Wordy Wednesday: What's Cooking?!

Today's Wordy Wednesday sentence prompt is: "What's cooking?" courtesy of B-A-R (Blog-A-Rhythm) member, writer, and blogger who prefers to go by the name Pixie.

Her blog 'Pixie's World: My take on everything' (https://mytakeoneverything9.wordpress.com/) is where she writes "fiction, anecdotes, and observations." She is also a foodist, thus the prompt!

The posts that I have read of hers I have thoroughly enjoyed, occasionally chuckling at her writing style. I find her writing witty, direct, and carefree, as if to say "This is me, whether you like it or not!"

Am I right Pixie? ;) Did I capture your essence well?

I shall attempt to write from that place, though I will require your assistance. Can you do me a favour and please read this (as best you can) with an American accent? If not, pretend you are a country singer, except that you aren't singing! ;)

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Mama Jo was busy in her kitchen preparin' potato salad, singin' and hummin' some gospel tunes while she worked. She had a secret ingredient that came to her one day while plantin' herbs, flowers, and vegetables in her large garden.

She concocted her potato salad with zeal and pride. After all, she wanted to win first prize at her local country fair!

Usually the fair was in the fall, but due to some unforeseen circumstances - not one person 'cept the mayor really knew why - it was cancelled. Actually, he declared a weekend in mid-July instead, naming it the 'Christmas in July Fair.'

The townsfolk was kinda confused by that as you can imagine. However, once the posts were up in terms of activities and prizes to be awarded, they soon forgot as they were too busy scramblin' to get ready. They had little notice to prepare considerin' the fair got moved up a number of weeks prior.

The day before the fair, Mama Jo was busy in her kitchen cookin' a bunch of red, white, and blue potatoes, not only to make her salad more colorful,* but also to appeal to the American's fair judges-to-be.

After the potatoes had cooled just right first at room temperature, then in the fridge, she mixed various food items in a big white ceramic bowl: radishes for example gave her salad a bit of a zing. Her sweet garden peas and juicy cherry tomatoes added extra color, while pickles and organic eggs added texture. Other ingredients were a part of her famous-salad-to-be, including an eye-measured amount of homemade mustard-mayonnaise, pinched fresh herbs from her garden here and there, and one special secret ingredient.

She transferred the ingredients into a clean dish, covered it well, and placed it at the bottom of the fridge. Having prepared it the night before would allow the various aromas and tastes to permeate real good by mornin'.

When the time finally came, the judges stood around her big bowl of potato salad. They looked at it, smelled it, and tasted it.

And they all shouted enthusiastically and simultaneously: "What's cooking?!"

*I purposely used the American spelling for this story. Photo is by Pixabay.

Wordy Wednesday: Camping Candle

Today's picture prompt is attributed to B-A-R (Blog-A-Rhythm) member, writer, and blogger Parul Kashyap Thakur.

I met Parul online via the April A to Z challenge where I was impressed by her fervent writings on pressing women's issues that I could tell were dear to her heart (and wish were on everyone's heart).

Parul writes about "Everything about my idea of happiness, food and a lot of food for thought!" according to her site's home page (https://happinessandfood.wordpress.com/).

Her recent post, a tribute to fathers on Father's Day is an easy-to-read post mostly made up of infographics with some rather interesting statistics about fathers: https://happinessandfood.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/for-fathers-on-this-day/

I find Parul to be a kind, warm, compassionate being expressed through her writings in terms of what she blogs about. I highly recommend you consider reading her blog: I doubt you will regret it as you will probably learn something new at least!

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The Kampers loved to camp (and not just because of their name). Their favourite pastime was lighting a fire to sing campfire songs, tell stories (especially ghost stories), and roast marshmallows.

Sometimes they would camp afar, sometimes closer to home, and even at times in the event of inclement weather on their house deck.

It was this one impending storm that drove the Kampers to their deck. They gathered round in their cozy hoodies and blanets, hot drinks in hand, not around their usual campfire unfortunately.

Instead, one lit candle stood tall and glowed, sheltered by glass as if from potential harm. It occasionally flickered at first, and eventually more fervently where the flame tossed mercilessly as the wind gathered force.

The wind howled picking pace and along with it anything on its path. The Kampers fled to their basement in fear, forgetting the lone candle standing there, at least for now.

Wordy Wednesday: The world is a small place

Today's prompt is attributed to B-A-R (Blog-A-Rhythm) member, writer, and blogger Usha Menon nicknamed 'eccentric grandmum'.

