Wherever we go, Zoe attracts admirers. Here are some of her selfies from last week.These little boys followed us for a long time, playing with her as they walked, eventually picking her up for more prolonged play. They were adorable. Her aunties took turns carrying her or walking her on the leash.
Last week I showed you Little Duck’s Adventure. This week I want to show you Frida’s. I’ve decided try try to take one of the dogs for a walk every day. Frida got the first turn and did great. After a scare last week when we thought we were going to have to put her down, the miracles of modern medicine saved the day, and she’s like a young dog again. The day after the big rains, we went down to inspect the lake along the malecon. (Click on photos to enlarge and read captions.)
https://ceenphotography.com/2016/10/07/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge-2016-week-40/
Some people walk the 500-mile Camino de Santiago trail in Spain, but in the heat and humidity, a few hours walking the dirt rock-strewn paths of the yearly Monte Sano Art Show in Huntsville, Alabama were penance enough for me. For some reason, I took very few photos, but we saw some wonderful and whimsical sights, including the pieces and people shown below.
Hiking the Art Fair
Eenie meenie miney moe––
comfie shoes
and baby toe,
Grannies with their walking sticks,
little doggies giving licks.
Pigs to hang upon the wall
that are not really pigs at all.
mobiles made of spoons and kettles,
bottle caps and other metals,
As families start to walk away,
we also plan to end our day.
Eyes grow sleepy,
hairdos frizz.
This is the kind of day it is.
But as we leave the heat and fuss,
tender moments go home with us.
The End
Home for a nice swim and then out to Thai. Perfect day that began with a hike.
Today’s WordPress prompt was Hike.
The Prompt: We’ve all been asked what five objects we’d take with us to a desert island. Now it’s your best friend’s (or close relative’s) turn to be stranded: what five objects would you send him/her off with?
If I sent you to an island, it would be for your own good.
It wouldn’t be unwillingly, with chains and ropes and hood.
I’d lure you off to be with me, surrounded by the sea.
You wouldn’t have to talk or walk or be in love with me.
The objects that I’d give you are a camera, notepad, pen
and a computer with no wifi to connect to where you’ve been.
You’d live in the present with the details of your life,
examining where you have been without the daily strife.
With no Internet distraction, no ringing of the phone,
sometimes you find a part of you that you have never known.
There’s something that is lacking in what’s crowded in one’s brain.
It’s hard to find ourselves when we must live the whole world’s pain.
In the morning, you would walk the beach, move inward with the tide,
examining what treasures the waves conceal inside.
A stone shaped like a check mark or a continent or heart–
it’s hard to suspend looking, once you’ve made a start.
You may take photos of them or collect them in your pocket—
something to make art from, or a picture for your locket.
Another way to get inside is what you write about them.
If you have secrets, it’s inevitable that you’ll out them.
The sea’s part of something larger and each treasure is a clue
connecting the whole universe to something within you.
This is why each object plucked up from the sand
is part of you that you’ve reclaimed—there within your hand.
What you see in what you find is what you have inside.
Perhaps it’s something you don’t know or that you know and hide.
The very fact that it is here revealed for you to see
may mean that you are ready to finally set it free.
The sea with all its treasures and its recurring tide
is also found within you—safely tucked inside.
So look into a mirror—a metaphor, more or less;
if you are wondering if you’ve changed, you won’t have to guess.
You’ll look for things within yourself as closely as the sea
and find out more of who you are and who you want to be.
You’ll see the changes on your face that say you’ve become wise.
Deep worry lines around your mouth and laugh lines by your eyes.
And once that you have found yourself, you’ll find yourself again;
for you are always changing—refining what you’ve been.
Tucked off on an island like a wallflower on a shelf,
perhaps you’ll find the whole wide world there within yourself.
And when you see the world within, you’ll want to live in it,
for it’s a world that you have power to change as you see fit.
Just a few of the more than 30 heart-shaped rocks I’ve found. I’ve photographed many more than that.
What do you see in these beach finds?
This check mark shaped stone was one of my favorites today. I also found one in the shape of Africa, which is alluded to in the poem, but didn’t take a photo.
Yesterday I promised to write a poem about the best topic presented to me by “readers.” Four were proposed, but I can’t remember the fourth, so if you proposed one and I’ve neglected you, please submit it again. I can’t promise to always write about all topics submitted, but this time I did—well, with the exception of one.
“Sisterly Squabbles”
A little weep, a little sigh,
a little teardrop in each eye.
Grandma Jane and her sister Sue,
one wanted one hole, the other, two
punched into their can of milk.
(All their squabbles were of this ilk.)
The rest, of course, is family fable.
They sat, chins trembling, at the table.
When my dad entered, we’ve all been told,
their milk-less coffee had grown cold.
*(Prompt by Patti Arnieri)
“Take a Walk and Tell about It”
Straight out my bedroom door would be a doozie.
I’d end up right in my Jacuzzi !!!
* (Prompt by Tamara Mitchell)
“Friends”
If not my friend
to the end,
you might a’ been a me
lifelong enemy.
*(Prompt by Patty Martin)
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 