FPQ #176 – Damn, Dirty Clothes

This week Fandango has asked an interesting and potentially fun question, it is all in how you take the question – “What will your last day on Earth be like?”  Obviously, no one knows when will be there last day, well, most people don’t know.

There was a dark time when I would have said my time was soon, but that has thankfully passed me.  So, no last day wrapped around a big tree for me.  But do I revert back to that essay I wrote in high school about my death in my 30^th year just having had a song I co-wrote hit the top ten?  Nah, that is well past me in years and ambitions now.

I have seen one person die in front of me and although Dad was having a bit of difficulty breathing, I don’t think he suffered.  I don’t want to suffer.  And my Mom passed in her sleep so I imagine just like how life can enter a dream, she just dreamed to peace and quiet.

Now for a little honesty.  Not that my Mom and Dad’s deaths were not like that, but how do I think my last day will be?  I do not live a glamourous life.  I currently live alone (but hope that may change someday) with my three cats.  I only drive minimally, so I think the car crash option is off the table.  Will I eat meat that is expired and suffer terrible stomach pains?  Will I see my cats turn on me and slowly bleed to death with scratches head to toe?  No, I think it honestly will be a heart attack doing something that is a minor thing but can get my heart pumping.  I think maybe running up and down the stairs with laundry … someone will find me half on a step with laundered clothes everywhere.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

How would I like to spend that last day?  In love’s bliss with someone I care very deeply for.  In and out of bed acting like a teenager and loving every minute of it.  Ah, what a way to go!

I do want to mention one other possibility.  My last day “on earth” could be headed to a remote colony on the moon or Mars, but I honestly think that is another generation or two down the line, if we don’t kill the planet first.  I need to go get the clothes out of the dryer now… wish me luck.

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Written for Fandango’s Provocative Question #176

Watch It – FPQ #175

I think this is a first for me.  I have answered Fandango’s Provocative Question in the comments before, but this week there was just too much to the question(s) to put in the comments so lets just into it.

This week Fandango asks:

For this week’s provocative question, I’m going to ask you about your TV viewing habits. My questions are below if you care to answer, either in the comments or on your own post. Ready?

• What country do you live in?
• How many televisions do you have in your home?
• On average, how many hours a day do you watch TV?
• What kinds of programs do you typically watch (e.g., news, sports, movies, dramas, sitcoms, reality shows)?
• Do you watch programs as they are aired or do you record them and watch them at other times?
• Do you mostly watch “network” TV? Premium cable channels (e.g., HBO, Showtime)? Streaming channels (e.g., Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple+)?
• How often, if at all, do you use other devices than television (e.g., computers, smartphones) to watch programs?

Photo by Nothing Ahead on Pexels.com

First of all I am in the middle of the United States with only one TV in my house.  From here the questions get a little grey.  Used to be I would have the TV on 24/7, but barely watched it.  It was “company” in an empty house.

I am in the process of changing things a little.  I am slowly getting into streaming what I want to watch as opposed to what is on cable.  I have been listening to Amazon Music during the days at my computer and doing things around the house as pain allows me to.  But usually I watch the local ten o’clock news and then it is more like background noise again until morning as I find it hard to sleep in a quiet house… although through the years I have learned no home is ever truly quiet, especially with three cats.  So, as the set may be on about 10 to 12 hours depending on how late I am up (I am a night owl) I maybe only watch 2 to 4 hours.

I watch the local news and a mix of old shows I loved (Quantum Leap and The Carol Duvall show this week) and new discoveries (Squid Game and Downton Abbey) and the occasional movie I have on my to watch list (the original War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet).  So, I watch a mix of “live” and on demand shows.  I rarely record anything.

As for the last two questions… all of the above. Local news (TV), movies (Starz, HBO, Disney) and streaming channels I am starting to discover more and more.  However almost all of these are watched on the TV, with an occasional viewing on my computer.  The phone screen is just too small.  But music still reigns number one in my house – computer, tv music channels or the good old fashioned radio.  How do you view?

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Written for Fandango’s Provocative Question (FPQ) #175

Trust Me (a serious matter)

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I have struggled with what the Supreme Court decided on Roe v Wade. I have wept for all those who were trusting of someone they shouldn’t have been. I sobbed for those who were given a memory they weren’t prepared to deal with. But it’s the ones whose lives are forever ruined seeking to find help in a most difficult situation that I cry for now. I was reminded Dirty Dancing was not a love story with flowers and hearts, but about a privileged girl helping someone in trouble. Penny came out of it able to have kids. Had she not had medical help she may not have been able to. She could have died. Those are the ones we will soon all mourn. This is just what could happen to many.

He smiled at me

He said I could trust him

I did

He held my hand

He said I would like it

At first I did

(NO)

He held me down

He said I deserved it

I didn’t

(NO)

He laughed at me

He said I was worthless

I wasn’t

(NO)

**

I gathered my strength

I knew I could do this

It wasn’t me

I pointed at him

I said he had done it

He did

**

They locked him away

They told me my fate

It grows

(NO)

They said I could love it

They said it didn’t matter

It did

**

He said I could trust him

He said he could help me

… now I can never have children

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Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – trust

Mumbles … Sample

I have done it again.  No, I have NOT fallen off of the face of the earth, no emergency trips to the hospital, I even survived close contact with someone who had covid but DIDN’T catch it.  I have no excuses, so I won’t even bore you with a sample of my day to day but sufficed to say I have just been caught up in life and have not put a priority on WP.  I aim to change that to a degree.

