Writing 101, Day Nine: Changing Moccasins — Point of View

Changing Moccasins — Point of View

Write the scene from three different points of view.

There once was a Woodshop owner whose life had gone astray for many years.  His woodshop layed dormant and gathered many a cobweb while the two gnome guards stood out front and weathered the storms and the Wicked and Brutal Tennessee Mother Winter.  They would see the Woodshop owner from time to time pass by without a single glance their way.  Tears began to fall from their eyes causing them to fade in color over the many years.

Then one day in the Early Summer of 2014, something changed in the Woodshop owner.  He was suddenly walking straight toward them with a smile upon his face.  Day after day, into the long hours of the night he began to work in the shoppe cleaning and sorting.  Tossing out and putting items into big white sacks.   Oh how the guards shivered in fear as they anticipated the worst as the Woodshop owner approached with the big broom.  He simply moaned and swept as he placed them back in their places after he had given them a clean place to stand.  They were encouraged by this new change.  Hoping that they were able to stay.

They watched nervously as one day the Woodshop owner and his wife came outdoors with two new gnomes that were fresh in paint and very sharply dressed.  They both felt their hearts sink as they viewed the smiles on the two owners faces as they rounded the corner of the main house.  Oh, they were not walking toward them at all but to the front portion of the main building where the other gnomes had their posts.  Who was having to leave?  Would they all be allowed to stay among the plants out there?

Several days past with more and more of the white sacks being loaded out.  The Woodshop owner’s wife began to stop often to visit, commenting each time on how nice things were beginning to look to the Woodshop owner’s new beginning to a new life.

During one of the visits, the Woodshop owner’s wife stopped and nealt down to get a closer look at the two of us standing guard on the porch.  She simply smiled and continued on to speak with her husband.  The following day after leaving they returned and the wife strolled out to the workshop and stopped at the porch area where the two gnomes were guarding.  She smiled as she picked up the two and tucked them gently into her arms.  The Woodshop owner noticed her and asked where she was heading with his gnomes with a heavy concern in his voice.  She softly replied for him not to fret that she would be kind and show lots of love and compassion.  She told him that she was not going far away and that they would not be gone long.

She had prepared a work area all lined with a soft surface as she gingerly sat each gnome down to look at each other.  She simply said poor babies and disappeared into another room.  She sat at the work area for several hours taking a break to allow them to dry in between, rotating between each and snapping photographs to document their transformation.

The Woodshop owner kept coming in to refill his coffee often, and would peek over trying not to let her notice.  She would smile and ask him if he wanted to see the progress and he would come running over to comment on each one with a big smile.  The two gnomes suddenly felt quite important and quite loved.  Within two days every detail was touched up and refreshed and the pair were returned to their prior posts on the porch of the Woodshop to stand guard.  They both suddenly felt very important.

The Woodshop owner came out to view their new positions on the porch and was smiling.  He kissed his wife.  Then he returned back in to the Woodshop, feeling content.

That was the story of the Guard gnomes, the Woodshop owner and his wife.

Writing 101, Day Eight: Cash and Carry Barn is a great find

Go to a local café, park, or public place and report on what you see. Get detailed: leave no nuance behind.

To drive past The Cash and Carry Barn which is located at 951 Lafayette Rd, Clarksville, TN 37042 it looks like a monument store.  If you have kept driving you have missed out on a huge treat.  They are so much more. (931) 503-9921 is their number to call.

Rather than skip the adverbs I had a better idea.  Show you.  Since they are open year round they have lots of pictures on their Facebook page.

Saturday Mornings there means fresh baked goods:

Then there is the homemade salsa, pickles, relishes, various apple butters, pie fillings and fresh baked pies.

Did I mention the fresh vegetables.  They are open year round.  They have a great green house.

Yes they work hard at the monuments.  Behind the scenes there is so much more… Go and see it for yourself when you are in the area.  Tell them that Tammye and Emmanuel sent you.

