Tag Archives: blogging

Friday Fictioneers: Tonka

Posted on by under The Stories

PHOTO PROMPT - Copyright - Jean L. Hays

I am back practicing another Friday Fictioneers prompt.  This is a great exercise to stretch your writing muscles. If you feel inclined to try a piece of flash fiction yourself or if you want to read what others have extrapolated from this photo prompt go to

http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/7-november-2014/

 

Now on to the story:

Tonka

by JE Lillie

He bought me the set one Christmas: forty little matchbox cars in a black case

I was dazzled by the red fire engine and the “yellow taxi- shovel”.

“Thanks for the tonka trucks, Daddy!”

“Matchbox cars.” he corrected me with that thin-lipped expression I was so used to.

“Matchbox cars.” I returned chastened.

I played with them for days and was sad when Mommy took them away because I couldn’t have anything from “Him.”

I found the set in her attic after she died.   I discovered then I could still cry for what had been stolen from my childhood.

Little I Things I Don’t Want To Forget

Posted on by under Travel, Uncategorized

We left Killarney and headed towards the coast and the Cliffs of Moher. It was Wednesday. Once again our GPS directed us on some of the smallest roads I had ever seen through rocky countryside that makes my country town feel like a veritable city. It felt most times as thought we were miles from civilisation and that Ireland was all but empty of human life.

Solid as a rock
The Cliffs taken from a fisherman’s vantage.
The stone from “The Half-Blood Prince?”

We arrived at the visitor’s center at Moher  around 11 A.M. and discovered that a boat tour of the cliffs was launching at three from the town of Doolin some twenty minutes down the road. Since we had the option of making our own way we decided to eat our lunch atop the cliffs and make our way to Doolin for the three hour wait.

The Village Of Doolin

 

I suppose while we saw many grand sights on the Emerald Isle it was the little things I will remember most, those things that made the trip truly unique: The smell of peat burning as we passed through villages in the countryside, the fact that pharmacies in Ireland are depicted by neon green crosses, the mirror at the hotel room in Galway that didn’t fog in the middle, the color of the buildings, the way the country roads all have a strip of the greenest grass growing down the center. It is the little memories that made the place stand out, that made it all so magical.

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The Bussers Missed the Blarney Stone

Posted on by under Travel

We left The River Lee behind sometime shortly after sunrise on the fourth day and headed up through the busy winding streets of Cork towards Blarney Castle. The tour bus was pulling into the castle lot  just ahead of us making Amanda and me groan a bit as we looked at the long lines we would have to stand in just to get onto the grounds. We groaned, that is, until we heard the tour guide tell the bussers that they had  just one hour on the grounds before the bus pulled out. It was not the first nor the last time I was glad to be on a self-guided tour. Amanda and I may not have seen as many hot spots on this trip to Ireland as the bussers did, but what we did see we actually had time to process.

The road out of Cork. Towards Blarney
Blarney Castle was built some 600 years ago by Cormac MacCarthy one of the great Munster Chieftains
I don’t care how fast you walk, you cannot see the grounds of Blarney Castle in an hour. It takes almost that to climb up and down the ruin never mind the time it takes to spin around the beautiful grounds.
A view from below the poison garden
Poison Gardens were a common part of many medieval castles.
Because we could spend four or five hours at Blarney we were able to inspect the caves as well as the gardens. Here is Amanda at the entrance to the Badger’s cave, an ancient escape route out of Blarney Castle. The way is sealed though, you may not pass.
Of course if you are going to Blarney Castle you have to at least see the Blarney stone. You may not feel like kissing the thing but just seeing it launches you into the story of the Blarney Witch
We took some time in the rock close, the domain of the Blarney Witch.
The Witch’s Stone is said to be the ancient cage in which the Blarney Witch was trapped.
The falls in the rock close
The falls leading to the Witch’s Kitchen
Amanda walks the wishing steps.
A bird’s eye view from the top of Blarney Castle
A walk through the meadow gardens brings you to the foot of Blarney House the current home of the Lord Colthurst

 

We spent four hours at Blarney and could still go back to see more. All in all we felt bad for the people on the bus tour. They didn’t so much kiss the Blarney stone but miss the Blarney stone and so much more. My sister commented on the fate of the bussers when we were explaining it to her. She told us in Europe they call it seeing the world as an American, which means you go to a place, step out of the vehicle, snap a picture, get back in the vehicle, drive away and then tell the world you’ve seen it.”

I have been thinking this is how I often do life and maybe just maybe that has to change.

 

Share Your World 2014 Week 42

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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I am so glad to be getting back into the swing of things now that I am home from vacation! It is once again time to do one of my favorite things which is to share my world with Cee! Each week Cee asks her reader’s four questions and a bonus. Our answers go out into the blogosphere and tell the world out there a little bit more about who we are (or aren’t in some cases).

Do me a favor and when you have finished here head on over to Cee’s blog and see what her other contributors have written. I’ll meet you there!

Share Your World – 2014 Week 42

Here are this week’s questions and my answers:

What would be your preference, awake before dawn or awake before noon?

It has been something like thirty years since I have slept until noon. I am pretty sure I couldn’t do it  anymore even if I wanted to, at least not with this forty-seven year old bladder; So I would say awake before dawn and throw in an afternoon nap! 🙂

If you could choose between Wisdom and Luck, which one would you pick?

Wisdom is more precious than rubies according to the Bible and in obtaining it there is life that lasts. Meanwhile luck… well it doesn’t last forever even when it comes in good long strings. I’ll take the everlasting quality in healthy doses.Wisdom if you please!

