I can’t believe the first week of January has already whizzed by. We’ve had sunshine, frost, snow, rain, wind – all sorts of weather. But we increasingly seem to be seeing more storms. So your prompt this week is fittingly
STORM
Of course a storm doesn’t just have to relate to the weather. Open up your mind and think about it in terms of feelings, colours, signs, animals… See where it takes you.
You don’t have to share your work, but I always enjoy seeing what you come up with if the prompt gives you inspiration. Here is the work you shared on the last prompt FAVOURITE 2024 MOMENTS.
Favorite moments of 2024: Getting back to Florida and seeing my sister and friends from the campground, seeing my brother and kids and friends when we visited home, long phone calls from friends, seeing Colorado’s spectacular beauty! So many more too.
2024 was not a good year, and I lost two people very dear to me. We have both suffered with health issues and Hubby’s healthcare seems to have stalled.
Our saving grace has been Maya. She has been a gem and godsend in keeping our sanity. She makes friends wherever she goes and everyone loves her. When we are feeling at our lowest, she will bring us a gift, that is, one of her toys to play. Hubby was feeling particularly ill and weak in the Summer, and as he napped on the settee, she placed her favourite teddy on his lap so that it would be the first thing he saw when he woke up.
We are blessed to have her and are so proud of her.
The home that I have lived in since 1994 is a very modest home in a very beautiful place. My husband and I were lucky enough to be able to purchase this home on a lake. We raised our children on three acres out in the country. The lake really changed everything. It brought so much joy into our lives. Water sports and swimming to name two, but just the beauty of the water as a backdrop to our lives was such a blessing.
Several years ago, my husband built a walkway around our property that bordered the water. He also built a dock. In the last year of his life he added a long homemade bench at the south end of the walkway, a place to sit and watch grandchildren swim.
One spring day last year, the sun was warm and lovely and Billy and I were aching to sit outside and draw in its warmth. The wind, however, was wicked strong, and we were uncomfortable sitting in lawn chairs. Before we retreated back inside I suggested we walk down to the water and sit on our bench for a few minutes. Billy agreed, and we walked across the backyard and down the staircase that Billy had built into the side of the small hill that led down to the walkway. And then a very strange thing happened, something I will never forget. As soon as we stepped onto the walkway, the wind disappeared. We could see that it was blowing still, but for some reason at the bottom of our little hill, sitting on our bench in the sun, there was no wind at all.
I remember that we sat on the bench, and felt the sun, warm on our skin. We heard the familiar sounds of our land, old leaves rustling, birds singing, the water gently lapping against the side of the walkway. It was so quiet it was almost reverent. I held his hand, and he held mine. We watched the sun dance on the water, a line of a million brilliant diamonds scattered across the surface. So bright you could barely look. And in this magic moment, this favorite moment, my heart will rest, sitting next to him, his warm hand in my own. And it is a treasure I will never have to spend. I will return to it again and again.
One of my favourite moments of 2024 happened very recently, as part of our Christmas celebrations.
We spent Christmas Day at my son and daughter-in-laws with the two grandchildren and our younger son.
All the presents had been distributed and unwrapped until…
My elder son is gadget crazy and had his LED Display sign showing Merry Christmas, but then I saw ‘Bletchley’ come round. What was that all about? The complete message read ‘ Escape Room 11.30, Bletchley Park 1.30.’
It was our Christmas present, and three days later we were off with our boys for our adventure.
Our Escape Room experience was on the theme of codes and ciphers; we survived and escaped with just four minutes to spare.
I not sure how much, or little I contributed, my defence being it was my first time.
Then it was on to Bletchley Park.
We only discovered my father-in-law had worked there, when he told us not long before he died.
What he did, of course, he couldn’t tell us, but it made it a special visit for my husband
As for me, Alan Turing is one of my heroes (I cried at ‘The Imitation Game’), it was fascinating to see where it all went on, and a highlight was having my picture taken next to his statue.
It was a freezing cold day, and tiring; it’s a big place so there was a lot of walking.
That had to be one of the more original presents we’ve had, and they way it was announced was a lovely extra surprise.
Favourite 2024 Moments
New Year
fresh beginning
January bush trip
wild painted dogs a special treat
rare sight
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birthday
twenty one years
of life with Gregory
February celebration
unreal
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autumn
orange and red
visit to Pilanesberg
an amazing leopard sighting
great luck
***
April
uninspired month
high school catastrophe
change brings a new curriculum
good choice
***
Norway
beckons brightly
I’m expensive luggage
TC works while I enjoy life
smashing
***
finished
book launch ready
for And the Grave Awaits
culmination of six year’s work
success
***
freezing
dead of winter
lovely fires every day
dryness makes eyes red and itchy
passes
***
bush trip
cold, dry mornings
small cheetah cubs sighting
wearing honey badger disguise
worthwhile
***
aunt sick
third time this year
sons decide on action
removal to retirement home
drama
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long month
worst time of year
examinations start
house seeped in great anxiety
works out
***
surprise
trip to Japan
opportunity grabbed
exciting snow monkey sighting
special
***
Image credit: shortquotes.cc
Esther Chilton 
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