CEE’S WHICH WAY CHALLENGE – 2015 WEEK #18

Whether shopping in New Hope, PA, or trolling the beaches of NJ, or just taking a neighborhood stroll, the thing to remember is to enjoy the moment.  I’ve been so wrapped up in keeping up, that I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing, reading, posting, etc.  I’m here when I’m here.  I’ve figured out that ‘breathing’ is essential to living in the moment.  I’m not ignoring you. I SWEAR.  I’ll get there when I get there, and when I do I will ‘like’, no I will LOVE you, but til then I’ll take the road less traveled and breathe.

 

New Hope, PA

Brigantine, NJ

 

Cherry Hill, NJ

Click on Cee’s  new Which Way icon to visit her challenge, and a fantastic blog.

 

 

 

CEE’S BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO CHALLENGE – GEOMETRIC SHAPES

Watching kids has its advantages.  You get to play with toys.  And, you get lots of photo ops.  This is some kind of light up block thingy that is very cool in color.  But since this is black and white, I will save the color pic for another post.  My little buddy said we should shut the lights and take a pic.  Ok.  So the ideas are not always mine.  He just happened to make this brilliant suggestion on the day that Cee posted this challenge. (I’m just a day late and a dollar short with the post, as usual.) This is the B&W version (or as my little buddy says, “virgin”.  (He keeps me in giggles.) And this is a bowl of kiwi and one loan apple.  Time for a supermarket road trip! This had a little Tooncamera app enhancement. (Thanks for the turn on to the app, Allan.)

Feel free to click on the icon below to get to Cee’s incredible blog.

GHOST STORY – I ain’t afraid of no ghost!

Dawn, over at lingeringvisions is looking for a few ghost stories for a campfire jamboree she’s going to be attending.  The stories need to be for youngsters, ages 6 – 10.  Now I’m no big deal writer but I thought I’d take a crack at it. Here’s my contribution to Dawn’s creepy sleep over.  Have fun, Dawn.

The photo is hers.  Not mine.  I haven’t been camping in about 13 years.  So credit where credit is due.

And now, bring on the ghosts!

Jesse lifted himself off the ground and walked away from the campfire and the weird ghost stories that were being told. He didn’t believe in ghosts and he certainly wasn’t being frightened. He walked to where the woods met the campground and let his eyes follow the trunk of the tallest tree to where millions of stars dotted the night sky.
As he dropped his gaze and tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness in front of him, Jesse spotted what he thought was a dim light. He squinted and blinked, trying to focus as the object moved toward him. Thinking the darkness was playing tricks on him, he scrunched his eyes tightly. A slight gasp slipped from his lips when he reopen them and saw the young girl standing before him. He thought he could almost see the woods behind her through her pale ghostly shape.
“How creepy,” he thought. Then whispered, “Are you a (gulp) ghost? There’s no such thing as ghosts.”
The little girl held her hand out to Jesse beckoning him to follow. She didn’t smile or blink or speak. She just waited patiently for Jesse to make his move.
Not wanting to appear scared, but hoping that someone had followed him to the tree line, Jesse turned toward the campsite but he had wandered too far.
When he turned back, Jesse could see the girl walking, no almost floating, deeper into the woods.
“Hey!” he called taking one step further into the darkness. “Hey. Wait up.”
The figure continued, getting further and further away. Suddenly, she stopped and Jesse could swear she disappeared. He took two more steps into the woods when, out of nowhere, a very bright light glowed where the girl had been standing.
A voice rang softly in the distance.
“Help me.” The voice called. “Please help…”
The sound faded and the light went out.
Without thinking about his own safety, Jesse ran deep into the woods. When he reached the spot where he thought the light had been, Jesse came to a stop. He paused to listen but there was only an eerie silence. No girl. No cries for help. Deciding he had imagined it all, Jesse turned to head back to camp. Just then he heard a blood curdling scream and he knew he hadn’t imagined it at all. The sound was coming from him! Jesse knew that what he saw would make him a believer.
The next night, sitting around the campfire, Jesse told his story. Even though he knew no one would believe him.

I hope I didn’t scare you too much.  Click on the campfire and you can get to Dawn’s blog.  She’s got an awful lot of great photos to share.

And if you have a creepy story that would go good with a campfire, I’m sure she’d appreciate the contribution.

THURSDAY’S DOORS – APRIL 23, 2015

A walk in the park.  A old, wooden shack.  A moldy, old door. A few daffodils and a sunny spring day (and I do appreciate that).

Spring is really trying to be in the air.  It’s 48 degrees right now.  It’ll need to try a little harder.

BARCLAY PARK, CHERRY HILL, NJ

 

Click here to see more of Norm’s entries for Thursday’s Doors.  Have a sunny day.  Thanks for stopping by. 😉

 

HAPPY EARTH DAY – APRIL 22, 2015

LOVE MOTHER EARTH

KEEP HER CLEAN.

INVEST IN THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE.

🙂

If you can’t bring yourself to pick up a piece of trash and chuck it into a receptacle, then at least don’t add to the mess!  I hope the sun is shining on you today and that you can feel the good all around you.  Seize the day, and some trash.

CARPE DIEM, BABY!

THURSDAY’S DOORS – APRIL 16, 2015

Norm @ Miscellaneous Musings…  has challenged, sort of, me to post a door.  Jeff and I took a road trip to Valley Forge, PA and I posted this door in one of my few and far between posts.  It’s the one Norm liked for his challenge and I thank him for his appreciation of a good lookin’ door.  😉

BLUE DOOR INSIDE THE CHAPEL

But, since you might have seen that one, being loyal and avid fans of my blog – HUH? – here’s another bit of eye candy that we got a gander at while roaming the chapel.

