Saturday Centus - Cleaning up the neighborhood

I'm late to the party, but I finally made it. This past week has been totally nuts. I won't bore you with all the gruesome details, but let's just say I would be fine if I could figure out a way to add about 9 hours to the day. Time to join our fellow Centurians for Saturday Centus, hosted each and every week by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Jenny provides us with a prompt. Our charge is to write a short story of no more than 100 words exclusive of the prompt. This week, Jenny has changed it up on us yet again! Instead of a prompt, we are to continue a previous story, either one of our own or borrowed (that sounds so much nicer than plagiarized, doesn't it?) from someone else.

I posted this story in June and thought it would be a fun one to expand. The original story is in blue. Hope this answers some questions!


The day started with such promise. A trip to the old home place, seeing where Daddy grew up, the places that shaped him. Sky that heartbreaking blue that only a southern summer can give. Trees draped with Spanish moss like the veils of devout women at Mass. Whirring cicadas, those mad jazz percussionists of summer.

It was Fathers Day, 1984, when I heard that voice in the hallway... followed it down old cellar stairs that screeched like jays protecting a nest. Darkness hiding rotten wood, which gave way, pitching me to the cool dirt floor. Raising my head, I came face to face with a story that Daddy never intended me to know.

How long had those moldy bones been resting here? A glint of gold caught my eye. I'd only known one person with a gold tooth, that no account Jr. Ewell. Gone for years. Up and took off one day, leaving nothing but a rundown shotgun shack, metal roof bleeding rust onto the sagging porch like autumn leaves.
A rush of memories. The whispers. Mamas making us promise to stay clear of him. To let our Daddies know if Jr. wanted help finding a lost puppy or cleaning out his ramshackle barn. And a late night meeting of Daddy's men's club.






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Rainbow Summer School - Blue!

It's time for Rainbow Summer School with Mrs. Matlock! This week our color is blue. We are zipping right through summer session. There is alot going on around here right now, but I just couldn't bear to miss it. Haven't missed a single class yet, and only 1 tardy :) I've been browsing our photos files for blue, and I found a lot. Must be a favorite color! I hope you enjoy my little foray into the blue. And don't forget to run to class and read what everyone else is sharing this week!

Is there anything prettier than a blue Texas sky? You be the judge...


We were taking photos from the new bridge over the San Gabriel River. At the time, it was not yet open. We got run off by our "boys in blue" Hey, the sign said no cars, not no feet!

Blue Hole Park, Georgetown, Texas. Everyone's favorite swimming (and diving) hole

Sky over Little Bay, Rockport, Texas

Presidio La Bahia, Goliad, Texas. One of my very favorite places to visit. You can truly feel the history when you walk these grounds.

Steeple of our favorite country church, New Sweden

Night skyline over Town Lake - recently renamed Lady Bird Lake. Austin, Texas

Monument blessing the shrimpers, Rockport, Texas

These last two shots were a whole lot of fun. A new optometrist in Hutto, Texas commissioned DH to take some shots around town to hang in his new eye care center. This is Hutto Stadium, home of the "Hutto Hippos". I kid you not!

A neat little storefront in "downtown" Hutto. I just love this!

Hope you enjoyed my "blue" period. Have fun visiting all the links this week!


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Saturday Centus - Vacation Essay

It's Saturday Centus time once again, hosted by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Usually, Jenny provides us with a prompt and we take it from there. A nice little story of 100 words or less. This week, she is switching it up. No prompt. Just a 100 word essay on "What I Did Over My Summer Vacation". Exactly 100 words, no more and no less, written in the first person. Well, this will test my skill. Since we did not get a vacation this year, I'll have to depend on my imagination. Good thing we are allowed to write a fictional account or I would have NOTHING this week!


What I Did Over My Summer Vacation

As the old bus creaked and groaned over the rocky road, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. The heat was unbearable, dust clinging to my wet face like a mud pack in a cut rate spa. I could hear monkeys screeching in the trees, and imagined the size of the snakes camouflaged in the foliage.
Pulling into the village, I saw hundreds of children holding their precious pets. Some needed vaccinations or simple surgery, others had more serious issues. When I saw the hopeful smiles on the children's faces, my discomfort vanished. A summer vacation to remember indeed!



Obviously, this is fiction, but it is based on a real organization that does humanitarian veterinary work all over the world. One of my pharmaceutical reps does a mission trip with them every year, and he said it is the most satisfying work he's ever done. To learn more about World Vets, click on the link. http://www.worldvets.org/

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