Capture This ...

  Elucidate (Word given by Jill December 10, 2021):  I have an intelligent dog, and she trained us. This photo elucidates how smart Tequila is. She head-butts or knocks off the balls to find her treats underneath. In addition she has a snuffle mat where I hide treats underneath thick pieces of fabric. Tequila aquired a lot of physical tricks in addition to these sensory skills. Her favorite is to spin around in a circle. She taught us that when she scratches at the door she has to go to the potty. We had to train our other golden retriever, but this dog most certainly trained us!

Jennifer gave me this image on December 12, 2021. Maybe it was because Lloyd and I were finishing the Beatles new documentary, but it just sort of took my mind right to the lyrics, “The long and winding road…” That’s always been one of my favorite Beatles songs. Yes, I know it’s a river. I’m not that stupid.  Okay, maybe I am. I couldn’t even turn on our new TV to watch the local news on Monday morning. And I felt pretty stupid as I sat there feeling frustrated and mumbling, “I have a master's degree. I should be able to turn on a f&#$in’ TV!” It wasn’t a good way to start the week, and Lloyd has since taught me how to use the remote controls. Anyway, when Jenn sent me this picture on Sunday, I had planned on writing some fiction. Maybe something with the feel of “The long and winding road…” (Do you take the time to sing it in your mind like I do? If you answered no to that question... what?!)  So last night we watched the Alanis Morrisette documentary. Add that to th...

Paraphernalia (Word prompt given on December 3, 2021): I had surgery recently, and I was forced to slow down and recover. I’m not sure why, but it was a very slow recovery. It’s been a week and the most I got done today was I washed my hair and fed myself leftovers in the microwave for dinner. That’s about the gist of what I accomplished today, unfortunately. I had expected to be fully healed and have bounced back by now. As you can imagine, I am very frustrated, and I loathe TV and the internet at this point! Jill gave me the word paraphernalia, and here is a photo of my healing paraphernalia. Included in this photo are my drinks to stay hydrated, my squishmallow that my daughter had bought me a few months ago to be comforting and to double as a cushion for parts that need support. In addition to that is my iPad to entertain me, a black eye mask so I can sleep whenever I need to which is usually to 10 in the morning. Lastly, turn the TV remote so I can watch Netflix, I made a relax an...

Jenn gave me this photo as my prompt on Friday, December 3, 2021. I knew it was from a trip she had taken to Erie. And the photo gave me a similar feel as the last one. And, wanting to revisit the characters from my last 2 posts ( November 26th and December 5th ), I wrote this.  Snow Globe      I hadn’t seen Dylan for almost two weeks, and I was looking forward to our day trip to Erie. He had to pick up an end table from his cousin’s house and asked if I wanted to come along for the ride. I would have driven anywhere with him, so I gladly agreed.      He picked me up mid-morning. “Hey,” I said as I got into the car beside him.       “Hay’s for horses,” he said then leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the corner of my mouth. He looked over his left shoulder. “Are you ready for this?” He said as he pulled out into traffic.       I sat back in the passenger seat, feeling a little unsettled. “Is there something ...

Jennifer gave me this photo as my prompt on November 29, 2021. It’s Niagara Falls with Canada on the right and the United States on the left. They’re physically so close but different. Since the photo has a somber feel to me, it made me think of the last piece I wrote for the blog ( Here on This Bench ) and how that relationship ended. And this is what I wrote. Our Ending      I’m not proud of how I reacted when I ran into Dylan two months after we had stopped dating. In my defense, he had broken my heart when he put our relationship on hold so that he could work on himself . But the idea—at least the one he had presented to me—was that he wasn’t in a place to date anyone and that when he was, we would give things a go again.       My heart had been broken in that moment. I mean, I hoped that we would find ourselves together again, but a part of me knew that moment had been the ending.      We communicated for a couple weeks, even saw e...

  Uncanny (Word prompt given on November 26, 2021): We spent the previous weekend in a hotel farther North. I had wanted to go somewhere warm for vacation, but due to everyone’s time constraints we went towards the snow! My chihuahua Tequila (who I always torture with frequent photo shoots) came along. She has an uncanny talent of making herself at home anywhere. She appreciated the plush comforters at our hotel. We got a separate warm blanket for a pull-out drawer just for her for when we left the room. Tequila loathes the cold and the snow, so she happily enjoyed her creature comforts of the toasty room!