Scenes of Favorite Days # 4 – Ice Tree

Scenes of Favorite Days # 4 – Ice Tree

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Is it just me, or is this a very slow Monday?

The only thing interesting thing going on is we’re kind of waiting around for the snow to start later on today, and all day tomorrow. We do have a stew simmering on the stove for supper, though.

Anyway, here’s one more of my favorite days from quite a few years ago. Could be another like it this time around, too.

Ice tree and lightning – One winter, late in the night it was very cold and snowing. The dogs wanted to go out, which was normal for them every night about this time. No one else was up, just me and the dogs. I let them outside in the back yard, and made myself a cup of coffee.

As was my habit, too, I got my writing notebook and started writing. It’s a favorite time of mine to write – waiting for the dogs in the middle of the night. It was very dark out, the ground was covered in snow, and the tree was coated with so much ice on the branches, that it was bent over, sort of making a tunnel as they reached the ground. My dogs came walking through the tunnel of ice and snow.

The thing that made this night so beautiful though, was it was thundering and lightning like crazy. Every flash of the lightning made the ice and snow look like silver in the dark of night. Just so pretty to see that.

The photo shows our dog Weasel (RIP), walking under the ice tree tunnel the next morning. Still a pretty sight.

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2020 BS

Friday Flashback – Why Do I Write?

Friday Flashback – Why Do I Write?

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Fandango’s Friday Flashback — September 6

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Fandango asks us to look back at an older post of ours that may not have been seen by very many.

This is one of mine, from September 7, 2015. It was one of the Daily Posts Blogging U course prompts. I really liked doing all these, and there were several we could do. They were usually a month long exercise, fun to do, lots to learn, and the opportunity to meet other bloggers along the way.

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WRITING 101? WHY DO I WRITE?

Today is the first day of another writing course offered by the Daily Post. This one suggests daily writing prompts to follow, and hopefully give inspiration, and writing practice. Today’s prompt was called “Why Do I Write”. They mentioned setting a timer for a certain amount of time, and just free-write your thoughts.

Why do I write?

I write because I wouldn’t know how not to. I’ve been writing things ever since I can remember. I enjoy words…the way they sound, the way they look, the different ways you can put them together to be serious, funny, thought provoking, to tell a story, or just say something that’s on your mind.

There are just so many ways I like to use words. I’ve been creating stories, plays, poetry, essays, articles, fiction, fan-fiction, non-fiction, diaries, assignments, and long handwritten letters it seems forever. I’ve saved most of these, and it is fun to look back at them.

I’m not a very good speaker, even to family and friends…I stumble over what I’m trying to say. I don’t read aloud very well, either…but…I can write…and I do…because I am a writer.

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2015 & 2019 BS

Fan Of … Handwriting

Fan Of … Handwriting

Fan Of… #11 — Lochs and Lochans

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Here’s a new fun challenge! Just post something you like and are a fan of. 🙂

It’s hosted by Jez Braithwaite, and you can find his blog at the above link. Thanks, Jez!

How To Join In

1. Create a Fan Of… Photo Post.
2. Add a link to your Fan of… blog post in my comment box.
3. Title your post Fan Of… or add Fan Of… tag.

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I’m a fan of handwriting. I like to write everything down in all kinds of notebooks, and have a lot of them.

I don’t know how those handwriting experts can tell things about a person by looking at their handwriting, though. I guess there’s some science to it. I know for me, I like to try writing different ways. It also depends on if I’m writing in a hurry, jotting something down, or going slowly trying to make it look pretty. It also makes a difference with what you use to write with, be it a marker, a ball-point pen, an old fashioned ink pen, or pencils.

I remember I got into trouble at school once, I think it was 5th grade, because I tended to slant my writing toward the left instead of to the right, like the books said you were supposed to. Whatever…I didn’t change how I wrote after that, either.

I do believe every person’s handwriting style is unique to them. I know I’ve gotten letters and such from people and immediately know who it from just by seeing the handwriting. I’ll bet you have, too. 🙂

Here’s some samples of mine:

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2019 BS

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS SATURDAY

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS SATURDAY 

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Aug. 19/17

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So, the word of the SOCS day is ‘pant’. Join in the fun, and also see other entries, by clicking the above link.

By the way…we have a brand new logo/badge for SOCS! Really cool looking, isn’t it!

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Pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant.