Her blog, 'Kuch Khatta Kuch Meetha' (http://eccentricgrandmum.blogspot.ca/) means 'Some sour some sweet' as life is like that, certainly not always a bed of roses!

Usha is retired and loves to write and does so daily if she can, otherwise almost daily (http://eccentricgrandmum.blogspot.ca/).

She has participated in a number of blog challenges and has won a number of awards, including 'Best Blog of 2013' - that's quite an accomplishment!

Sometimes, or do I imagine this, she pokes fun at herself in her writings. However, with compassion, sincerity, and warmth - at times humour too - Usha writes a combination of fiction in the form of stories and non in the form of poetry, primarily haiku, a very short form of Japanese poetry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku).

I am always amazed at her writing of haiku: I think Usha is a natural! It seems to just roll off her tongue, er I mean off the tip of her pen, or rather computer keyboard. Oftentimes, you will notice several of her haiku in one post!

I hope you enjoy reading her posts, haiku and all! If you do, please bless her writing with a comment. It only takes a moment and she not only deserves it, she will also surely appreciate it.

I could challenge myself in writing fiction about this, but I change my mind.

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I have had many small world experiences, especially since moving from Toronto, Ontario to Vancouver, British Columbia years ago.

One instance stands out for me in particular as follows (written to the best of my recollection):

Not too long after moving here that rather tickled my funny bone was an ad I saw in a local newspaper. I can't recall the heading nor the ad for that matter though it had something to do with friendship or dating.

Believe me or not, I actually KNEW immediately who it was when I read it: no kidding!

With playful humour, I responded somewhat coyly with no clues as to who I was. I believe I emailed in question form similar to his questioning as if I was questioning him (if memory serves me correctly).

Well, the day came where we met over a cup of coffee or tea.

I smiled quietly outwardly though hugely inside attempting to keep my secret for as long as possible: he didn't seem to recognize me at all which somewhat surprised me, though it had been a few years since I had seen him last.

When I finally told him who I was after about five minutes or so and some guessing, he laughed. He was both shocked and surprised, yet delighted to meet someone from his past.

We ended up having a great discussion reminiscing about people we both knew from the church we used to attend and our lives since then.

The world is a small place after all! Isn't it?! ;)

Epilogue: A number of years later, I attempted to re-establish contact with him as I moved into the region he used to live in. Unfortunately, I lost all contact with him as his information had changed. Too bad!

P.S. I couldn't figure out the share buttons...almost but not quite (enough)!

Wordy Wednesday: Powerful yet graceful

Today's Wordy Wednesday prompt - Oops! I just realized I accidentally initially titled this with "Wordless" rather than "Wordy" and now wonder for how long did I do that?! Perhaps that was for a photo prompt? I just came back from checking and luckily only last week was incorrect. (Thank goodness!)

Anyway, as I was starting to say, today's prompt is attributed to B-A-R (Blog-A-Rhythm) member, writer, and blogger 'Eloquent Mind' as she calls herself. She writes a blog entitled, "Life! As it is...experiences, writing, poetry, and more..."

Eloquent Mind writes both fiction and non-fiction, poetry, and stories to spice up the flavours and enliven her blog posts.

I hope you enjoy reading her posts as much as I do as she has an easy writing style and thus makes for easy reading which I so appreciate. Hope you do too!

In line with Eloquent Mind's love of ballet dance, I write similarly as 'ballet' came to mind - actually the image of a leg came first - with her phrase prompt, powerful yet graceful.

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Her feet twisted outwards, knees bent in plié, the young girl exerted all her effort into holding that position. [Note: For those of you who aren't familiar, this is a common ballet pose where a dancer bends the knees and straightens them again, usually with the feet turned out and heels firmly on the ground.]

So easily a pose come by the other similar-aged dancers she saw around her. But then they weren't like her. No, not at all!

For she had a formidable strength and an indomitable spirit unlike others who would more than likely fail from resigning firsthand, given her circumstances. But little Chloe knew what she had to do, what she wanted to do, and channelled all her strength, energy, and willpower into whatever she undertook, particularly in her passion for dance.

Chloe was what others - some - would term "special" as in "special child." She had been born healthy with exceptional progress in the first few years of her life when tragedy struck.

The doctors weren't 100% sure, not just yet, what with the myriad of childhood illnesses and diseases - as many it sometimes seemed as likely questionable causes - mother's health including her diet and that of her child's, environmental toxins in food, water, clothes, homes, and the like, as well as vaccinations and a host of other possibilities - that were rampant everywhere.

