
I glanced up.

And discovered…
My favorite hidden exhibit.

 

 

 

Climb

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This post inspired by: One Word Sunday

 

stairs museum

 

I climbed up (and down!) this staircase…during a recent visit to the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont.

It is located inside the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building. Named after the museum’s founder. The building is a recreation of 6 rooms from Mrs. Webb’s 1930’s Park Avenue apartment in New York City. Complete with her collection of French Impressionist paintings and unique furniture.

Electra Havemeyer Webb founded the Shelburne Museum in 1947. This building was completed in 1967.

 

 

View

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Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The prompt this week: View

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF YOUR FAVORITE VIEW OR VIEWS.

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Look at this view!

My dear friend of almost 40 years pointed across the lake from her new summer home on Lake Champlain in Vermont. One sunny July day in 2010.

Look at it!

She and her husband had recently moved in…when I first visited this magnificent spot. The dining room, situated at the back of the house, faced the lake. Seats at the table…arranged for maximum view potential.

My husband and I recently returned from a wonderful 3 day visit. Enjoying their company. The conversation. The shared meals. Walks along the lake. A trip to a museum. A few games of cards.

And especially…that view!

view afternoon
The View
6:30 pm

 

view inside
The View
7:30 pm

 

view sunset
The View
8:30 pm

 

Radiant

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This post inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo

The prompt: Radiant

 

Version 2
“Barbra: The Music, The Mem’ries, The Magic”
Boston, MA

 

“The Three B’s”
Bette (Midler), Bonnie (Raitt) and Barbra (Streisand)

My concert bucket list…
For over 30 years.

Bette…check!
Bonnie…check!

The last holdout?
Barbra.
I figured I’d never be able to check her off my list. Sigh.

Why?
She rarely, if ever, toured.
Tickets would be horrendously expensive and impossible to get.

August 16, 2016 changed all that…when I received an early Christmas/Birthday gift from my daughter, son and son-in-law. Thanks to my daughter’s herculean skills at navigating multiple internet browsers. To score tickets. The instant they went on sale.

Floor seats to a Barbra Streisand concert extravaganza in Boston. Complete with a light show beyond anything I had ever seen before. As cliché as it may sound, I was transported by the music, her one-of-a-kind voice, the showstopper after showstopper. Including my favorites – which was just about the entire set list – the super fan that I am.

Radiance on all levels.

One of my all time bucket list dreams finally came true.

Check!