 

Writing 101 Day 7 Give and Take or The Revolving Door

Write a post based on the contrast between two things 

Our cat T. C. is an old “Garfield” in his color and attitude.  He has managed to lose some weight since moving to the South from the North since he can go out during the Winter months and get some exercise as well.  His food sits on top of the washing machine so that our dog Peachy will not eat every last morsel in existence.  He is more than capable of jumping from the floor to the window to the dryer and then walking to the washer.
However, upon arriving into the house, his presence is announced loudly and constantly until he is picked up and placed on the washer next to his dish.  He will sit there and stare at the dish until I have taken my hand and have stirred the dish of dry food several times.  I must then open the sealed container of food and grab a slight hand full and add to the batch and stir again.
He will then nibble for a few minutes.  Just as I am back in my office he will make his presence known again and will either want to be petted or will want to go out.  Once in a great while if it happens to be a stormy day I will hear the childrens piano in the spare bedroom playing and I know that he has decided to take a nap.
When the dogs are fed, he is the first at their dishes to help himself to the bits in the “Kibbles and Bits”.  Then the dogs are allowed to eat.  The dogs will look at us as if to say help!…

Cats rule and dogs drool….

He has a pattern of going in and out all day.  He knows that if he sets off the front door alarm it triggers in my office and I come to the front door.  As I approach the front door I find him sitting there as if asking what took me so long.  He nibbles on some food and is right out the back door to lounge in the sun for a nap in nice weather.  Unless that was just a potty break.

You might be wondering why we tolerate this annoying daily routine.  The reason is because he is somewhere between 15 and 16 years old.  We know that we do not have that much longer to enjoy his company.  His snuggling into bed with me on my right side while the dog Trina is tucked tight against my back on my left side.

About twice a day he insists that Trina groom him so he will walk under her and continuously butt her head until she begins to groom her.  It always happens so fast that I am never near a camera to record.  One of these days I will get it on record though.

That is the contrast in our lives that has blended well.  Perhaps someday he will decide whether he wants to be out or in lol.

 

Writing 101: Day 4 Losses in Life (Part Three of a Three Part Series)

Write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn’t any more.

To This point we have covered everything from material to personal losses.  We have even touched on the losses of those with addictions.  Then my mind began to ask what else in life could a person lose?

GOD

Sometimes people forget that He did not go anywhere.  He has always been there for us.  It was us who went astray.  We were so caught up in our losses, our work, our familiy or our every day lives.

JESUS

Some people state ok, I love God so what?  I still have to go to work on Monday through Friday and bring home a pay check.  God sent His only son to die on the cross so that anyone who believes in HIM should not perish but have Everlasting Life.   John 3:16 

Where do you really stand in your faith tonight.  If you died tonight…are you sure you would go to heaven?  Have you asked Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior and cleanse you from all of your sins?

Jesus has created miracles in our family that I would be more than glad to share with you… simply contact me at tammye42@yahoo.com and I will let you know how he made a difference in our lives and in our marriage.  He was able to help me through a lot of difficult times in my life.

I could not have made it my many years if I did not have Jesus on my side and in my heart.

Have a Blessed Sunday

Tammye

Writing 101: Day 5 A Brief Encounter (Part II of A Part III Series of Day 4)

You discover a letter on a path that affects you deeply. Today, write about this encounter. And your twist? Be as succinct as possible.

The letter read that he had left because of his PTSD.  He knew how much his crying out at night was upsetting her and he did not want to hurt her any more.
He loved her with all of his heart and owed her every thing.  He did not feel it was fair to make her suffer the way that he did each night in his mind as he relived his war days.
As I turned the envelope over I could see drops of tears on the front with slight drips of mascara.

On the bottom, there was an impression of a kiss with a scribbled note that said I will find you.

Writing 101: Day 4, Losses in Life (Part One of a Three Part Series)

Write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn’t any more.

When I first read this and thought about the three part idea it was a bit intriguing as to what my topic would actually end up being about by the time that I get to part three.  I was not certain if the losses should be about times in my life where material things were taken out of my life without my having any power over it.  Then it occured to me that material things were always replaced.  They were only temporary in this life.  They were not human or an animal with feelings.  We might have sentimental feelings about them, however, once they have vanished from our lives we do carry on without tears.  When we lose a loved one, be it a human or an animal we do shed a lot of tears.  Some people mourn much longer than others.  There is no time period set on how long a person is to mourn a loss.

Gamblers mourn a loss of a game.  That does not stop them from betting the next one and perhaps losing big again.  It is still a loss but it is not the same pain that is felt as a loss of a loved one.  To lose a tennis match is a small ouch compared to having your dog get hit by a car.  Yet some peoples reactions are such that they resemble the same.  People become so caught up in the moment that every emotion comes into play.  They feel the adrenalin rushing into their system and have a complete reaction.  Some people do not recover as well as others.  Those people tend to slowly sink into a deep depression.  This does not happen over night.

