Writing Challenges 2021

My Favorite Things

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October and December are the only months in the ENTIRE year that I look forward to and I enjoy them for the same reasons:

The music, the ghost stories, the food, the snow, the dark,  the cold and those wonderful cloud filled skies.

So when I saw today’s RDP  Prompt was DECEMBER the song ” A Few of My Favorite Things” popped into my head and how is this for a coincidence, my son Julio sent me these pictures from Fox Lake Wisconsin of two of my favorite things in one frame:

Cemeteries and SNOW.

I like whiskers on kittens too. Just in case you are curious.

Photo By J.M. Moscoso

Photo By J.M Moscoso

Photo J.M. Moscoso

Photo J.M. Moscoso

December Homing

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Prompt: Day#2- December Homing

Steve Smulka

The sound of your voice

when you laughed, growled and cried

your peppermint flavored kisses

the smell of your skin

when you woke up in the morning

and before you fell asleep at night

fragile memories that I have stored on a shelf

that wobbles when the wind blows through our

empty house

 covered with dust.

The sun tries to shine through the windows

but the cold always finds it’s way in.

 

Can You Dig It?

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RDP Tuesday: SWEET POTATO 

When I was a kid I had this thing

about vegetables.

I would not eat carrots or potatoes

I wouldn’t  eat them if you candied them or baked them in a pie

and I was notorious in my family for my sweet tooth.

I was known to toss back chocolates and I hated chocolate as much as I hated carrots

and potatoes, but chocolates are sweet- even if it tastes a little bitter.

So why did I hate these two and only these two vegetables?

I hated them because you dug them up out of the ground

and you put them in bags and took them to the kitchen covered in dirt and bugs.

It was creepy.

So. You may be wondering, how did I arrive at this odd point of view?

With a leap and bound propelled by an overactive imagination, that is how.

 

 Boris Karloff’s ” The Body Snatcher ” was one of my favorite movies.

I saw it  for the first time when I was 6 years old.

After seeing that movie, there was no way heckin’ way I was going to eat

something  that you  dug up out of the ground and then, diced, mashed, baked or

stewed with the aid of big knives

and  pots of boiling water.

Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

 

This is true. Every word. And to this day when I eat potatoes or carrots I don’t get

weirded out anymore- though it took awhile.

I’ve grown up, my sensibilities have changed. I’ve embraced the things that scared me

when I was little.

Now when I eat something that has been dug up from underground.

I smile a creepy  little smile.

Jump In The Line

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Back when the Covid-19  Vaccine was released, I watched the news  and  saw the trucks leave the plants and seeing that I felt some relief.

At that time I understood that I was ‘ non-essential’ and not at ‘risk’ ( hey I lived in an area that LUVS them some Donald Trump and they didn’t believe in Covid-19 so HELL YES  I WAS AT RISK . In addition I used Public Transportation and work with  the public) but I figured by Summer I would have a chance to get vaccinated and I thought I could hang on until then.

The thing that made it hard was when my friends who were deemed ‘essential’ started to get their vaccines and posted pictures of their cards in FB  and video recorded themselves giving Miss  American Speeches that would have had beauty pageant contestants  weeping in envy.

I get that they were relived and excited, but on the other hand there was a large part of the population that were not considered ‘essential’ enough to protect.

One of my friends sent me a picture of themselves getting their shot and quipped, ” I get to live ”

and I responded, ” Awesome. I get to hope to not catch covid-19 and die ”

So when  certain people were being advised to get their boosters ( by age and medical conditions-)  and there was a method to that messaging I started to pay attention.

I set my spider to pull info about new  approvals for the vaccines and when I saw that the new groups now being encouraged to get their boosters worked or lived in situations that put them at risk, I jumped in and made an appointment.

Shortly after that point I saw blurbs popping up about the FDA and CDC moving to seek approval for everyone to be vaccinated and I figured, like the last time by the time I got in the shot it wouldn’t matter that I had checked a box and made myself essential.

This is what I decided. If I didn’t make myself essential I was going to be put at risk AGAIN. So sure. I cheated. Sort of.

So yesterday I got my booster-I made my appointment before Thanksgiving so I only had to wait like, four days.

Some of my  friends waited until they got the all clear to go in- they’re past that six month point, being they were essential and got the shots earlier. I got my second shot exactly 6 months ago.

A couple of people were in a certain amount of distress because they tried to schedule appointments through their Doctors Office- where they went before- and found out they couldn’t get in until late December.

I pointed out that when I was making my appointment I saw that some places had openings. They did get in but they have to wait a couple of weeks. Which is better then getting it after the holidays.

I feel like  that in a complicated angry world I found a way, in this case to make it safely to the other side of the street.  I felt essential.  I will be honest. It felt good.

You can talk about cha-cha
Tango, waltz or the rumba
Senora’s dance has no title
You jump in the saddle
Hold on to the bridle

Jump in the Line

Raymond Bell, Gabriel Oller, Ralph De Leon, Stephen Samuel

For FOWC W/ Fandango — Schism