I want to at least get three posts in a week.  I think I can manage to do a word of the day, a picture prompt or some other kind of writing to “stay in touch” with all of you.  I feel bad for just kind of disappearing lately, but time has just been flying.  I mean the Fourth of July is already past, in the blink of an eye summer will be here and gone so I need to get my butt in gear!

Photo by Sydney Troxell on Pexels.com

I will sample a bit of cold pizza when I heat up a couple of slices for a leftover dinner… it is so hard to actually cook for just one.  I live too much of a processed food life!  (Any ideas on EASY and quick meals for one?  I can use all the help I can get.)  I will be seeing you in the next couple of days.  Keep life simple and take a sample of nature everyday for some needed self-care.  Best to all of you! 

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Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – sample

Mumbles … Thirty-three Years

Today is a tough day for me.  It was thirty-three years ago that I was thinking about our destination number one on our honeymoon only a few hours after we had said I do, taken pictures and done all the tradition reception activities.  We lived as a couple for nearly 22 years.  The last few were hard.  Alcoholism twists and torments a family until it is hard to recognize happiness.  I separated from my long term marriage sure I had failed.  But an amicable decision to divorce kept us on track as friends.  And an extremely short 2 ½ years later he died.

I will always treasure the good years we had and the WONDERFUL daughter I was left with to go on.  But after 8 years now, the death has still not killed the last of my love.  I will always keep it tucked away.  But I do yearn to find someone and wonder if there is a chance for a second “true love” for me.

I dated someone for many years, it was nothing like that “true love” and did not last.  In middle age I wonder if I will ever get that chance for butterflies in my stomach and yearns when we are apart… I have to always hold onto hope.

Here’s a little something I wrote…

Photo by Yelena Odintsova on Pexels.com

(untitled so far)

The day you said you were mine

Will always bring a smile

Although it ended tragically

It was wonderful for awhile

The laughs the smiles the tenderness

Were magical, yes it’s true

In the end it was broken

Our partnership was through

I can’t say the love was gone

It is still here strong today

It leaves me here now weeping

Wishing you hadn’t gone away

Forces have ways of changing

The life you thought you’d live

This night I sit in silence

Wishing for someone to give

The remainder of these feelings inside

A second chance for me to love

A person who will care again

And fit me like a glove

Mumbles … Heat

Image from pixabay

I thought it was time for a little Mumble… and by the time the heat hits 90 in the next few days mumbling may be all I am doing as it is just too darn early to turn on the air conditioner (my opinion my change on that if we truly do have 4 days of upper 80s and low 90s). But I planned ahead when I saw the forecast and made my way to the store to buy a pedestal fan to circulate some air. It is merely 9am as I write this and already mid 60s and humid from yesterdays two inches of rain.

If you haven’t noticed, I am still not caught up with old posts, but I am still trying. I have however begun to try to hit the current posts of the day so I don’t double up on being behind. Little by little I will get it done. I really want to read all of the A to Z Challenge posts of those I follow so I will keep plugging away.

I just wanted to pop in and say hi. I need to go and open some windows to get the cool air in now. It was often a saying of my folks that whenever the temp was climbing higher to say, “We’re having a heatwave.” I just can leave that alone so here is the most famous heatwave I know of… Marilyn Monroe (sorry it is a pretty poor quality video).

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Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – heat

A to Z Challenge – Z is for Zig Ziglar

“A great attitude becomes a great mood, which becomes a great day, which becomes a great year, which becomes a great life.”

Zig Ziglar

There is something to be said about a good attitude, a positive outlook, a peaceful state of mind… all can be influential on the rest of your days and the days of all those around you. So if you want to be in a good environment you have to produce a good environment yourself. Happiness can be contagious, pass it on!

Past letters…

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y

A to Z Challenge – Y is for YoYo

“I think anybody who goes away finds you appreciate home more when you return.”

YoYo Ma

This is so true… maybe a hint of absence makes the heart goes fonder. It is also related to just being homesick when you are away from home. From small to large, there are so many things that a person can miss about home. From a special coffee cup to start the day out, to the feeling of sleeping in your own bed. After all, home is where the heart is, and absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Past letters…

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X

A to Z Challenge – X is for Xenophon

“Excess of grief for the dead is madness; for it is an injury to the living, and the dead know it not.”

Xenophon

I like the basic idea of this quote… it does only affect the living when we grieve. I never knew how hard funerals were in my youth but find more and more people I know are passing on. The best “memorial” was for my mom because she HATED funerals and said she would find a way to haunt us all if we did not have a party after she died. So we had music, alcohol and family and friends. We held a raffle to give away some of the afghans she had crocheted. It was a party. I still grieved her, but it was more of a celebration of all she had done.

Past letters…

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W

A to Z Challenge – W is for Walt Whitman

“To have great poets, there must be great audiences.”

Walt Whitman

I try to be at least a good poet, thankfully I already have a great audience here! Thanks for all your likes and comments when the muse strikes me!

Past letters…

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V