Yearning for a Trip to Once Upon a Time

Roadside Vision

I have cars on the brain maybe.

On the road to town there is an old car

that reminds me of old photos Mom saved.

Her pictures always struck me as from a Once Upon a Time era that was never truly real.

But the car I pass en route to town

is a daily reminder of a living past.

I found a photo Mom saved of her family’s new car, but Bill said, “No, that isn’t the same one we see on the way to town.”  Or, is it?

The Grandparents’ New Car – No Date provided.

Does anyone know anything about this Once Upon a Time vehicle that belonged to my grandparents?

What year is it?  And what make?  And I wonder how much it was to buy?

Even if it is not a match for today’s roadside version, it still stirs my imagination and I yearn to take a trip back in time.

Oh for a visit to my grandparents who must have been excited to have a new car, to the aunts and uncles and cousins who may have lined up to see it, and the kids who wished for the keys.  

They were my own family and their lives went by before I ever got to know them.  But they are all somehow lingering and alive in that flat tired, beat up apparition I  see almost every day on the way to town.

 

 

 

 

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A Virginia View Point

I never tire of sweeping Virginia views!

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Accentuating the Positive

Beating the Heat

A whole week of heat, rain, and more heat.  But Bill and I managed to stay cool between storms with afternoon swims in the backyard pool.

Power Plays

One quiet, sunny afternoon, there came a giant bolt of lightning.  I know it was giant because the house shook, there was no thunder, and all the lights went out.

Our first line of  defense is always  to Call the Neighbors for there is comfort in numbers.  But no one else had a problem.  We were alone and powerless and we called the power company.

“I’m sure they will not come  out right away for one little old house in the country,” I said to Bill.  “We may be like this for weeks!”  

That was my Pessimist Gene talking as well as thinking, “No lights, no air conditioning in  90 degree heat, no flushing, no washing, no cooking and miserable sleeping.”

The power company fella came out within the hour, replaced a blown fuse and we were “back in business”.

Dead Pump Revival

Our pool pump stopped pumping.  This time Bill was the one  bemoaning our fate, for the cost of a new pool pump is very high.

But the electric company came  right out and replaced a switch.  And Voila!  The pump is going strong again.

New Hummer Space Station Works!

 

My brother and his darling wife sent a “just for love” gift !  It is a new humming bird feeder that looks like a space station.

This odd Hummer Center has been waiting for the little darlings for weeks with no action.  I was about to give up but subliminal messages must have worked. The tiny birds are finally  arriving and so excited they don’t even care if I am out there in their midst.

Soft Free Fall

Don’t ask me how  but I fell flat on my back in the garage this week.  I simply felt my body drifting backwards, down, down and down, like when you let yourself sink into a comfy sofa.   It was a soft landing on a hard wood stoop with no sprains, strains, bruises or blood.  And I am “up and at ’em” as my Mom used to say.  All I can figure is I must have missed that step.

Beauty Comes for a Visit

Finally, I have a flower bed of zinnias that should have  been thinned  out early on.  The flowers are arriving  in a thick patch, but they look slightly weak.

Not too weak for the most gorgeous butterfly to land on and enjoy however.  And her visits make my day.

This all reminds me of a Bing Crosby song:  “You’ve Got to Accentuate the Positive” written by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen

“You’ve got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Goose Convention in Williamsburg, Virginia

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Stop, Look and Listen

 

Sometimes I drive down my country road and simply have to stop and take a picture.

It’s not that there is anything magnificent to snap.

And it’s not the glorious foliage or even the way the light hits a leaf.

It boils down to a “feeling” and a need to listen to the world.

 

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The Hills are Alive

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As High as an Elephant’s Eye

Virginia Farm Stuff

Virginia Corn Silk

Virginia Corn

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Floating Imagination

A pink cloud in an otherwise ordinary sky

escapes the mundane white on blue,

floating, floating aimlessly by

 displaying its gossamer baby pink hue.

A feather drifting softly through space,

  a lingering apparition,

floating away to dissipate 

  and return to imagination.

 

 

 

 

 

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Five Photos, Five Stories: Sit There Where You Can Hear the World

This is Photo Story #4 for the Five Photos, Five Stories challenge.  The rules are to post a photo a day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo.  It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph.  Oh yes,  and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge.  Today I nominate Ana of Celebrating Sunshine, who has a blog that shines with a truly happy outlook on life. 

Beyond my home there is a forest glen

where hoof prints and purple shadows

 line a path of dappled shade and sun

deep with a woodland reverie.

Come upon a rustic bench for resting

a place where you can think unfurled.

Sit there,

where you can hear the world.

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Country Storms and Personality Flaws

Random Friday Randoms

• I paid the locker fee for a whole year at the YMCA.  Now the question is, will I go?  And/or, will I go regularly?
• Also signed up for a Beginner’s Crochet class at our local Stitchery
  

  photo from http://www.jennyandteddy.com

  Actually, I know how to crochet but unable to read a pattern, join new skeins to old ones, or end a thing so it doesn’t unravel.  Some folks have received Dor’s scarves that are undoubtedly unraveled by now.  And apologies if your feet are sticking through that afghan I sent last Christmas!

  It was the same with a long ago Beginner’s Typing Class when  I was already typing fast but had no idea how to set margins.  Good thing WordPress sets the margins for us!

  Is this a personal personality flaw or what?  How about playing the flute in high school and making First Chair after memorizing Flight of the Bumble Bee while never learning to read music?

  But more randomly:

• We had dinner out with good friends (the same good friends) twice this week (or was it thrice?).  It is always amazing to find we never run out of things to talk about.
• The grounds around the house are lovely again, filled with the hope of beauteous blossoms and neatly manicured beds.  Everything is mulched, trimmed and awaiting the encroaching weeds of summer and deer denuding.  Spring never fails to elicit hope in my heart and oh, Virginia is truly gorgeous this time of year – like the fancy icing on a wedding cake.
  

  en.wikipedia.org Cardinalis cardinalis male feeding female, in a white-flowered C. canadensis

There was a storm brewing today though.  I am afraid of thunder storms so managed to beat it home in time but it didn’t thunder too much after all.  Otherwise, there is always the closet for shaking in privacy and  missing old dog, Rozie.  Rozie used to be so frightened of storms that her teeth would literally chatter.  I have never heard of a dog’s teeth chattering, have you?

 

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