Wouldn’t it be funny if I just filled this page with the word pant, over and over…and over and over… yeah, not so much.

What can I say about pant that hasn’t been said already?

Dogs and cats pant when they are hot. So do birds. I don’t know if insects pant, but I’m sure they get hot, too. I’ve never looked up close and personal with an insect, to see if it is panting or not.

We pant when we are hot, or tired, or…or…well, whenever we feel like panting, I guess. We also wear pants…regular kind, short kind, under kind, or even go commando with no pants.

When some people (me) write, we sometimes call it pantsing…which is to say, we don’t follow an orderly outline for our stories or whatever we are writing. We write by the seat of our pants, letting the words just flow onto the screen, or page. It’s like Stream of Consciousness writing all the time! It’s fun that way, and sometimes you even surprise yourself with what comes straight out of your brain waves. Then we’ll go back and edit/touch up a bit, but the pantsing writing is still there.

Sometimes I’ve heard the term/phrase ‘fly by the set of your pants’. What does that even mean? We’re not really flying around; we are seated most times. If we’re up doing something new, without quite knowing what we’re doing, and not following directions, you could say we are flying by the seat of our pants. The seat of our pants…the bottom part…the part we sit on. Hmmm…

I think I’ve seen a phrase here on Word Press that says, ‘thanks for flying with Word Press’. Something like that. What do they mean? We should all fly around the world with our writing? This kinda makes sense, as the internet is pretty fast, we can be said to be flying around the world in a matter of seconds…with no airplane! Cool!

So, for now I will fly off to do whatever else, and wish y’all a happy pantsing, flying, fun, day!

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }i{

© 2017 BS

SOCS – STREAM of CONSCIOUSNESS SATURDAY – MARCH

SOCS – MARCH

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Mar. 25/17

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Ok, or is it okay? I like ok better. Anyway, we marched into the AT&T store yesterday. Actually we walked. No, really we were blown in by the wind. That’s with a bunch of dirt and leaves, and my hair all wild and crazy like. That’s what I told the woman who greeted us, when she asked what brought us in to the store today (yesterday) … I said, “The wind blew us in here.” haha! Yeah, the wind was really blowing out there, the sky was brown with dirt, and dry leaves were swirling everywhere.

Where was I? Oh, after we marched into the store and got settled at a table, we told the lady what we were having problems with, with my iphone, and also we were asking about our TV stuff. Well, we’d already cancelled our TV, internet, home phone, but still we had questions. So she started explaining and looking up our account, and telling us stuff. Somehow we got onto how much or little I do use my phone. I said I take lots of photos to put on my blog. She was interested in hearing about that, and wanted to know what I put on my blog, so I told her. At first I was like…uh…I write fan-fiction…and uh…I do challenges, so I need lots of photos (why I need lots of space on the phone), and…uh…I write poetry, and….

That’s when she said, “Oh, you’re a writer and a poet! What books have you written?”

To say I was flustered about the whole explaining thing, well, I sure was. I mean no one has ever asked me about any of this before. I said I didn’t have any books, but I’ve had poems published in poetry magazines. Then she asked some more about it, and I mentioned I wrote about true ghost stories. Well, she was really interested in that, and even told me a true ghost story of her own!

I gave her my blog address, so she could stop by if she wanted to, and we finished our business with the phone/tv questions, which she was very helpful in straightening out for us.

So, I want to thank her for all she did.

Thank you Lisa, from AT&T…you made my day by recognizing and calling me a writer!

We then marched/walked out of the store, back into the howling wind with a smile. 🙂

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }i{

© 2017 BS

DEAR DIARY – APRIL 21 – APRIL 30, 1961

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DEAR DIARY – APRIL 21 – APRIL 30, 1961

These are the daily diary entries I wrote when I was 10 years old. 🙂

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Dear Diary,

4/21/61 – I went to school. When I came home I played. Then we went to Grand-ma’s. When I came home I played. When I came in it was dark. Then I went to bed.

4/22/61 – I did not go to school. We went to the library. Then I went to town. I got some pants, and a hat. When I came home I played.  J (cousin) and I went to N’s (aunt). Then went to B’s (aunt & J’s mom), We played all day. At night we rode bicycles. When I got home I went to bed.

4/23/61 – I went to church. When we came home I played. After dinner we went to Buffalo lake (a fairly big lake near by). I caught some snails. When I came home I played. Then I went to bed.

