See on Scoop.it – Awakenings: America & Beyond
ENJOY Ice Cream Day
Check out ‘What your fav. flav. says about you!‘
“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” Shout this mantra from the rooftops, because today IS National Ice Cream Day!
See on awakenings2012.blogspot.com
Penny @TheWhyAboutThis threw out a line this evening complete with bait and hook. I bit! She talks about A writer’s gift – yours! Then presents a challenge surrounding an image prompt. Thank you, Penny, for offering an opportunity to stretch even further wielding the mighty sword of the pen.
My view out the airplane window glimpses cotton candy clouds bringing about nostalgic thoughts when once a child. The fluffy white puffs glide effortlessly against a backdrop of clear blue sky. I see a puppy with its floppy ears and stubby tail much like my little Snookie who lived with us until old age. Hey, there’s Mickey Mouse. Can’t hide those ears, Mickey!
I smile and giggle inside not to disturb any of the other passengers. One lady glances my way with a sneering look that snarls “What are you smiling about?”
I would like to tell her what I am smiling about! Life. Love. Laughter. Tears. Sorrow. Happiness in tomorrow. Everything that makes living worthwhile. Helping. Lending. Comforting. Mending.
I look her square in the eye and grin. A Cheshire grin! Then, turn back toward the cotton candy clouds of my imagination.
Clouds glide mid-air
Rippling motions, life emotions
Aping a lazy stream
Here it is nearly 4 AM and still unable to sleep. Itching, itching, itching from the severe case of 
poison oak is a nightmare! So, what do I do? I write. Brain will not shut down anyway. Thank you, Kellie, for this week’s Free Write Friday prompt.
Let’s leap into the future with a time & place scenario.
The year: 2063
The place: An underground bunker
What’s going on?
The day is cold, the atmosphere grey. How I long to peer through an open window or walk outside to smell and feel the freshness of an early morn, wiggle my toes in the dew-dappled grass and quench my thirst with the cold water of a mountain stream. It was inevitable for such things once taken for granted to no longer be possible. Why? Why didn’t we listen, heed and make the necessary changes for a better life than the one now being experienced underground.
The soil of the earth is poisoned. Air is stagnant misty with the ashy residue from heat and continuous fires. Water is polluted and life as we once knew it has ceased to exist. Dawn’s songbird melodies are no longer heard nor crackling of rocks and leaves underfoot—the trees are no more. Gone are the critters, the chirps in the night and the nightingale’s song. So much death. So much destruction.
Sounds of machinery grind away from dawn ‘til dusk, metal upon metal inching along clearing debris that has yet to disintegrate. Step-by-step, inch-by-inch, pile-on-top-of-pile! The noisy motors never stop.
I s
omberly rub my palm across my stomach feeling the new life as tiny feet push within the lining of my belly. Hard to believe such a nightmare evolved only a few months ago. Dreams shattered. Plans obliterated. Appointments eliminated. Still within me is new life…L.I.F.E. But yet this life begs the question, what kind of life? What kind of future?
What, oh what, lies ahead for tomorrow?
Sounds of the elevator shaft bring attention full circle as its massive doors open into the bunker. Stepping through its doors is my husband, father of our child, grimy, dusty, dirty, smelling of charred earth holding in his hand a small tarnished pot of soil with a tiny seedling showing its face. Green. A speck of green. Color other than grey.
There is hope! H.O.P.E.
Check Out Other Contributions: I haven’t visited yet but will in the morrow! Good night and sweet dreams within what is left of the night. . .
Annie (@txstarkeeper) says:
Kellie — this one took some thought. Finally I decided what the heck and just had fun with it!
http://www.anniestexasmusings.com/popsicle-patty.html
Suzanne says:
This prompt could have been tailor made for me. I hope you don’t mind the way I have used it. It was an opportunity too good to miss. http://artifactsandfictions.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/2063-and-all-is-not-well/
Terry says:
Hi Kellie
http://terry1954.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/fwf-free-write-friday-time-and-place-scenario/
buildingalifeofhope says:
Here is mine. Completely off the top of my head!
http://buildingalifeofhope.com/2013/07/19/underground-hope/
Mark says:
Here is my contribution > http://markschutter.com/2013/07/20/they-are-coming/ I hope mine is not prophetic but it is how I have been feeling lately. Thanks Kellie, for another thought provoking and interesting prompt that takes us to places we might not otherwise allow ourselves to go.
caroljforrester says:
See on Scoop.it – Awakenings: America & Beyond
It’s (maybe, maybe not) National Ice Cream Soda Day! In either event, take the time to enjoy this frothy drink, comprised of a few scoops of ice cream in any carbonated beverage. It’s the perfect thing to cool you off on this July day.
Visit Awakenings for clarification on this questionable matter – today or not today? That is the question.
Do you remember the old-fashioned ice cream soda fountain and know why the fountain attendant was called a soda ‘jerk’?
See on awakenings2012.blogspot.com
A little dose of catnip for your watching and listening pleasure. . .Enjoy!
