Writing Prompt: Response

Just received an awesome response to one of my writing prompts (under the Writing Workshop tab on this web site). John Greenwood, a fellow member of The Hubbard Hall Writers' Project wrote a humorous, but also thought provoking piece about the importance of details. I'd love to encourage others to use these prompts as well, whether to share here or in your journal. Writing prompts can stimulate your thinking and get your creative juices going. Thank you for sharing John! You should all go check out John's wonderful posts at his blog site http://rainingiguanas.blogspot.com/. Details By John R. Greenwood

Details are important. One little slip-up and and you could fail-down. Throw your arms in the air and you won’t have anything to catch them with. Do you want to follow the pied piper or a pie eyed piper? Minute details that take 60 seconds or a microscope to read. Lassie might be barking, “Timmy’s in the well. He broke his arm!”, or “Timmy isn’t feeling well. He just threw up on the couch!” Pay attention, it’s not cheap. Listen close, with an open mind. Look closer, don’t believe everything you think you heard. Who knows whose nose is blowing? Or what direction? Is the first stripe on a zebra white or black? Does it matter? It all depends on which end you look at last. De front or De tail

The Conversation

I stood at the entryway to my brother’s house facing a common dilemma – how to slip pass their loving, but overly rambunctious Akita, Miley. When crowds are around my brother keeps her on a long lead outside. The lead allows her to make a full circle around the property and has just enough give for her to stretch to reach those entering the house by the front steps.

Akita’s can be formidable dogs. They are large and strong, reportedly once bred to take down bears. Miley’s problem is not that she’s vicious, just the opposite. Rather than taking down a bear, she’d rather lock you in a bear hug. Literally! If she can reach you on the steps, she stands up on her rear legs and wraps her front paws around you as if the two of you are about to dance. It would be endearing except she doesn’t like to let go and she is strong!

The solution is to have my brother hold her off or to try to climb the granite steps further up, so you are out of reach. Not an easy solution on the knees. As I tried to enter, hands full of bags, I realized my brother was inside and I could not easily get up the stairs. I was about to shout for my brother when his niece Tori, his daughter stepped in.

This tiny five-year-old stood in front of her dog and told her to sit and behave. “I can train her she announced,” and she went and got a snack. She stood in front of the Akita and said, “Miley, sit!” And, then she sat down.  “Like this, Miley,” she said demonstrating. Amazingly, Miley eventually sat and Tori awarded her with a bone. Repeating this pattern a few times.

I was impressed, but more importantly I enjoyed watching these two creatures interact – the little child and the big Akita. There are many long and elaborate books on dog training, but in a few minutes this little girl was able to successfully get her pet to do her will. The key as it so often is, was food, but also Tori’s perseverance. I kept telling her that I didn’t think Miley was going to sit and that I could slip past. I was even worried that the dog would knock the child down, but I forgot that Miley was Tori’s dog and I didn’t realize the power in sticking with it. Something I could learn to apply in my training of my own dogs.

There was also something magical in the communication between the two – they couldn’t audibly convey their wishes to each other, but they were able to talk and relate. Their interaction was gentle, but firm. And, watching it, I could tell they were engaged in a deep and timeless conversation.

Thanksgiving Hands

From time to time I like to post photographs of children's hands. I love the delicacy with which they reach out and touch objects. Here, these little hands select a holiday treat.

Feral Kitties

 

My brother has three cats taking up residence outside his house. One is a feral Momma, the other two are her kittens. My brother and sister-in-law have been leaving food out for them and they say they are there each morning at 5:00 a.m. Chow’s on!

Today, she put out a dish while we were there and the Mommy and the braver of babies made their way up the steps to eat. I had to take this photo from the porch window because if we opened the door it would have spooked them. They sit and watch and wait to see if it is safe to approach, to eat. They are curious and one of the kitties seems more at ease with human contact. My brother captured them once to get them assessed by a vet. He needs to get the two male kitties neutered. They have three indoor kitties already. These three will remain outdoor cats. It seems to be what they want.