If you were given the opportunity for free skydiving lessons would you take them? Why or why not?

I think I would probably not for the same reason I don’t ride horses. I have a little too much weight on the frame and I am afraid the horse or in this case the parachute would not support me. If I am afraid to fall off a horse and hurt myself because I am too heavy for the horse why on earth would I not be afraid to fall out of a plane held aloft by what amount to an oversized diaper?

Is the glass half empty or half full? What is in the glass?

The glass is half full. It has ambrosia in it (the nectar of the gods). Sometimes that nectar is sweet, sometimes it’s sour but it all works out tasty in the end according to Romans 8:28. I have drunk almost half the glass by this point in life but the good news is that when I finish with this glass I get another full one according to John 3:16

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am grateful to have been involved in performing a wedding service with my lead pastor Barry Risto in Swampscott MA last weekend. The groom was a young man I have worked with as a minister since he was 11 years old. What a privilege! This weekend I am excited to be hosting, along with the other C.cada artists, our fourth annual art show. This year we will display close to two hundred pieces.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: The Color Green

Posted on by under Photography, Uncategorized

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This week’s Fun Fotos all have to be about being: GREEN

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: The Color Green

“It’s not easy being green” as Kermit D. Frog says, unless of course you have just been to the Emerald Isle.

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Actually I don’t think green was as hard as blue now that I think of it!

On the Banks Of the Liffey

Posted on by under Travel, Uncategorized

People many times before and since my return from Ireland have asked, “Did you go because you have family ties to Ireland?”

The answer is no. As far as I know noone in my blood-line is of Irish descent. I don’t know how I managed to come from Massachusetts and miss out on Irish blood but there you have it. I am not Irish. But I have long been a fan of Irish music and if there is any reason for going to Ireland beyond my daughter’s desire to go then that is it. The music  inspired me to the act. And I found it a profound thing that just about everywhere I went on the island reminded me of a song.

Dublin brought up this tune from my childhood:

 

We spent the day touring Dublin along the banks of the Liffey. At this point in the trip I was sleeping in short bursts as my arms were continually waking me up in the night, or maybe it was just jet lag manifesting. At any rate our touring was done by about three. Amanda napped. I soaked my arms and by six we were eating in the hotel restauraunt. I had a lamb burger. Yummy!

 

Friday Fictioneers: Grandmother’s Promise

Posted on by under The Stories

©Tales_From_the_Motherland

 

It has been a while since I participated in Friday Fictioneers. Time has not allowed me the pleasure but this photo stirred something deep inside me that just had to come out.

GRANDMOTHER’S PROMISE

by JE Lillie

Alliara passed in grandmother’s arms. Liquid rage followed the creases of the old woman’s face carrying the promise  made down to the ocean of her heart.

Grandmother’s  loyalty had been beaten away with each stroke to Alliara’s body. The elders had been deaf to every plea for mercy. Now grandmother was deaf to any reason  for living.

She marched solemnly across the salt flats torch in hand. She came to the edge of the final rise, lit the torch and held it aloft signaling the tribe’s location to their enemy.

“Kill them all.” Grandmother softly prayed.

 

Check out stories from other author’s perspectives on this photo by going to:

http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/19-september-2014/

Share Your World 2014 Week 30

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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Once again it is time to answer Cee’s questions and to share a little bit of my world. When you are done here take a jaunt over to Cee’s place and see what her other contributors have to say about this great wide world we all live in.

Share Your World – 2014 Week 30

Now on to…

THE QUESTIONS!

List 2 things you have to be happy about.

Oh, I have so many things to be happy about! I am blessed that God found me some thirty years ago when I was lost and on a very dark path, And I am blessed that He placed me in a wonderful church family with whom I get to share life! I could go on about the wonderful family he has put me in or the adventures he has sent me on but since that entails more than two happinesses and since I am trying to keep this post under 1,000 words I will stop there.

List at least 2 things in nature do you find most beautiful.

I will limit myself ,again, to two things  for the sake of brevity…

 

 

The everchanging sky

I love the ever-changing sky

And the running of water

And the running of water

Show us a 2 of your favorites photographs. Explain why they are your favorite.   If you are not a photographer (serious or otherwise), think of a two favorite scenes in your life and tell us about them.

This is a really hard one. I am tossed between choosing a photo for artistic value or for the memory it inspires. I guess I will choose one of each though I have lots of both.

Smoke

I am still playing with the incense  photos I took at my son’s home on my last trip to PA but I am pretty pleased with this one and might even hang it at our upcoming art show.

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These are my three wonderful children. From left to right: Melanie (gets married this fall she and her future husband are children’s ministers soon to be credentialed), Joe (planning to teach English over seas when he is finished with his masters) and Amanda (just graduated from Bible College and plans to become a credentialed minister serving the disabled population of the U.S.)

List 2 of your best personality traits.

I think two of my best personality traits are patience and contentment.  I consider neither of these to be personal attainments but gifts from God!

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am so thankful that my sister’s car is finally registered (in preparation for her return from Holland for her year of intineration) and I am looking forward to our mechanic being able to fix all the car’s little issues so that it will be ready for Brenda when she arrives.

#100happydays Day 48

Posted on by under Photography

Praise HandsThe more we express our gratitude to God for our blessings,
     the more he will bring to our mind other blessings. The more
     we are aware of to be grateful for, the happier we become.
                                                                            – Ezra Taft Benson
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