PTSD is a form of depression as it takes a person back to a bad place in their life and has them re-live that over and over as if they were there and right back in that moment in time.  There is no cure at the moment for this and it is one of the hardest forms of depression to be diagnosed.  It not only takes a toll on the person that is suffering from it but also the family that is with that person and lives through that same moment as well.  We will explore this further in the next part of the series.

The depression begins slowly.  They begin to not care about things that they used to.  What goals they had set for themselves are suddenly fading.  Doing things becomes a real chore.  As each day progesses they find themselves doing less of what used to make them happy.  I have watched a few friends who are slowly climbing into the dark hole of depression and it is very sad.  It is very difficult to watch and although you want to try and help, they are the only ones who can help themselves.

The largest problem with a person with depression is a lot of times, they don’t realize that they are really depressed.  They do not realize that it is happening to them.  They can’t see the gradual changes that you have been seeing.  They don’t see the changes in their behavior and manorisms.  They do not see the decline in the lifestyle that you do on the outside looking in.  That is the most painful part.

What can you do to help?

We will explore that in parts II and III so come back….

Tammye Honey

Writing 101: Day 3 Celebrate three songs that are significant to you

 

 

The first song that comes to my mind would be The Easter Song.  Even though the song is appropriate for any time of the year.

This song is so uplifting to me and will put me in such a peaceful place when I am feeling stress.  It returns me to a great place in my mind.
It allows me to collect my thoughts and heal myself from any problems that might have come in to make me feel like the walls are crushing in on me.
By the end of the song I am ready to go out and begin again.

The second song that comes to mind today is Leonard Cohen singing

Hallelujah

Now perhaps this would this put most of you to sleep by now by for me it is an inspiration.  Iam now inspired to carry on this story and my day.
I have listened to these songs right along with you while I was writing this piece.  If it was not raining outside I would be out there doing all kinds of yard work.
Hopefully our rainy season will end soon so that the remainder of the yard work can get completed.

My last choice for the day comes from Josh Groban You Raise Me Up

I hope that this video also will also raise you up to make you want to go forward and do whatever you were not sure that you could do.  May it help you to find
that inner strength that you have been looking for in your life.

May you feel like you are blessed today and that it will be a good day no matter what obsticles lie ahead.  Face them one at a time.  Pray in between for the strength to carry on.  You can do it.

May today be the first day of the rest of your life.

Have a Blessed Day,

Tammye Honey

Writing 101: Day 2 Where would I go today?

 

Sometimes we read things on others Facebook posts that were not necessarily meant for us but the point is taken anyways.
Today was one of those days as I glanced upon my wall and saw a post about Motherless by Choice.  It hit a nerve with me and hurt.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katie-naum/motherless-by-choice_b_5417281.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000046

If I could be anywhere today just for a fleeting moment in time it would be to sit next to both of my daughters just for a few minutes of their busy lives.
To be able to give them a hug, a big kiss and tell them that I truly do love them.  How proud I am of them and their success in life.

I know that there are scars in the past life and that they hold them tight.  My heart aches over this and you can’t go back and erase time or get a redo.

Life is a learning curve.  We learn from our mistakes.  We get stronger as we get older and we learn what not to do again.

I have asked forgiveness and was not allowed to have it.  From that one must go one with life.  It does not help the pain.

As I sit here and shed tears it does no good.  I realize this.  Only a head ache will occur.

Just a few minutes to hug my grand children would feel so good.  I am not getting any younger and I know that my health is not getting any better either.
These past few years have really taken a toll on me and as I reflect back it is useless to comprehend on what could have been different.  It can’t change now.

Little do they know that my heart is always with them and that my thoughts follow them through their journey of life.  Even if it is only on Facebook or an occasional text.

Perhaps some day things will be different.  I pray every night that God will soften the pain for all three of us.

 

Day One: Unlock the Mind

 

Unlocking my mind might be a dangerous thing to do.  Once this twenty-minute exercise is over we might just see how dangerous that was.
The exercise is a very basic idea of just let the ideas flow for twenty-five minutes and keep typing to see what happens.  That sounds so easy until you get going.
You find your mind suddenly going in a thousand different directions.