Pilgrim Hat

Legend has it that pugs would warm the laps of royalty in Chinese Palaces. They are bred as lap dogs, to bring pleasure and fun. Some dogs work by herding or guarding, some retrieved or sought out rats. Pugs, perhaps more than any other dogs, were born and bred to be companions to humans. Their work seems to be to make us smile and they seem to take great pleasure in their jobs as well.

Today, my pug, Alfie, elicited smiles once again. My neighbors had people over for Thanksgiving. They pulled up in a truck. I was in the backyard with Alfie taking her Thanksgiving shot, but when she heard the truck she went wild, rushing to the fence and barking. The men in their truck paused to look at her, wide grins spreading across their faces.

“Do you see the dog in the pilgrim hat and everything?” one asked the other. They paused for another few seconds, just happy in the moment, before heading into the house.

Good girl, Alfie, job well done.

Slayers of Loneliness

It is impossible to stay lonely for long with this brood. These are my nieces and nephews. My brother John’s children: Raine, Avery and Tori. My brother Paul’s children: Christian, Adam and Catherine. My brother Mark’s daughter, Ellie. Children are the lifeblood of a family – metaphorically and literally. These children are among my best friends. Raine had a serious conversation with me about my haircut and color, wanting to know if I had gotten it done recently. During a quiet moment Catherine asked what I wanted to do next and offered to play a guessing game with me in which she gave me hints involving fruits and vegetables and I had to guess what they were. Tori let me join her Girl’s Only club. Ellie and I read books and played ball. The adults expressed heartfelt thanks for their families and health, the children got to the heart of things – “My school program,” said Christian. “Cartoons,” said Raine. “Toys,” said Tori. “Pop tarts,” said Avery. “Videogames,” said Adam. Children never shy from the truth. I love them for their honesty, their imaginations, their in-the-moment existence. I am thankful most of all for these children – slayers of loneliness, creatures of joy.

Thanksgiving Landscape

This is where I spent Thanksgiving. It is a view of my brother’s land. My own, undeveloped land sits to the left of this scene. I stood out on my brother’s back steps before dinner and photographed the landscape – the moon hovering over the mountains, the golden trees reflected in the crystal clear water.

My brother’s house formerly belonged to my grandparents. It was once a schoolhouse. To the right of this scene sits the original outhouse, one of the three feral cats, who make their home outside my brother’s, roamed through the grass as I took this shot. It is not my home, but I grew up here. Spending weekends and summers at the schoolhouse, both before it was my grandparent’s full-time home and after. Looking in the pond where we would swim as children is like looking back into a reflecting pool of the past. Memories reach up to grab me, but they do not pull me in, they wash over me like gentle waves lapping at my feet. I love this view. I love my land next door.

Inside the house held family, outside was barren and lonely except for the cat on the hunt. A few minutes later my youngest brother and my nephews will teem out of the house and down the hill to target practice.  Later we will gather around the table and say what we are thankful for – I am thankful for my family, for gathering in this house, for the moon high on the sky, the reflection in the water, the pond in which I swam, my nearby land, my growing nieces and nephews and still, as we go around and each sibling and my parents expresse gratitude for their spouses and their families, I can’t help but feel lonely. There is just me.

Progression of the Day

Happy Thanksgiving! No lengthy post tonight, just a few pictures to tell a story -- A Thanksgiving Day Progression. Enjoy your holiday with family and friends.

Full of Beans

My five-year-old niece Tori was here today. The last time she was over she claimed to have a bellyache and to take her mind off of it I came up with a game. “We have to get the beans out of your belly,” I declared.

“I don’t have beans in my belly,” she said, while snuggling under a blanket on the recliner.

“Yes, you do,” I argued. “And, if you want to feel better we have to get them out or they’ll grow a beanstalk right up through your mouth.”

I went into the kitchen to get my bean removing supplies. First a measuring tape to determine how many beans were inside her belly, a turquoise funnel to suck the beans out, a tea strainer in which to capture the bean once it was removed and finally and most importantly, a few cashew nuts to surreptitiously serve as the beans.

