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Blazing Trails
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unique
For the Weekly Photo Challenge: Unique & the Stories Behind My Oddities
The Plate: The plate was made expressly for ENG-SKELL CO. The funny thing is I had never paid attention to that detail before rinsing it off for this week’s photo challenge. For the last fifty years it has only been known as the three plated plate. That sounds absolutely ridiculous I know but if you were to ask any one of my siblings they would agree and probably wonder what ever happened to the highly coveted three plated plate. Well kids, now you know.
I have no idea how my family acquired the offbeat plate but it certainly stood out among the everyday serving set, generating many battles and negotiations. One brother would barter, “I’ll give you two matchboxes and a chicken leg if you let me have the three plated plate.” “You’ve got a deal but just for supper. It will be mine again tomorrow.” The other would agree.
Democracy worked for quite some time but like all systems we reached a point when negotiations broke down and civil war erupted. In order to keep peace mother took the beloved dish off the table. Literally. We would have to find something else to fight over.
Fast forward a few decades and I am sole proprietor of the three plated plate. I don’t recall exactly when or how I gained possession of the weighty tan piece of Wallace China. Well maybe I do but if I told you – I’d have to kill you.
The Ring: The unique amethyst ring was found on a beach about 33 years ago and no one knows I hid it came forth to claim it. It appears to be missing a stone in the center. For years a tiny pearl rested there but superglue does not last forever. Recently I was attempting to re-glue the shiny white mineral as my daughter watched. I told her about finding the ring so many years ago and about the pearl I placed there, the one I had picked from my jaw after eating a plate of oysters. “How can you be sure it’s a pearl and not part of your tooth?” she asked. “Because it is smooth and round, I don’t think a piece of tooth would be smooth and round.” I told her. “But you can’t be sure can you?” she giggled. “No I can’t.” I confessed. We had a few good laughs and pondered the ring’s history before I put it away once again and stored the pearl in a Ziploc bag for the tooth fairy further analysis.
The Bowl: I adore this bowl. Not only for the beautiful and unique pattern but because it was a gift. It was during a ladies pinterest project I noticed the woman across from me had a hodgepodge of glassware. I had to walk over and see this bowl with all of its lovely features. I am not a dish collector (I don’t even do pinterest) but I do enjoy peculiar things. Seeing how I admired the dish the nice lady gave it to me. No, really! She said, “Do you want it?” Of course I said yes seeing it was already in my purse.
When the World Laughs at You
Pace by Numbers
I am not a numerology freak by any means but I do find the theory fascinating at times. Coincidental? Maybe. Wishful thinking or superstition? Idk. When it’s good news I [like anyone else] want to believe it. When it is doom and gloom I tend to say ah phooey! Today the numbers 1 and 2 have occurred repeatedly, the digits of the day so to speak.
Bad thing (ah phooey) I got a speeding ticket at 11:12 am heading home from the gulf coast.The officer’s ID was 12xx
Good thing for a new indie in my opinion (yee-haw) according to my August stats sales for Amazon USA 222 copies of Between the Rage and Grace had sold.
I know many other numbers flashed before my eyes as we made our way home but oddly it was the numbers 1 and 2 that caught my eye.
If it means anything at all … maybe it is the Yin and Yang.
Maybe the moral of this story is slow down, pace yourself, it’s gonna be okay.
I made enough money to pay for my speeding ticket and life is still good 🙂
Weekly Photo Challange: Urban
These urban snapshots are from the 2011 Bluebird Festival which is an annual celebration held in Wills Point Texas. It is a pretty big event for a population of less than four thousand. Every April for nearly twenty years now the town center is corridored off so that visitors can mosey along the red brick streets without having to watch for cars, unless they’re looking for the antique car show. Colorful tents line the boulevards with out of town/out of state vendors displaying their wares. Music bounces through the air mixing with the carnival screams one block over and every so often the church bell across town chimes in. The chattering ranges from friendly banter to crops and gossip until a hideous horn warns the crowd to hold that thought. For a moment all that can be heard is a rhythmic clanking of metal against metal. Soon the sound fades and the merriment resumes. The sweet smell of cotton candy sends small eyes searching for its origin while others seek out the delicious fatty flavors of what is considered real food. It’s a people watcher’s paradise and a lemonade stand is never far away.
Wills Point is the official Bluebird Capital of Texas and the proclaimed Gateway to Lake Tawakoni. It is located in Van Zandt County which is the bona fide Gateway to East Texas. We like gateways and wear those titles proudly.
Autumns Approach
In this part of Texas we are enjoying some milder temperatures. The mornings are in the mid 60’s range and a dewy haze fills the forest that is my front yard. I spotted a few green acorns this evening and understood Autumn is approaching. Panic was my first reaction for there are many goals unmet. But if just for today I shall sigh and think on the beauty of the first green acorn I’ve found, remembering they are the start of a mighty oak.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Wrong
This weeks photo challenge was WRONG, yet so many photographers got it right.
Go figure…
With the help of my grand daughter(who supplied the shoe) and my daughter in law who is such a better photographer than myself we managed to decide on an entry. There wasn’t much they could do to remedy ugly feet. Sorry 😦
Did I mention I can throw a rock a good ten feet or so with those wicked toes. When the foot toss is officially accepted into the Olympics I may very well win a medal.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth
For this weeks weekly photo challenge (Growth) I chose a plant. I’ve watched this Asian Jasmine make its way up the oak tree beside my porch for some time now. This type of plant is usually considered to be an invasive species but that’s not the case for mine. Nope, my little darling has been inching its way outward and struggling upward for over twenty years now. I love the slow growing, non-blooming persistent little pest because it reminds me of myself somehow.
Weekly Photo Challenge (Purple)
A Joint Effort
The wine was my husband’s idea. When I told him what this week’s photo challenge was he promptly replied “this wine looks purple to me” and poured me a smidgen from his 32 ounce mug.
It was my idea to sit the glass on the linen napkin beneath the Crepe Myrtle tree and shake the limbs. It doesn’t matter that more blooms and twigs landed in my hair than in the photo, this was fun and something we could do together.
P.S. If you want napkins in that lovely shade of pale blue just toss them in with the next load of blue jeans.