Category Archives: travel

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Stockings

The stockings are ready!

This is from last year. I forgot to bring my stocking this year. I will have to use a sock! Well, Santa will surely understand.

My ex says happy chanakwanschristmasfeliznavidad. All one word. And love, joy and peace to you and yours too.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: holiday.

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Growing in spite of challenges

This tree is in Fish Park in Poulsbo. I was down there for an appointment last week and had some extra time, so walked through part of the park.

Did this tree get cut early, leaving the base? Or blown down by a wind storm or hit by lightning? It is growing anyhow and is a wonderful home for moss and lichens in the winter. Quite beautiful.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: off-kilter.

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Freeze and melt

Last winter, I walked Rock Creek Park with my son, daughter-in-law and daughter. There was a quite beautiful stream with wonderful ice patterns. We lost a button and then found it the next day, caught on the ice.

The ice formed beautiful patterns on the creek with the cycle of freezing and melting and air caught under the ice.

And the birds were out.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: melting.

The button story is here: https://drkottaway.com/2022/12/30/small-miracle-2/

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Wild light

Christmas 2018, my son, daughter-in-law, daughter and I drove to Roanoke, Virginia to see my two aunts and one uncle. We went to the science museum. Among other things, there were mushrooms that light up under black light.

I am not sure any of these are neon lighting. But they are wild light!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: neon.

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Blueberry mountain

My maternal grandparents bought property in Ontario, Canada, a place on a lake, because they couldn’t afford holiday property in New York State.

My grandfather died at 79 but my grandmother kept going to the lake. We had our own names for the surrounding properties, including blueberry mountain. At around age 90, my grandmother said she wanted to pick blueberries. We loaded into the boat and headed for that area. Lake Matinenda is on the Canadian Shield, so it’s all rock, rock, rock. There was no path. At one point I was helping my grandmother from below and my cousin was reaching for her from below. My grandmother was about 95 pounds at that point. She was going up a face of granite and getting out of my reach. “Have you got it?” I said frantically, worrying she’d fall. “I don’t know,” she said. But she did and my cousin helped. At the top, the blueberry picking was not that good, but the views were fabulous. My cousin and I agreed, we were not bringing her up there again! If she fell, we’d have to get her down the hill, into a boat, into a car and 17 miles into town. She seemed majestically unconcerned and denied having any problem climbing. It was way too much thrill for us, worrying about her!

Which brings us to today’s music!

And another Fats Domino, fabulous!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: thrill.

I took the photograph of Katherine White Burling in 1979.