I sat here looking at my keyboard for inspiration and decided to rather just look at my screen and let my fingers do the talking like my cat does.  It always works for him.
Amazingly enough it does flow better.

To update my readers who have been following my blogs since late November, my hubby did go in and have the Double hernia surgery just before Christmas and was home in time to recuperate for Christmas.  Still not feeling too well we did not do much for New Year’s and just gave him a relaxation and get well time.
We had a lot of follow-up visits to different doctors which were painful for him.  He was a trooper through them all and we were able to get through them.

January 16th he had a portion of his lower lip and inner mouth removed and two weeks later we were informed that it was Stage 3 Melanoma Cancer.

Our lives totally went spinning out of control.

We had several bad snow storms and ice storms and had to reschedule appointments.  March 17th my hubby checked into a facility and began a new phase of his life.
One week later he returned home and our true lives began and we were able to start to face the possibilities that we were going to have to endure in the future.
We both began to attend the Oakwood Free Methodist Church across the street from us and my hubby began to find peace with life.
May came along and we were finally able to see the specialist at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville Tennessee and what a different approach this doctor had.
She marked his face and stood next to my hubby and I and listened to what he had to say.

She then told him that he only had Stage 1 squamosal Cell Cancer and that she would remove it all before he left from his next visit.

This was a true answer from prayers.

Now he has undergone three surgeries for his mouth and lip and has fully recovered from the surgeries.  You can’t tell that he even had a surgery unless he really shows you that he did.

He has been alcohol free since St. Patrick’s Day.  Life has been quite a blessing with a ton of answered prayers.  We would both like to take a moment and thank everyone who has prayed for us during our time since November and has sent us various notes of encouragement and prayer thoughts.

That was a fast twenty five minutes.  Although I did have several interruptions it still did actually flow quite easily.  I was still able to stay focused enough to stay right on topic and not go into three million directions.

Thank you for reading.

Hopefully now that my life is calming down I will also be getting back into my Cooking and Cookbook blogs as well.

Till tomorrow…..

 

Daily Prompt: Eating Humble Pie

Daily Prompt: Humble Pie

by Krista on November 30, 2013

Tell us about a time you found out after the fact that you’d been mistaken and you had to eat a serving of humble pie.

Photographers, artists, poets: show us REGRET.

_________

Participating in NaBloPoMo? Head to BlogHer’s NaBloMoPo Central for more prompts, inspiration, and motivation to help you post every day — in November and beyond! (Not participating? Why not? Get posting!)

It took me an entire day of reading this prompt to consider writing about it.

I do admit when I am wrong all of the time.  That was not the problem.  To write about it was.

There are already enough negative things in the world without adding one more.

Here are what a few other Daily Prompt Writers had to say:

1. REGRET | Lost in Translation
2. Regret | Momma Said There’d Be Days Like This
3. Blue Loft
4. Daily Prompt: Humble Pie | Awl and Scribe
5. Daily prompt: Humble pie | timzauto…. in search of the blond haired kid
6. Certain investment | James Clegg
7. Sometimes They Won’t Let You Eat Humble Pie: Pete’s Class Reunion (short fiction) | The Jittery Goat
8. Daily Prompt: Humble Pie | A path lit by words
9. Regrets | Flowers and Breezes
10. Mistaken | Bullet holes in the wall
11. Daily Prompt: Humble Pie | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss
12. Humble Pie on Joliet St. | Sweet. Conniption!
13. Daily Prompt: How Many Slices | One Starving Activist
14. Daily Prompt: Humble Pie | Basically Beyond Basic
15. Regrets, I’ve made a few… | The Magic Black Book
16. Deep Blue | vic briggs
17. Let Them Eat Crow | Just Visiting This Planet
18. Humble Pie or Water Under the Bridge? | Lead us from the Unreal to the Real
19. All gone leaving ONE ! | Dreams to Reality !
20. A Slice of Humble Pie | meanderedwanderings
21. The bishop | Life is great
22. Losing Perfection – Lipstick and Lithium – Bipolar Blog
23. Daily Prompt: Humble Pie | Poetry
24. Regret | Active Army Wife
25. Stitches | Words on a Page

I only took the top 25 so if you would like to read more just go to http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/prompt-humble-pie/ to read the rest.

I guess that I just do not like to air dirty laundry.

Pet Peeve of the day with the Voice for leaving out a word…

Would love to hear what my readers have to say about this so leave a comment.

Tammye Honey