PENSIEVE

Red, White, Blue and YOU! What's on your Independence Day plate?

"All great change in America begins at the dinner table."
~ Ronald Reagan

How do you celebrate the Fourth of July?  What are your long-standing or newly-inaugurated traditions?  Favorite recipes, special events, or memories?  What's the most bizarre patriotic display you've ever seen? 

I'm genuinely curious; we've celebrated by watching fireworks on the beach for the past several years, but this year since high tide hits at the same time, we'll have to find another vantage spot.  And because we aren't home, we don't have a traditional meal. 

If you've posted pictures or written about your Independence Day, I'd love to hear about it!  Better yet, make it easy--just link your post!

  Kiawah Island, July 2008.  A bit of July Fourth whimsy--a happy-go-lucky balloon, waving a cheery "hello".



Harbor Town, Hilton Head Island, S.C.  May 2008.
One of the prettiest "flags" I've ever seen :).

Hitting the jackpot: when breaking your blogging break keeping a Travel Diary pays off

Have you ever thought of a GREAT title for a post, but then you sat down to write and it didn't seem like such a good idea?

When I mentally composed this post today yesterday, its working title was "I've got the 'Jelly Legs' and I need an icepack for my crotch".  It seemed positively brilliant at the time; then again, the "Gilligan's Island" theme song was blaring in my brain and crowding out all sense of reason and good taste, except instead of "...a threeee-hour tour, a threeee-hour tour" it was a "fiiiive-hour bike ride, a fiiiive-hour bike ride". 

Catchy, no?

Last year, when it rained our first few days here, I discovered all the island's wi-fi spots.  It's important to note, I had to PACK UP MY LAPTOP, GET IN THE CAR, AND DRIVE SOMEWHERE.  This year?  I had no intention of doing that, but when it was discovered we have access in our condo, to help me remember more than I would otherwise, I decided to bullet point a few highlights.

Shelly W., a blogger who recently discovered PENSIEVE and who shares my affection for all things Kiawah, commented about something I didn't know.  We decided to see if what she said was true, so we pedaled our way to the end of the earth Kiawah...and then kept going until I was certain the world IS flat and we were on our way to falling off into oblivion.  And I didn't care--my legs, well beyond sore, now had lost complete feeling.

I've always said Kiawah is a wonderful beach, but I wish it had more shells.  After 15 years of vacationing here, I discovered it's not that there are no shells...we just didn't know where to look--

Twenty-eight "dollars" and then some...!  My daughter's exact words:  "It WAS worth it!!" 

Thank you, Shelly!  I'll even forgive you the redneck-tank-top sun tan lines I'm now sportin' ;).

Seen, not heard

Well-titled (or captioned) photographs enrich the visual, or at least they add another dimension.  These titles came quickly for me, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts...!

Two-tired, to go much farther



Boogie, bored



Incoming flight

Wordless Wednesday
More wordless at 5 Minutes for Mom

I'm not really blogging, but...Travel Diary, Day 3

Monday

• Windiest week we've ever had at the beach; keeps us out longer 'cause it doesn't feel hot.
• Never has the difference between age "status" been more obvious to me--two teens (content to lounge) versus a tween (ready "to go-go-GO"!).
• First beached jellyfish sitings...YIKES!  Not that I'm in the water that much, but it makes me wary and freaked when I get in.
• Thought it was gonna be a gator-free day, but at the end of an evening bike ride, I was treated to a little one :).
• Then, when I parked my bike, Bambi and his mom leapt past me, apparently spooked by another family on bikes.  I'm convinced it's the same deer every day, I counted the fawn's spots ;).
• Nothin' like a funky burn pattern on your back to remind you a) sunscreen works; b) it can't if you forget to use it
• The Romans Bible study is going better than I expected; the kids are engaged and asking questions...lots of them.  Makes me realize, given opportunity and good teaching, they're interested. 
• Gotta have the humor, though--we found out (after reading through Chapter 2), the boys didn't realize they were circumsized!!!  They didn't quite know what they were missing!! lololol :)

Wooden...it be lovely

It hit me today a fair number of beach photographs I've taken fit Carmi's Thematic Photographic this week:  Wood.  Even though my precious is in the camera hospital, our point and shoot is rising to the occasion. 

A Long Way From Home



The end justifies the means





So close you can taste it





Where the wild things are




Creepy Trees

And because they fit the theme and I haven't had reason to post 'em before, two bonus shots--

They don't make 'em like they used to

Cross cross ties

Salt & pepper, literally, poetically ~ Friday's 40 PC, #9

Even though I choose each week's photos for Friday's 40-or less Photo Challenge, I have no idea what my response will be until I start writing a few days later. 