The wee lass though had started dancing from a tender age showing a natural inclination due to her zest. Both her parents knew instinctively to sign her up for lessons, though eventually they ended up being held at home.

Her parents shielded her from possible ridicule in the form of shaming and bullying. They were protective of Chloe not wanting to worsen her condition anymore, whether physical, mental, or emotional.

Yet Chloe was charmed with not only a resolute determination, she also possessed a natural poise, a grace beyond measure. In fact, because of her persistent attention to her movements, especially that of her arms and legs, you would say she was powerful yet graceful.

Wordy Wednesday: The Tomato Family

Today's picture prompt was submitted by B-A-R (Blog-A-Rhythm) member, Aparna George who blogs about being a parent and learning to live in the moment: http://apster.blogspot.in/.

How appropriate! My immediate thought of this photo was Tomato family. I kid you not! And yes, I am writing this impromptu!
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It was time. Yes, time for Tomato family to get their weekly photo taken. I know, I know it sounds silly, but hey wait a minute, let me explain.

You see the upcoming fair is coming to town and there are prizes to be awarded. And this includes tomatoes. But wait a minute, NOT just tomatoes. These here are heirloom tomatoes!

Meanwhile preparing for the shot, Ma Tomato was becoming quite hot and flustered, thus looking rather red and ripe, more so than Pa Tomato beside her and other members of her family: four grownup children and two young stepchildren, babies in fact. They sure were a sight for the eyes as they were such a large family!

However, would they be a sight for the judges in a few weeks time? That was the question!


I am linking this to Wordy Wednesday at Blog-A-Rhythm (https://blogarhythmblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/wordy-wednesday-2-may-2015-pictureprompt/).

Wordy Wednesday: Footprints

Today's word prompt is "Footprints" submitted by B-A-R (Blog-A-Rhythm) member, writer, and blogger Shilpa Halwe: http://shilpaview-ideas2.blogspot.in/.

My story today is a word prompt challenge (https://blogarhythmblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/06/wordy-wednesday-1-may-2015-prompt/).

I decided unwittingly to write today - still Wednesday - as a pantser in the same spirit of Shilpa's writings, fiction, still a relatively new genre for me. In only about five minutes I wrote the following piece below.
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She snuggled in her father's arms and dreamed whilst he read her a story. Her eyelids drooping heavily from a fun-filled day of playing around in the snow, building a snowman, tobogganing, having a snowball fight, and the like. It was after all the first day of snow!

How could she not when her playmate was her beloved father whom she adored and worshipped. He was her idol, one whom she trusted and admired with all her heart. Her mother died while she was quite young and her father chose to raise his little girl by himself.

As time continued, the stirrings in her heart remained and yet it also changed. Though it wasn't spoken of as yet, the desire to do something great and be someone admired and respected like her father dawned upon her.

She decided she wanted to leave a mark, her mark in the world. It was her footprints which she left behind that mattered the most to her in her life.

Wordy Wednesday: Everyone is Self-centered

Here is a more challenging prompt thanks to B-A-R (Blog-A-Rhythm) member and blogger Shilpa Garg (http://shilpaagarg.com/), whose sentence prompt for today is "Everyone is self-centered; it's just the radius that differs.."

Whether spelled self-centered or self-centred, the meaning is the same. Self-centered refers to being "only interested in yourself and your own activities" or similarly, "preoccupied with oneself and one's affairs" or "engrossed in oneself and one's own affairs."

Synonyms (similar meanings) include that of being "selfish, narcissistic, egocentric, egotistic, egotistical, egomaniacal, self-absorbed, self-obsessed, self-seeking, self-interested, self-serving." That's a lot of words!

Radius on the other hand is "a straight line from the center to the circumference of a circle or sphere," definitions of both courtesy of google.

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"...And so it was that they lived their secret lives in the shadows of silence." (from previous Wordy Wednesday prompt)

Suzette was enjoying her rendezvous with Jean-Pierre, but something seemed a little off on this particular day.

Was it that the rose-coloured glasses of their three-and-a-half-month relationship came off her nose? Did she now see her "love" differently? Were the expectations that she had projected onto him come to an end in her mind?

Whatever the reason(s), she noticed Jean-Pierre in a different light. That is, he seemed to be fussing about in the bathroom for what seemed like such a loooooooooooong time. She realized this was actually a pattern of his behaviour that she had dismissed prior. What on earth was he up to? What could he be doing? He seemed so quiet.