DOOR NUMBER TWO 🙂

Now, here’s the tricky part.  Norm has some kind of link system thingy going on at his blog and I’m going to give it a try.  Being the technological dweeb of the century, and knowing very little of how these things work, I’m going to link you to Norm’s challenge right here, and then attempt to do the fancy linking thingy on his blog which is a blue button there and it will take you to my doors and the other submissions – hopefully.  If it doesn’t work, well then, I’m the idiot, but not for lack of trying.

Norm, you are also challenging my abilities! Here goes nothin’…

 

CEE’S FUN FOTO CHALLENGE – CHURCHES OR ANY RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS

If you’re ever in the area, Valley Forge, PA is a beautiful place for walking, biking, horseback riding, and taking in some US history.  Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week gives me the opportunity to post a few shots of the Washington Chapel that sits on the grounds. And if the weather ever cooperates, a picnic basket might be in order, Boo Boo. 😉

WASHINGTON CHAPEL, VALLEY FORGE, PA

ONE OF MANY STAINED GLASS WINDOWS

BLUE DOOR INSIDE THE CHAPEL

GRIEVING MOTHERS STATUE (also known as SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION)

INSIDE THE CHAPEL – ALTAR

And, not to ignore my own town’s contribution to the challenge

COLLINGSWOOD, NJ

 

Click on the icon to get to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge.

A SAGA ABOUT A GUY NAMED JEFF

No.  Not “my” Jeff.  This is fictional Jeff.  He was created by a very talented blogger by the name of Allan.  Allan wrote a response to a story prompt that you’ll find here   and I would advise you to read it before you continue.  I’ll wait…

 

OK.  So after reading the story, I thought I would respond to Allan’s tale with my own version of “the other side of the story”.   He very graciously told me to have at it.

Now if you’ve read the story (I told you it would be a good idea to do that first), there is Jeff (the husband) and – the way I read it – Julie, the girlfriend, and Monica, the scorned wife.  I asked “my Jeff” to read Allan’s story and he agreed that the women’s roles could be switched.  But I’m going with Monica as the wife.  I should have asked Allan (the author).

Too many names? Are you dizzy yet?  OK well, chill.  Here’s Monica’s 100 word side of the story.  P.S.  Writing a hundred word story ain’t easy.

Trying to blend in with its rough, cold exterior, Monica pressed her back against the wall behind her. She stood watching from across the street. The wind whipped around the corner where she huddled to keep warm, but she knew it wasn’t the wretched wind that was causing the chill creeping up her spine. Earlier, she watched as Jeff made his way to the rear of the hideous building. Now, as she watched him cross the parking lot to his truck, she knew she should never have come.
Monica waited until her husband pulled away, pocketed the pistol, and headed for home.

Well?  What do you think?  Should I stick to doodling?  OK maybe so, but it was fun.  Sometimes something gets in your head and under your skin and you just have to get it off your chest.  (lot of body parts here, but you get my drift.)

Thanks for coming this far.  Have a good week everyone.

 

A DAY IN THE LIFE…

Yesterday, Jeff and I took a ride to Valley Forge, PA.   It was definitely FUN.

We walked and walked and then headed to the car.  When we got back to the car, Jeff saw a cell phone lying on the hood of the car.  The phone was apparently dropped near our vehicle and someone was kind enough to place it where we could find it.  Thank you.  You are an honest person, whoever you are.

Unfortunately the phone was not ours.

I suggested that we hang on to it with the hope that the owner would call.

We waited a few minutes to see if anyone showed up to claim the phone.  When no one did, we got in the car and headed to Washington Chapel, with the phone in my pocket.

While I was taking some photos with my Nikon, the cell went off. I reached in to answer but I couldn’t get to it fast enough and missed the call.  DAGNABIT!

We walked through the cemetery behind the Chapel and I snapped and clicked a little more when the phone went off again.  This time, I GOT IT!

The conversation went something like this:

ME: “Hello, I have your phone.” *giggle giggle*  (I’m such a dork!)

OTHER END OF THE PHONE: “Hi!  Oh thank you! What’s your name?”

ME:  “Gemma.  And you are apparently Don.  You got a few messages here, Don.”  *more stupid giggling*

Cut to the chase.

We met Don in the parking lot 15 minutes later and we reunited him with his phone.  He, insisting, gave us $40 saying it was well worth it.  We chatted a few minutes about there being kind people in the world – still.  Good to know.

We went into the chapel and deposited the $40 in the donation box.  The money is to preserve the historical chapel that is not federally funded. (sad face)

Easy come, easy go. 😉

On another note, Jeff read this morning that one of the Harrison brothers that plays for the University of Kentucky (the up-until-yesterday undefeated basketball team that, of course made it into the Final Four) made a racial slur about one of the opposing/winning team (Wisconsin) players.  There were also fires set by some Kentucky fans after the loss of their team.

THIS IS NOT KIND, PEOPLE!

I realize this is not indicative of all Wildcats and their fans but, let’s try to keep it civil!!  Just sayin’.

To those of you who celebrate the Holy Day…

LET’S BE KIND.

CEE’S FUN FOTO CHALLENGE – COLORFUL MONOCHROMES

I’ve never been know to be ‘colorful’, except for maybe my language at times.  I’m more of an earth-tone kinda girl.  So these are what I was attracted to: browns, greys (or is it grays?), and reds.

Welcome to my interpretation of ‘colorful’.

All photo taken at Barclay Farmstead, Cherry Hill, NJ

Click on the icon below to see more colorful interpretations of colorful monochrome.