4/24/61 – I went to school. I made a string picture. When I came home J (cousin) came home with me. We played. When she went home P (sister) and I played. Then I read to P. Then I went to bed.

4/25/61 – I went to school. When I came home I played. Then I made a cake and biskets (biscuits) Then I read. Then I went to bed.

4/26/61- I went to school. When I came home we went to B’s (aunt). When I came home I played. Then we went to Granny’s. When I came home I went to bed.

4/27/61 – I went to school. When I came home I played. at night everybody came over. It was Daddy’s birthday. He got two pair of pants, two shirts, handkerchiefs, and a hat. We played all night. When they went home I went to bed.

4/28/61 – I went to school. When I came home I played with P (sister). At night N (aunt) came over. We saw fims (home movie films). N got a permenint (hair permanent). When she went home I asked mama If P could sleep with me. Mama said she could. Then we went to bed.  … (I guess it was fun to have a sleep-over with my sister. She is 5 years younger than me, and we had separate bedrooms)

4/29/61 – I played all day. J (cousin) came over to play. When she went home I planted my garden. (Hmm – didn’t remember this, but we always had one out back. I guess I planted some stuff).  Then we went to town. We went to the pet store. then we went to get daddy some golf caubs (clubs). Then went and got P some training wheels. Then went over to grandmas. P rode the bike. When we got home we watched tv. Then went to bed.

4/30/61 – I played all day. We went to church. When we came home Granny was over. After dinner we played. Then went to Grandmas. J (cousin) and I played. Then we went to N’s (aunt). Then we went to the trails. Then we went home. Then we went to the store. When we came home we painted my placks (plaques). Then we went to bed.   … (that sure was a busy day! The ‘trails’ were fun. We had this big, empty space where no houses were, there in the neighborhood. All the kids who lived out there would ride their bikes all over, and after a long time, dirt ‘trails’ were cut into the grass/weeds/ whatever was there. All the kids knew about the ‘trails’ so you could meet your friends at any time there. It was fun! … Plaques were those plaster of paris decorative figures we’d make in the molds. When dried, we’d paint them. 🙂

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }i{

© 2016 BS

 

 

JUST JOT IT JANUARY – # 24 – COMPELLED

JUST JOT IT JANUARY – # 24 – COMPELLED

Today’s prompt word is Compelled. It means to cause to occur by overwhelming pressure, to drive irresistibly, and the feeling of having to do something because you are forced to, or feel it is necessary.

To find out more about this challenge, click below:

Just Jot It January 24th – Compelled – We’re almost there!

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Are you ever compelled to do something? Do you get an overwhelming desire to do something? I know I do.

I’m compelled to write. For as long as I can remember, I feel the need to write everything down, whether just a jot or note, pages of words in essays, poems, thoughts, daily happenings, and lists. Mostly, I use pen and paper, and then type it out if I share on this blog.

I enjoy being compelled to write, every day, in one way or another. I have found, though, that it takes up a lot of time, which in turn, means I don’t get to the other things I want to get done. I wish there were more hours in the day to do it all.

I feel compelled to read, and respond to every blog I follow, and those that follow mine. I try my best to keep up with all the notices I get on email. I feel bad if I have to skip any, as I know it takes that person’s time to post on their blog. But, I still want to get to everyone. Is that even possible?

Could compulsion be another way of saying addiction? I think so. I enjoy writing, and if I’m compelled to do it, or addicted to it, that’s all right with me. 🙂

What are you compelled to do?

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{

© 2016 BS

DEAR DIARY … SEPT. 25 – OCT. 11, 1961

DEAR DIARY … SEPT. 25 – OCT. 11, 1961

I got a little behind posting these, so trying to catch up today! 😉

Dear Diary (9/25)

I went to school. P(sister) took my lunch. She stayed until 2:40. I played.

(9/26)  I went to school. I played. J (cousin) came over. We played.

(9/27) I went to school. I played. We went to the Fair. I rode rides. I went through the Gost (Ghost) house, and the Crazy House. I played games. I had a candy apple. I had fun.

(9/28) I went to school. I played. J (cousin) came over for a little while. V (cousin) was already over.

(9/29) I went to school. J (cousin) came over to spend the night. We played. Mother, daddy, B (uncle), N (aunt) went to the Fair. I got a horse. P (sister) got a doll.

