Category Archives: friendship

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mystery key

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: key.

I don’t know why this picture is a key. It’s a mystery. You tell me why, I don’t know. Because the bush has started it’s spring growth and is covered with snow? Because the snow means winter and winter means spring and life goes on even when things are difficult or even horrible. Still, winter comes and then spring.

And this photograph wants to be part of the mystery too. I don’t know. Explain it to me.

Anna's hummingbird sitting on a branch, with green iridescent feathers.
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A portrait of Boa Black

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: pet.

This is Miss Boa Black. I am not sure if she is my pet or I am hers.

My daughter picked a kitten from the pound 15 years ago. A few days later I took my son there and handed him Boa. She was tiny, feather soft, and purred the instant we picked her up. The other cat is gone, but Boa is still here. She is really a one person cat and the person is me. She hates it when I pull suitcases out and lately she has been tucking me in at night. She does love the kids but disapproved strongly when they went off to college and only visit erratically.

She still has the softest fur.

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pink shard

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: shard.

I photographed our local mosaic sculptures and I can’t find the pictures. I just went through 3 years of photographs and it’s making me too sad. Yesterday a patient said, “How are you?” I replied, “Mostly happy with occasional grumpiness.” Sorrow too. So here is a mostly blue photograph with a little pink. Maybe the happiness is the pink in which case I said it backwards.

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water doors

For Norm2.0’s Thursday Doors.

We walked on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Park while we were visiting Maryland and Virginia. It is 184.5 miles. I’ve biked it twice, starting at the West Virginia end and ending in Georgetown.

The locks that we went by were not functioning, but you can still see where the gates were. Those are doors to hold water back, aren’t they?

brick work at a lock on the C & O Canal
walls of a lock entry

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal
parts of the canal have water

The stones are worn where tow ropes ran.
lock with part of a gate in place
worn stone where tow ropes ran

Parts of locks are still present and some still are functioning.


This bridge building was used for flood control.

stone work with slot for flood control
bridge building

When the river was flooding into the canal, boards were lowered into the slots that diverted high water away from the canal and back to the river.


It was a beautiful day. We all enjoyed the sun.

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closed doors

For Norm2.0’s Thursday doors. However, I missed it last week, so the linking is already closed. He looked back at the doors through the year. I did not have time last week and I would rather wait this week. Doors can open and close and we are not quite at the end of the year.

Blessings on everyone.

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more blue

For Wordless Wednesday: I am not wordless today, but the herons are so stealthy!

Hiking with my daughter and friend B on the C and O canal, ah! Here is an east coast great blue heron. Standing very still across the canal, just the colors of the rocks and winter trees and leaves. I look for birds or I could have walked right by without seeing this one.

Great blue heron standing on one leg, with surrounding rocks of the same color.

I love the one legged stance. I will need to do a lot more Tai Chi before I can stand on one leg that comfortably. The heron only moved enough to keep an eye on me.

Great blue heron, standing on the shore of the C & O Canal on one leg, observing the photographer.