Today's?  NOT the direction I thought this would go!  I was waxing nostalgic about diners and family dinners and "variety is the spice of life" and good and evil and salt of the earth stuff--not a touch of the insane with a poem trumpeting the virtue of salt and pepper! 

Oh, well, que será será...I've certainly written crazier.

This week, instead of using Mr. Linky, just leave a comment on this post and I'll compile a list below.  If you're new to Friday's 40, click the badge for details and this link for samples of previous challenges; then, please feel free to respond with a post of your own!

Popcorn's attire
Pretzel's glory
Potato chip's best friend.
Chili's fire
Salsa's story
Spicy to the end
I'd be a liar-- Honky dory--
Failing to defend
This pair, admire
Season, more-y
Out? Now I'm chagrined!

Let's see what others had to say (be sure to check out comments, too):

Jan, The Prytz Family
Peculiar, How Do We Get There From Here
Karisma, Karisma & Kids
Storyteller, Sacred Ruminations
Amber, Imperishable Beauty

Ebony & Ivory, Black & White, Night & Day

This week's Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge is simple but with the potential for great fun. 

Salt and pepper shakers. 

Taken for granted and nothing trendy or glamorous about 'em, salt and pepper make THE difference in everything they season.  While I've never known either to be the "secret ingredient" in a recipe, leave one or both out, and even if you can't put your finger on it, you KNOW something's missing. 

A weekly photo prompt, Friday's 40 participants compose a 40-or-less-word response and then link it on Friday (please click the button for additional details). 

Hope you make plans to join this week; next week we'll be taking the day off in commemoration of Independence Day.

Super, Hot and Twisted

Snackbar at our local skating rink, April 2008.  Just looking at all these colorfully yummalicious signs has me craving super pretzels, super nachos and super Icees--but not the super bruises I'd get--to ego and rear-end--if I strapped on a pair of roller blades.

It's like partying with rockstars, but without the booze, and you know, rockstars

The uber-famous Big Mama, BooMama, and the infamous, Pensieve

Dawn (My Home Sweet Home), Shannon (Rocks in My Dryer), Jo-Lynne (Musings of a Housewife & one of my RAWKIN' roomies), Melanie (Big Mama), Annie (Taking a step towards my dream), Sophie (BooMama), me, Valerie (Valarie at Home), Lisa (Simply His) and Sarah (Genesis Moments & my other awesome Philly roomie)

What bloggers do at a writer's conference when they're on break...

More soon....

Inspired by GARBAGE? Friday's 40 PC #8

Yesterday, I drove about six hours from Tennessee to South Carolina. 

By myself. 

The day couldn't have been more beautiful, and I e n j o y e d the solitude amidst verdant mountain views and river-winding roads. 

I listened to the silence.
I silenced the silence with prayer.
I blasted a fun, diverse and eclectic play list--from Paul Potts popera to the glory days of the Boss to Casting Crowns ('cause I never get tired of listening)--and I sang like no one was listening (because, if you're paying attention, you know no one was ;) ).

I also mentally composed poetry for today's Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge.  Can I just say this:  I AM SO THANKFUL I REMEMBERED MOST OF WHAT I MIND-WROTE!!!  Cause otherwise?  Mr. Linky would be here all by himself.

So...let me know what YOU think about any of my three offerings and be sure to link if you've written a post for this week's challenge.  Please note, while I often respond in poetry, don't feel pressure to follow suit!  The only guideline is a 40-word limit to MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU!!  If your response is a clever three-word photo title?   Your readers will LOVE you and I will bow to your awesome brevity-in-writing skills!

 

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"
Many times I've heard this said.
But it you think garbage is precious,
Then I think you're touched in the head!

(Another, with a different take...)

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"
Many times I've heard this said.
Why not turn your garbage to "useful"
Don't toss it, recycle instead.

(This takes a somber turn.  I had another stanza, but it exceeded the 40-word limit; I wonder if it makes sense without it....)

Carelessly discarded,
Used then tossed aside.
Clearly, ill-regarded
"Forever", but he lied.

At first, satisfying
Fulfilling primal thirst
In time, less gratifying
Promises reversed.

Salvage found in gentle hands
Picking up the pieces
Illumined, now she understands
New love that never ceases. 

Chop, chop!  Comment and link away!!