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Roaming in the Gloaming
Breathing out a grateful prayer for our hours of roaming,
I take your hand as sun-stained skies fade into the gloaming.
The seeds of stars emerge now, planted one by one
as the hand of evening smudges out the sun.
All our whispered promises made throughout the day—
I wonder what the chances are that they might fade away.
Will this magic that we’ve conjured retain its brilliant light,
or like the glorious sunset, simply fade into the night?
The Sunday Whirl prompts for March 10, 2024 are: wonder stained gloaming emerge prayer hours grateful seeds chances whispered smudge conjuring
My sister Betty started a family tradition by playing a saxophone later handed down to my sister Patti, then me, then my niece Cintra!! It must now be at least 75 years old. I wonder where it is now! I dedicate this piece to Patti and Cintra, who are together now in Arizona.
For Fibbing Friday, the challenge is a supposed musical interlude:
1. What is a French horn? A former Parisian lady of the night who went to school and became a nurse. (French ho RN) I came back and read this a week later and couldn’t figure it out, either, so thought I’d give a clue.)
2. What is a cornet? A very small callus on a toe caused by too much time spent in the marching band.
3. What is a clarinet? ‘S a cream pastry with chocolate frosting served in a small mesh takeout bag.
4. What is a snare drum? ‘S an Eardrum pronounced in a southern accent.
5. What is a viola? An unpleasant one night stand.
6. What is a double bass? A set of conjoined fish.
7. What is the difference between a Concert, Upright or Grand? The first is a musical presentation. The second is a musical position and the third a musical pretension.
8. What is campanology? An impossibility, because there is really nothing to compare to the truly flamboyant!!
9. What is a trombone? It is what the llp bone is connected to.
10. What is timpani? A type of drum made out of a tin frying pan.
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Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms.”–George Eliot
For Wednesday Quotes #163–The inspiring world of animals.
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Welcome to “The Numbers Game #11” Today’s number is 132. To play along, go to your photos file and type that number into the search bar. Then post a selection of the photos you find under that number and include a link to your blog in my Numbers Game blog of the day. If instead of numbers, you have changed the identifiers of all your photos into words, pick a word or words to use instead, and show us a variety of photos that contain that word in the title.
This prompt will repeat each Monday with a new number. If you want to play along, please put a link to your blog in comments below.
And, if you want to know the full story of the Scrub Daddy photo above, here it is in four segments:
https://judydykstrabrown.com/2016/02/20/more-laser-yellow-for-cee/
https://judydykstrabrown.com/2016/03/26/the-demise-of-scrub-daddy/
https://judydykstrabrown.com/2016/06/14/scrub-daddy-goes-on-fiesta/
https://judydykstrabrown.com/2016/07/25/scrub-daddy-scores-scours-a-family/
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For Lens Aritists Challenge––Photo Compotition: Shape, Form, Texture, Light
In honor of leap day. Click on photos to enlarge.
I awaken abruptly at 6:30 AM in spite of the fact that my alarm is set to 7:30, awakened by nature’s own alarm clock. Roosters in Mexico do not cock a doodle doo. Their LOUD, hoarse, shrill screams (Ah Ah Ay’ oooooh) split the air precisely at the first hint of light each morning and continue for a good hour or so—long enough to insure that no human sleep survives their onslaught. It is as though nature, unaware of the invention of alarm clocks, has taken on the duty of awakening the world. And if this isn’t enough, it invented the fighting cock, which doesn’t limit its crowing to the hours around sunrise but instead crows off and on all day.
I once had a neighbor who, in desperation, offered to buy all of his neighbor’s fighting cocks and then to gift them back to him if he would just move them to another location. The neighbor took him up on the offer, but a few years later when the friend and his wife moved back to the states, I’m unsure if his contract with his neighbor passed on to the people who bought his house or if any warning was even given in their rush to exit Mexico. Perhaps the neighbor who owned the fighting cocks, realizing the old contract had ended, collected again from the new buyers.
I started this post at 6:30. It is now 7:30 and my phone alarm has started its 7:30 wake-up trill. I press the “Stop” button, but seconds later, I hear the stubborn succession of a cock’s crow and a dozen answers. After one hour, the chorus shows no signs of ending, but has instead been joined by a myriad of other bird calls with a dozen or more town dogs providing a descant .
Good Morning, Mexico.
For Cee’s FOTD
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Tomorrow is our last day of our retreat at the wonderful Quinta San Carlos across the lake. Our brains are nearly emptied of words and our stomachs are certainly full of the delicious food they serve us from the time we wake up until we drag up the hill to our rooms. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are supplemented with a round the clock buffet of cookies, chips, sliced veggies, sodas, coffee and tea of every variety. I am now hiding out from dinner as if I put one more bite of food into my mouth I won’t make the bonfire tonight (Where by the way they roast corn over the open fire and serve it with the usual Mexican condiments of butter, mayonnaise, lime and chili powder. We are going to ask them to skip this tradition this year.
As soon as I’m sure they are finished with dinner I’ll go down for the bonfire and to lead the storytelling. Our leader (another) Judy has had bad laryngitis for the past few days so we are assuming her task and even reading aloud for her what she has written. It’s been a great time. Hopefully, same time next year.. I believe this is our seventh year with a few years skipped during covid.
