Waiting in line for this ride in stifling heat, I thought, this isn’t worth it! The kids are restless, whiny and all of us need water. The line seems interminable and even though we’ve been separated into groups of twenty, I hope we all get on the next “flight”. The kids have been looking forward to this for a while.

This season’s County Fair activities have been the usual fun. However, this ride is new to our small town, but the carnival itself has been an annual event. The man standing next to the separation of ropes is marvelously dressed as a space man, looking quite authentic….as if any of us had ever seen a man from space. Of course we had seen the astronauts when they returned from the moon. There was a grand ticker tape parade held in their honor.

The saucer shaped vehicle started humming and a door slid open. We filed in and the door closed. Masks dropped down from above and an automated voice told us to put them on. We suddenly felt lighter. Looking out the circular window, I was amazed to see us leaving the ground at great speed, and exclaimed, “We’re flying!”

https://sundayphotofictioner.wordpress.com/2017/07/23/sunday-photo-fiction-july-23rd-2017/

I’ll start by saying it was love at first sight.  Truly, I mean that.  It must have been for her, too.  Otherwise, why would she come across the field and settle close to watch me, not taking her eyes off me.  And from that moment on, we were attracted to each other, not knowing anything about the other.  We hesitantly dated a few times, and I thought she was the dream I had envisioned.  My own parents were quiet and undemonstrative, but I thought life with her would be something new, something I needed.  She was loving and not understated as I was used to. We had ups and downs, but finally not being able to separate, married and looked forward to a long life together.

As the business of marriage, jobs, and children took its usual toll on our lives, the dream faded a bit at a time.  First there were small disagreements about things we should have discussed before committing our lives to each other.  The light that struck as love at first sight was no longer bright for us.  Daily lives, routines you hope not to fall into, these were our downfall.  She expected too much of me.  The shine of love started to tarnish and she let me know I was not living up to what she’d hoped.

With this revelation on her part, our once bonded love became broken and destroyed.  Love at first sight may work for some.  Maybe ours was just attraction, puppy love, I don’t know, really.  I only know what I thought it would be never was.

http://www.thewritingreader.com/blog/2017/07/22/prompt-3058-first-line-of-the-week-la-kuehlke/#.WXND9_MiRr4.wordpress

What a word, however….. descriptive of my life lately. I used to think (when I wasn’t concentrating on another’s survival) that life itself was reason enough to be happy, forget what things are happening that you can’t change and be happy! And for the most part I am. But I find it takes more than one for me to be happy. It takes another constant companion, mate, lover, helper, whatever you want to call him or her, another person. Some people may be content with a nonhuman mate, but that’s not for me.  
For now, since January, for various reasons, most are ones you don’t want or care to know, I have been dormant. I find concentrating on others sometimes mirrors my own negativity, not good. This blog was started on the premise of being grateful for what you have, who you are at the moment and not giving up. Looking forward with hope and not back on despair. I still believe that. Sunny days help, we had a long winter. It’s time for the dormancy to end, and get on with it.  Spring up and out of the mud, and start blooming again.  Right?

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/dormant/

Good day to all the bloggers out there!  It is Saturday here, still, and I have been reading your words all day.  I am going to use Linda’s suggested topic of ceiling to express how much I enjoy meeting and reading you all through WordPress.  There simply is no ceiling to the amount of interesting people’s words or photographic journeys, or artistic renderings in this atmosphere.  It’s difficult to stop, guess it’s an addiction of sorts!  But a good one, surely…..I find it very helpful to my own mind’s health to read you all.
You can find anything you want here, adventure, humor – my personal favorite, tragedy, promotion, authority, needs, beauty, advice, struggles, information, and that is just naming a few.  So a big 🌸THANK YOU🌸 to all who dare to blog, despite the challenges of spell check, putting your innermost thoughts out there!  Congratulations!  

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS July 22/17

She was so stressed, so depressed. He ignored her again. She hardly noticed the rain as it increased. She was walking aimlessly at first, then stopped in front of his home. Joe’s family home.  

Joe was married with children, but that didn’t stop her obsession over him. She first saw him in the local bar. She was determined to know who he was. She moved onto the stool near him, and introduced herself.  

Maureen had problems. Each time she wanted a relationship, something occurred, causing it to dissolve. It couldn’t always be her fault, she reasoned to herself. She just wanted to be close, tried hard at maintaining it, but she forgot it involved two people who want the same thing. Maureen would throw herself at a man she was attracted to, and it usually ended up badly.

Joe was a loving husband and father and seemed not to realize he’d fallen under Maureen’s radar. His family was gone for a couple of weeks and he was just stopping by for a drink after work. He missed his family and delayed going home to an empty house.  

He answered Maureen’s greeting at the bar and had a friendly conversation, he thought. He had a few more drinks before walking home. The next day he didn’t remember being overly friendly with Maureen. Apparently, she thought differently. Joe didn’t know Maureen began sneaking around and following him, finding out where he lived.

