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For Abuelita – Friday Fictioneers

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Good Wednesday morning, my peeps. The leader of this band of misfits, Rochelle, has borrowed one of my very own pictures this week. This lovely restaurant, called Ta Chido (That’s Cool 😉 ) in the Mile End area of Montreal is where my buddy, Julie, and I ended up when we were on a Cubano Sandwich Search. We had given up on that quest and landed in this Mexican Snack-Bar, which turned out quite delightful.

Should you be tempted to come up with a 100-word story for this pic, just click on the frog below and add your link!

G’head, click me!

For Abuelita

Consuela stood back and admired her handiwork.  The colours were bright and there were bits and pieces of home, reminding her of all the stories her Abuelita Rosaria told her.  Her customers loved it, calling it kitschy yet charming.

“Go, Niña. Leave this dead-end town and start anew somewhere else. There is nothing for you and your talents here.”

“I can’t leave you, Abuelita!”

“I am an old woman. I have done what I was meant to. You, on the other hand, are being stifled here.”

Misty-eyed with memories, she smiled, determined to live her dream, just like she promised.

Pick a Key – What Pegman Saw

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Today Pegman travels to the Florida Keys at the bottom of the United States. Like the other Torch Keys, it was probably named for the native Torchwood tree.

Stroll and around and see if you can find something that interests you. When you’re done, write 150 words and link to the prompt using the frog below. Remember, reading and commenting is part of the fun!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy writing!

Now, it has been remarked that I like to write travel pieces. And in this case, I find myself doing so again. Couldn’t help it, Pegman was short on views so you are stuck with my picture of 7-mile bridge 😉  And a memory of a couple of trips, too 😉 Sorry (not)!

Pick a Key

“So, take three on going to the Keys?”

“Whaddaya mean, take three?”

“Forgotten 2009, have ya? We were supposed to join my sister and gang in Bahia Honda Key but instead you wound up spending six days in the Celebration Hospital.”

“Um. Yeah. That was an epic fail on my part.”

“At least you did manage two days in Disney.”

“Yeah, that blows that I caused us to miss the rest.”

“But what a story you’ve provided me with!”

“At least in 2013 we made it to Long Key.”

“But getting there we got a flat in Key Largo!”

“That I didn’t even realise was us!”

“I swear, the guys looked like a team from NASCAR!  Zzzip! Zzip! Zzzip!”

“They were mighty impressive, that’s for sure.”

“That time we went down to Key West, too.”

“Yep.”

“And now you want to go to Middle Torch Key? I’ve never even heard of it!”

A quick change of tires on the road in Key Largo

 

Adventure at the Beach – Crimson’s Creative Challenge #37

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Time to participate in Crispina’s Creative Challenge… I have totally cheated as there is one little umbrella, or parasol, in this pic, whereas my story involves hundreds. Still. It is where this photo brought me and I’m feeling particularly mushy this evening so. There. The pictures I have added are not from the time of my story but close enough and damned if I can find them anyway in the helter-skelter that is my basement.  I fear there will be no order till way after golf season, and we are comfortably buried under at least four feet of snow, so please, bear with me and use your imagination…

 

Adventure at the Beach

“Mommy told me to make sure I know where our umbrella is, just in case.  She worries too much. I’m going on an adventure.” He made his way to the beach, intent on finding some shells…

 

“Where’s Aidan?”  Panicked, three of us four adults went searching, while I stayed put with the other kids.

 

“Where’s our umbrella? They all look the same.” Aidan started to cry. A lifeguard found him and brought him to us.

 

My poor husband had walked far, searching. He had worked himself into a tizzy, already running in his mind what his son was wearing, how to describe him to the police… We had no cell phones then and couldn’t notify him so we had to wait for his return.

By the time he did, he was a complete basket case. He broke into tears upon seeing his baby, safe and sound.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

 

Word count: 154.

Aidan and Me
Mick and Aida

Footloose – Crimson’s Creative Challenge #36

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A challenge issued by Crispina. Could not resist this one! Thought of my dad right away.

Footloose

For as long as I could remember there were sailing magazines all over the house: bathroom, living room table, Dad’s nightstand:  Cruising World, Boating World, Yachting, Sailing World. He was obsessed and vowed he would one day own a sailboat.

In 1987, he finally realised his dream.  A 32-foot blue-trimmed Bayfield with bowsprit, he named Footloose. She was delivered to Lake Champlain where, for over ten years, we learned how to play with the sails, the wind, the motor – coz let’s face it, sometimes there is just no wind to be had.

Nothing beat sitting on the end of the bowsprit, ripping through the water, the waves causing a wild ride making the bowsprit slap the water. It was exhilarating.

He never did make it to the ocean, and it was a sad day when he had to sell her, but the memories will forever reside in all of our hearts.

Word count: 150

Having just moved, my pictures are all over the place. That I managed to find these is rather amazing. I know I have pictures of Footloose taken from the dinghy but… where are they?

Official naming
Lines
Winch
Dad & Iain
Pic found on the Internet

 

The Talk – Friday Fictioneers

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Good Wednesday morning, Friends! Hope your day is a fabulous one!  This week, our fearless leader, Rochelle, has chosen an image by Roger Bultot. Lemme tell you a story…

And if you wanna tell me a story, well then, click on the blue frog below and add your link!

©Roger Bultot

Click me to play

The Talk

Being summoned by one’s son is enough to make a mother anxious.  He had asked her to meet him as he needed to speak to her alone. She figured he wanted to talk about the tension in the house which had been palpable lately.

So, not.

Nothing could have prepared her for what he had to say. It took everything in her power not to cover her too-expressive eyes with her hands in an attempt to hide her stupefaction. She hoped her expression remained neutral yet open and understanding as she listened in earnest.

Inside, her emotions were in turmoil.

Energy Pull – Friday Fictioneers

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Good Wednesday morning, my peeps!  I just managed to get my brain to function and my fingers to typing to write out this little silly before heading out to work.  Rochelle, our fabulous leader, has chosen one of my pictures… How cool is that?  Very.

G’head, play along. Write your own little 100-word story based on this weird statue that is all over the Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal. Just click on the blue frog below, add your link and Bob’s your uncle!

C’mon, click me to play! You know you wanna…

Energy Pull

Aim for a balanced life, they say.  Yeah, sure. No problemo. I’ll just sit here and be zen and ignore the things that suck the energy out of me. You know, things like work and kids and the house that seems to be falling down around me.  Balanced. Pfft!  How does one distribute the energy required to get it all done?

Prioritize. Yeah, that’s how you do it.

Put your bathing suit on, get a glass of wine and a book and sit by the pool.

And don’t notice that the grass is too long and the pool need vacuuming.

Crossing Paths – Crimson’s Creative Challenge #34

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It’s been a little while since I participated in Crispina’s challenge. Life and all that. Inspiration and all that. However, today, here I am with a little poem and a responding picture of mine.

Have a fabulous Tuesday – what’s left of it!

Crossing Paths

“We should meet in another life, we should meet in air, me and you.”
― Sylvia Plath

How long and how far matter not, in

Time spent sharing our friendship

There is no reason to quantify or qualify

And every reason to cherish it

Be it months or years or decades

Casual, formal, or all in

That old cliché poem

“A reason, a season, a lifetime”

Speaks the truth

The short and the sweet: thank you for our time

The on-going, going strong, let’s keep on keeping on!

The gone too-soon but never to be forgotten?

May we meet again in another realm

Pierre, Patricia, Roxanne, Brenda, Guy, Mick, Richard, Patrick

I’ll be expecting it. Me and all of you

Up in the air

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Word count: 121