(9/30) I played. We went to the Stamp center. We got some silver ware. I played.

(10/1) I did my homework until 10 or some where around then. It hailed and rained.

(10/2) I went to school. I played. I had a headack. (headache)

(10/3) I went to school. I played. J (cousin) came over. We went to grannys.

(10/4) I went to school. We had a foot ball game. I was a cheerleader. I played. I had fun.

(10/5) I went to school. I hurt my finger. I pulled a little of my nail off. We went to eat supper over Grandmas.

(10/6) I went to school. I went to J’s (cousin). I played. P (sister) had a headack (headache).

(10/7) I played with J (cousin) all day. We went to B’s (aunt) and ate tockes (? tacos). We played a long time outside.

(10/8) Daddy went golfing. B (aunt) and mama and J (cousin) went boleing (bowling). Mama made 122 & 127. They came over. We played.

(10/9) I went to school. I played. We went to the library.

(10/10) I went to school. I played. Mother went to a cooking school.

(10/11) I went to school. I played. In art we made halloween things. P (sister) went to B’s (aunt). I played. J (cousin) and V (cousin) cut their hair. It looks lots better than long.

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{

trying blockquotes again

trying block quotes again

~trying blockquotes again~  typed quote, pushed quotes button, hit enter, then quotes button again…didn’t work

next…

~trying blockquotes again  ~ pushed quotes button, then typed quote, then pushed enter, then quotes symbol again…nope

next…

~trying blockquotes again ~  typed quote, then highlighted quote, then pushed quote symbol …nope

next…

~trying blockquote again~   typed words, hit quote, highlighted, hit enter, hit quote symbol again …nope

next…

hit quote now typing quote ~trying blockquote again ~ now hitting quote symbol … nothing…

next…

ok…it all disappeared…with that one…?? … don’t even remember what I tried that time!! I think I hit quote symbol, typed quote, highlighted, hit quote symbol again, then enter? …gone…just gone…:(

next…

~trying blockquote again ~ hit quote button, wrote quote, highlighted, hit quote button —didn’t work

next…

In between all these, I hit save draft, then preview, to have a look see, that’s when I find nothing happened…and I’ve googled and Wikipedia-ed  of how to do this…that’s where I first saw about the highlighting part. But nothing I try works!!! Why??? What am I doing wrong??? Or is my stuff just messed up (I’ve thought this before…because the widget things don’t work either no matter what I do…finally gave up on ever doing any more of those. )

Ok…don’t know what else to try, so …signing off for now.

Peace }I{

WRITING 101 … LET SOCIAL MEDIA INSPIRE YOU

WRITING 101 … LET SOCIAL MEDIA INSPIRE YOU

For this assignment on the Writing 101 course, we were given a choice of some Twitter quotes to respond to. The above quote, by Leah Reich @ohheygreat is the one I chose.

My first thought was, do these people know that their tweet is being used as an assignment? Do we need to find them, follow them, and let them know?

Then I was thinking, well…if I was to actually respond to their tweet, it would have to be within the Twitter guidelines of the 140-characters or less word limit.

I’m on Twitter a lot, and enjoy tweeting, responding, and the conversations that spontaneously occur. It’s fun.

Then, I was thinking, well, so far I haven’t said anything abut the quote in the chosen tweet.

Then I’m thinking, I have no idea how to do any of the hovering, embedding, copying/pasting, URL things that were suggested to put the quote on my post. I almost gave up doing this one at all. But, then I tried saving the picture of the tweet/quote, and then I could at least have a picture of it on here. I think it worked.

I’m now thinking I’m thinking too much about it all.

So, the quote, as seen in the picture says that self storage is where we store our past selves. Ok…cool…seems legitimate. We’re born, our brains begin to soak up tons of information, and it’s all up there in our head somewhere, right? If I really try, I can imagine the brain as a living storage building business. For each area of learning…say, language, feelings, talents learned, studies in school lessons, compassion, and empathy, love, things we hear, see, taste…all our learning is kept in these separate rooms. We respond to outside life events by opening the door to the appropriate unit in our brain, according to how much experience we’ve had.

Anyway, all our past is stored in our self storage brain, to be used in fractions of seconds. It’s amazing how that works.

Oh, if I actually responded to this person’s tweet, in true Twitter fashion, I would have just said …Cool, I agree…or more likely I’d would just favorite and re-tweet it. 🙂

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{