Sometimes the horror, l’horreur, الرعب, האימה, ホラー, ужас, das Erschrecken, el horror, η φρίκη, आतंक – is so great that one’s hair stand on end.
photo by Dicksy93 / Cath, France, kindly sent to my group BLOG IT!, click on the picture to enter her galleries on Flickr.com – title=”Lémur macaco (Eulemur macaco macaco)” Explored Jul 15, 2013
compare the photo by Wolfgang Hermann:
Once I founded the photo group EXISTENTIALISM – visit http://www.flickr.com/groups/existentialism/ (more than 1.700 members in the meantime). But though I’ve read Kierkegaard and Kafka, Sartre and Camus, Heidegger and Nietzsche: I am still silly enough to believe, animals could also realize that stylish EXISTENTIALISM-feeling … – tell me, if you don’t think so …
listen to the thoughts of Henry, the Existentialism cat:
related:
http://nylondaze.com/2013/07/15/it-was-meant-to-be-peaceful/
about the latest protests about George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the shooting of Trayvon Martin…
+
do…
View original post 12 more words
2013, Sharla Lee Shults
See on Scoop.it – catnipoflife
Can’t believe I just learned recently July is National Ice Cream Month! It actually started back in 1984 when President Ronald Reagan recognized the impact eating ice cream has on 90% of the nation’s population. Now, how in the world do you think I missed that reason for celebration? One will surely never know!
With it being summertime, what better treat to cool the summer heat than ice cream! More than likely you can reflect back on your childhood days and remember the scream for ice cream! I know I surely can. Even with our own kids the sound of the ice cream truck coming down the street brought on giggles, laughter and scampering to see who could get there first!
Continued @Awakenings…
So, what are you waiting for – an engraved invitation? Go grab that bowl, cup or cone of ice cream! What is your favorite flavor?
See on awakenings2012.blogspot.com
catnipoflife is all for HUGS! HUGS! HUGS! So, when I visited Ute Smile today I knew her post needed to be reblogged. Here is a HUG, many hugs in fact…now pass on as many as you can!
Life is filled with wonders of music and art. Isn’t life grand?!. BTW Arlen is Armenian but his blog posts are in English as well as his native language!
Each of us at some point in time has hoped for that perfect (well, almost perfect) Kodak moment: the moment when the extraordinary appears right before our eyes. To have that happen to the novice of novice photographers is indeed PRICELESS!
I have seen pictures and watched videos of tiny baby hatchlings but NEVER experienced such a sight up close and personal. I spotted the bird nest as I was in the midst of completing yard work, specifically edging around one of the Crepe Myrtles in our front yard. My camera broke some months back and I was told it could not be repaired. So, I quickly ran into the house and grabbed my SmartPhone. (Don’t you just love the name of these newfangled phones!)
Needless to say, I knew the bird nest wasn’t going anywhere since it had already endured days upon days of wind and rain thus enough time to get Mr. SmartieSnap. Of course, I thought I was only getting a picture of a nest.
Here are the results:
© 2013, Sharla Lee Shults
Occasionally in the outdoors
One discovers a bird nest
Fascinating in its craftsmanship
Where speckled eggs gently rest
© 2013, Sharla Lee Shults
Collected mud, sticks or dried grass
Are readied for the begotten
Woven against a soft lining
Of fur, feathers, hair and cotton
© 2013, Sharla Lee Shults
Intricacy of design
Built by two feet and a beak
Becomes nature’s protector
From that which predators seek
© 2013, Sharla Lee Shults
Cradling of such a small nest
Rests in the crook of a branch
Simple but awe-inspiring
Like dawn at a Western ranch
© 2013, Sharla Lee Shults
Tiny little hatchlings
Eager to fly on their own
Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp
Letting their presence be known
Baby birds flop out of the nest
Landing abruptly on the ground
Mother bird stands close by watching
In case danger might be around
© 2013, Sharla Lee Shults
© 2013, Sharla Lee Shults
Once grown, flying on their own
Mother knows she did her best
Does SHE now somberly mourn
Facing life with an empty nest?
© 2013, Sharla Lee Shults
©catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults
“Empty is a negative word. Replace it with peaceful, calm or relaxed.” —Joi Sigers (Author, b. 1978)
A little something extra from one much more professional than I. . .live and learn!
Today, inspiration steers me toward sharing with you some of my catnipoflife poetry along with featuring awesome photography so graciously provided by Barbara Beacham @Life in the Foothills. If you have not visited Barbara’s blog, I encourage you to mosey on over right now! You will not be disappointed. In fact, you will probably leave as a new follower. As just a little insight into the awe of Life in the Foothills, the Best Moment Award was bestowed upon Barbara by catnipoflife just recently. Here is what I had (and still have) to say about Barbara Beacham:
Can you imagine Life in the Foothills? I can! after visiting Barb’s blog and her exceptional photography. With just one look, you will be hooked! She will draw you into the lowest valley one minute only to take you to the highest mountaintop the next. She will enlighten you with the wild side of the countryside!
Okay, Barb, you had just better get ready for a visitor one day! I want to experience what life is like living in the foothills! With life being so short and the fact that we only have ONE life to live, it is most befitting to simply LIVE IT! From the inner voice of catnip, “observe life at its best, listen to life’s songs, embrace life’s bounties, breathe the breath of life and savor life to its fullest!”
Follow Life’s Echo
Is it true a mountain echo
Resonates the cry of man
Swallowing up the lonely sound
Just to bring it back again?
Reflective in its harmony
Does the echo solemnly rest
On the ears of the crier
Who put it first to its test?
Mirrored in the background
Of this shrill, lonely sound
Incredible beauty exists
Sometimes lost, sometimes found
Each sunrise and every sunset
Capture life’s true mystery
Echoes of their glory and beauty
Intensify life’s living history
Take a long, panoramic look
Marvel as wonders abound
For the echoes of life
Stand stalwartly all around
Beautiful rainbows, exquisite stars
Embellish a magnificent sky
Revealing fragileness of life
Gone in the mere blink of an eye
Visit the awe-inspiring mountain
Remember to follow the echo
You have but one life: LIVE IT!
Applaud in the blaze of life’s glow
©catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults
“One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.”
—Joan of Arc (National heroine of France, 1412-1431)
catnipoflife 