I returned to Tori and measured her belly, blew on the funnel and then showed her the tea strainer in which I had secretly placed a few of the cashews. “Look, here’s the beans!” I declared. She mustered enough interest to look then just shook her head, “No, that’s pretend,” she said.

“No,” I said and proceeded to remove some more beans. I’m not sure if she thought me crazy or just ridiculous, but my antics seemed to take her mind off her bellyache and she began to play.

Today, when I saw her I asked her how she was and if I needed me to remove some more beans. She looked at me and deadpanned, “Not gonna happen!”

I laughed. “What? What did you say? Not going to happen?”

“Yup, it’s not real,” she said, shaking her head again.

We played some games and later when she was sitting in the recliner I came in with my bean inspecting supplies and said “It’s time.”

I went to work again measuring and announcing that there was one bean in her belly. I then took the funnel, this time slipping a cashew into it. I blew on her belly and said, “Look, I got one!” I handed her the funnel for inspection. This time it appeared as if the cashew really had been sucked up from her belly into the funnel. I took the funnel back to her and began to place the bean in the strainer, so it wouldn’t get away. As I did so, I heard her mutter under her breath, “Huh, maybe it can happen.”

I had to laugh inside because she was so accepting, so matter of fact. She wasn’t in awe, but she had opened her mind to possibility and it was this matter-of-fact acceptance that warmed my heart and made me want to embrace her and follow her example. I loved how easy it was for her to adapt to a new point of view, to accept a new reality. Deep down I’m pretty sure she knew we were playing a game, but part of her thought maybe not, maybe it could happen. Maybe a bean could be blown out of her tummy and if so maybe it’s best to keep an open mind. Maybe it’s not that far a stretch from here to there. Maybe, we all can learn something.

Writing Prompt: Details

 

So many moments brush passed us like busy shoppers on a sidewalk. We may register them, but they slip away. Even when they hold simple pleasures that make us smile or small revelations that make us think, we only offer our hats or a nod of our heads as appreciation, then scurry off down our respective paths. Sometimes, if we are lucky we recall them again, perhaps bringing them up later in conversation to a friend or spouse, the way we might say, “hey, I saw so and so today.” But often we just forget.

Something about this seems sad. Photography helps and writing, each offering us a chance to capture these small moments and give them their due. Sometimes a camera is not always ready, so lately I have taken to sketching as well.

The thing about these moments, the reason so many drift away, is that they may not be big or profound, they may lack lasting impact, seem rather ordinary, but like puzzle pieces with strange corners and edges, these are the things that fit together in the end to make up our lives.

So, here are a few of the things I saw this week: a cerulean shadow of trees cast on the hood of my parent’s white Honda and the deeper shadow of me photographing it. Birds nests, everywhere, until I’m left wondering if they are some special sign, secret words whispered by the universe, speaking of home. And, this weekend on Saturday, when I went to drop some photos off at a gallery for an upcoming holiday show, I saw a Fiesta Squirrel.

I was on my cellphone with my brother when I saw it – a big, fat squirrel in a full out run, prize in his hands, galloping for home. When I spotted him he was in mid-leap, jumping like a bionic man off a picnic table someone had decorated with streamers and colored tablecloth in festive colors –“ I just saw a Fiesta Squirrel,” I declared matter-of-factly to my brother and then we both burst into laughter.

“It’s one of those days,” he deadpanned.

I would have forgotten about the squirrel, I think, if I hadn’t found a photo today that I snapped of the table. The photo is blurry as the memory would soon have become. I  decided instead to sketch it tonight. Not a big moment in my life and I could have gone on with it stored in the recesses of memory, but at the time I saw this happy creature, he made me pause in what had been a hectic day. He elicited laughter. He made me feel good, so perhaps I should remember him after all. Perhaps these are the memories I should hold over grudges and worries and big celebratory feats. If God is in the details I would do well to remember cerulean shadows, waiting birds nests, and Fiesta Squirrels.

Also, please don't forget to comment in the Pugs and Petals Greeting Card give-a-way.

Writing Prompt: What details did you pass by today you might like to recall later? Write about them.