Suzy finally could take it no longer, her impatience and budding anger growing by the minute. Without knocking on the door, it was partially ajar anyway, she peered into an unapologetic scene.

What?! No wonder! Jean-Pierre was taking pictures of his biceps and chest, his recently acquired muscular frame from having worked out at his local gym since having met Suzette. Now she knew she had her moments, but this?! Really!

She knew then this truth: Everyone is self-centered; it's just the radius that differs.

Wordy Wednesday: Shadows of Silence

Today's Wordy Wednesday - why do they call it that anyway? It's not supposed to be a "wordy" post! ;) - is brought to you by BlogARhythm member, writer, and blogger Rajlakshmi Boruah.

Rajlakshmi writes and photographs extensively about her travel adventures with brilliant coloured waters and skies, including gorgeous hued sunsets in particular. Her photos are a feast for the eyes - your eyes - with mouth-watering colours. Oh what can I say? Her photographs inspire poetry! ;)

I hope I serve(d) her well, that is, did her phrase justice! ;)

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It was a blinding day of hot sunshine striking on foreheads and pavements on the streets of France, Paris to be exact.

Suzette was to meet Jean-Pierre at 1 o'clock prompt at a particular sign (not to be mentioned here...shhhhh!) inside their favourite cafe.

After an afternoon brew of cappuccino in the cool-temperatured cafe, they would walk side by side, not hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm. Noooooooo!

They would saunter past a duck pond and sit purposefully, on what would later become their favourite bench, in a park facing a fountainous waterfall. Here they would whisper and giggle, and chat and laugh boisterously at their meanderings in their lives, the waterfall at times drowning out their words to the rest of the world.

After enough heat and excitement, they would catch a cab to their favourite "little hideaway," book a room for the rest of the afternoon ... And so it was that they lived their secret lives in the shadows of silence.

Note: This is still one of my early attempts at writing non-fiction. I just follow the words and see where they lead me. This was quite a surprise, even for me! Ooh la la! ;)

Wordy Wednesday: Masked!

Picture prompt by Shailaja

He couldn't sleep. In fact, he was so scared, he couldn't move. He was paralyzed with fear!

Jimmy, age 12 looked to the wall opposite his bed. What he saw scared him out of his wits! He wanted to scream, but his tongue was frozen in fear.

It was his first day at the cabin where three other campers his age were sleeping, all in bunkbeds, Jimmy on the bottom of one. He was in unfamiliar surroundings. Oh, how he wished to be in the comfort of his room, in his own bed.

An image of the side of a face painted with three bright orange circles at the bridge of the nose upwards was staring Jimmy in the face, and grinning! It wasn't a normal-looking face, though he thought it might be a dead spirit of some kind.

It certainly didn't help that one of the boys taunted him by reading part of a spooky story just before bedtime. And it certainly didn't help matters that it was a mystery based in Africa with cannibals.

Did this 'man' hold some magical power which made Jimmy's tongue stuck so he couldn't speak? Who was he? And more importantly, what did he want?!

Jimmy squeezed his eyes tight for a few seconds and opened them only to find the big eye still looking at him. He decided he needed to do something 'cause he was so tired from travelling and playing that day.

Jimmy started to concentrate on his breathing, slowing it down as he learned during yoga class at camp that very morning. He started to relax a bit (not looking at the face) and counted to 10 in his head, a pace equivalent to saying "Abracadabra" at least twice at a slower speed, before running to the light switch, a bunk bed away from his.

With the light on, Jimmy looked immediately at the man and noticed it looked different. In fact, it wasn't scary at all!

He walked to the window, noticed the curtain slightly ajar, and peered outside in the dark.

Looking through the window and then to the 'mask' back and forth, back and forth, Jimmy came to realize what happened. What he saw - it took a few moments to register - made sense!

The partially crescent moon formed an oval eye, the nose and mouth shaped by the moon whose light struck part of a sailboat moored at the dock, reflecting through the cabin's window to the former masked image.

The three circles were already on this unusual, ancient-looking instrument, an old drum that was hanging on the wall. The long rod beside it was its companion. It essentially helped to secure the drum steadfastly against the wall.

While the other cabin mates were sleeping soundly, Jimmy drew the curtains shut, turned off the cabin light, crawled into bed, and closed his eyes. He was so ready for a good night's sleep, and hoped his much-deserved sleep would awaken him with pleasant dreams.

This post is written as a picture prompt from Shailaja V. for Wordy Wednesday at the "BAR" (Blog-A-Rhythm). ;)