Three days later he did notice Maureen at the coffee shop on his way to work, and greeted her again. They didn’t engage in conversation and he left for the office. The very next day Maureen started calling him. At first he didn’t recognize her voice, but after a few more calls, he tried to fend her off. Not getting a result, he stopped answering calls from her number at all. He had not been in this situation before and was rather naive when it came to overly aggressive women.

This day Maureen was walking when it started to rain. She found herself at Joe’s address, and noticed a car in the driveway.  He was home.  Surely he would take her in from the rain, not knowing Joe’s family had arrived home. They were busy unpacking and chatting about their trip. 

Maureen went by the window. She saw the unpacked suitcase on the bureau. It suddenly came to her that his wife was back. She fell against the window in sorrow. She had lost again.  

https://allaboutwritingandmore.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/daily-picture-prompt-203/

He would wriggle and try to please

Wanted a walk for restless ease

Always told to sit and wait

And not run out of the kitchen gate.

But he would pull tight on the leash

Barking, whining never cease

Until the lead I did release

Now he runs free, and seems in peace.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/gate/

I have not met my own doppelgänger, but I met my cousin’s in a strange way when I was about fourteen. A school project was to have a pen pal from another country. I picked a boy from Scotland. It was a great experience and lasted until he joined the Merchant Marines. When he sent a photo of himself, I was shocked. He looked exactly like my cousin Charles!

http://www.thewritingreader.com/blog/2017/07/21/prompt-3057-word-of-the-week-doppelganger/#.WXItMF4UQjQ.wordpress

A wonderful treat, good for the heart

It looks like this at the start.

Picked and cleaned

From the garden gleaned.
          Next you see the uncooked plant

           Beautiful, I could rant

           The leaves you do not ingest

           Would cause your stomach much unrest

Above is one of my favorite treasures

Rhubarb pie sans strawberry measures

No need to fiddle adding fruit

Plain rhubarb pie is such a hoot!

Now you know my favorite treat

But this pie is quite unique
It’s not everyone’s “cup of tea”

That’s perfect, it means more for me!

https://rantingalong.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/99-word-prompt-american-pie/

 https://cathylynnbrooks.com/2017/07/21/alphabet-soup-challenge/

Below the city’s cobblestones it shifted, restless and hungry. If you stepped very quietly, you could hear it.  That is, if you believed.

The fact is, you have to be a true believer, of myths and legends and creatures of fairytales.  Of course I am, thus I hear the restlessness of the lonely dragon below the street.  He resides in the depths of the sewers, only venturing out when the moon is waning.  Under the dimming light, he soars and then silently enters the nearby lake and refreshes himself. 

Once I saw him, and I was thrilled to know the fantastical tales were true. Reading them as a child, of course I believed, but as I grew older I could never accept they were only stories. Secretly, I refused to think they were only products of someone’s imagination.  And then as the moon was barely visible on a sleepless night, I saw him.  He was not a frightening  sight, but magical.  I followed him to the lake.  I wonder if he knew I was watching, that he fulfilled a dream.  A lesson in this, do not give up on your beliefs.

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/first-line-friday-july-21st-2017/

Every once in a while a huge surprise comes your way.  It’s a miracle you may think, and are so happy it happened!  This week I received two such surprises, both in monetary form.  I have my daughter to thank for one and my sister, the one who visited me last fall, for the other.  I have to add that I spent a very long time today in conversation with another sister, and I was so happy about that, knowing she was all right.  So the day started well.

Then my grandson, the chauffeur, brought my mail and we had lunch together.  He’s been so busy with marching band and his job, we don’t see each other as much.  I am so grateful he takes the time to visit, and hugs, those are important!  I was relaxing, opening my mail and saw a letter from my sister, who never writes, never calls, but we sisters know that is just her way.  Hardly any of us sit down and mail handwritten letters anymore. 

The letter gave me an order:  Fix the rig, get on it, and go help those guys at the VA!  Now this sister is the funniest of us all.  At 87 her sense of humor has not changed. She had seven kids and is used to giving orders.  She knew I had been putting off having my scooter repaired because other expenses were more important.  When she visited last year she knew my situation, and I think she wanted to help.  What a dear sweet thing to do. Another reason I have been putting off getting the scooter was the accident I had the last time I used it.  I misjudged a bump, it turned over, I fell and broke a bone that connects my hip and leg.  Truthfully I never want to get on that thing again.

My dilemma is this.  Should I rip up the check?  I feel unworthy to accept it. I was so shocked I couldn’t call her today to even acknowledge receiving it.  I only get my mail every two weeks or so, partly because I don’t have the scooter to get it.  I admit I’ve been putting things off lately, staying home more.  I don’t know exactly why.  Maybe this is my push to get out,  interact with the veterans at the hospital.  My daughter has asked about the local senior center, but I don’t feel I’m ready for that. I cannot picture myself settling for that, not yet at least. Am I trying to deny my age or my abilities or lack of them?  Is it time to get off the fence and kick myself in the butt? 

I am in a rut. Ever have that feeling that you just can’t take a step forward?  It has been with me since January, and it’s starting to get on my nerves.  

https://cathylynnbrooks.com/2017/07/21/alphabet-soup-challenge/