Raining Dandelions

driving in cold night

rain suddenly starts to fall

white fluffs from the sky

*in honor of my younger brother who told me when he first saw snow he thought it was dandelions*

Impossibility

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – the White Queen, Alice in Wonderland.

Prompt: What are the six impossible things you believe in? (If you can only manage one or two, that’s also okay.)

My cat understands everything I say.
I will complete a writing project.
One day I will have ‘glass skin’.
Breathing underwater.
Ecological sustainability.
Immortality.

I am very surprised I was able to think of six, but here we are! Out of the things I mentioned- I would say about two have a chance of happening.

HINT: me having glass skin definitely isn’t one of them.

artist: @artoshtu

Competition: Mini Golf

Prompt: What activity, task, or game most brings out your competitive streak?

Mini golf.

Hands down, mini golf.

I don’t know what it is about this game that awakens such deep-seated rage in me, but without fail it claws its way to the surface as soon as I get my club and colorful little ball. Could it be the zaniness of the course? The inevitable windmill? The way each hole ups the ante?

Perhaps. I may never know.

What I do know is I didn’t play often as a child (so explain that one to me).

The other thing I know? That I truly haven’t played mini golf in YEARS. Why? Because I know thyself.

SIDENOTE: My partner has made jokes about taking me to a course to see me in action…but it’s yet to happen.

Photo by Paige Janiszewski on Unsplash

A First: Owning a Place

As of 20 November, 2021 I now live in my very first home!

We started up at 7 a.m. and with the help of some amazing movers, were fully moved and unpacked by 5 p.m.!

This year I have moved about…three times. Four if we’re counting the two weeks we stayed with my mom before moving across country. Knowing I won’t be packing to move anytime in the foreseeable future is such a relief. I really don’t think I could have handled doing it a few more times.

Now that I have my own place I finally understand what I never understood about my mom as a kid: seeing possibilities in a place. Growing up, my mom always had an eye for what she wanted to change in homes and I never really got it. Now- I am fully aboard her train and have brainstormed with my partner on how we would change just about every room.

The one thing my partner was most looking forward to was being able to sleep with the window cracked now that we’re on the top floor. So of course, for the first night we did just that.

~~Let me tell you something about that.~~

It went down to 34 degrees Fahrenheit.

I had fleece sheets, a duvet, and two comforters.

This morning I stayed in bed for an extra hour and a half because I was waiting for them to get up and put the heat on.

In the end, they couldn’t get the window to close, so I had to do it.

All in all it was a pretty good laugh and I’m looking forward to making this place our own.

artist: @artoshtu

Back to School

Prompt: If you could take a break from your life and go back to school to master a subject, what would it be?

I would have to say carpentry.

Now that I’m moving into my first home and have brainstormed with my partner on all the work we want to do- having the skills to do it myself would be amazing. Obviously, it would cut down on costs and I’d be able to head to a home improvement store anytime we agreed on new projects.

Aside from being able to take on DIY projects at home, there is also the career aspect.

After all, carpentry is considered one of the oldest trades and after spending the last few years in an office, I have to admit the idea of working with my hands and collaboratively is very alluring. Would it be hard work? Of course. Hence, why I’d want to take a break from life in order to really master it.

Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash

The Clock

Prompt: Write about anything you’d like. Somewhere in your post, include the sentence, “I heard the car door slam, and immediately looked at the clock.”

It’s a strange thing to know when you’ll die.

For some, they know mere seconds before. For others, only minutes.

The rare few know further than that…

As I leaned back in the driver’s seat I purposely closed my eyes. I was in the parking lot of my office. My car partially hidden by low hanging branches of an untrimmed tree.

It had been like any other day. Awake at seven, in work by eight, lunch at one, and out by five. No different from many days past, yet different in every imaginable way.

My bags were in the passenger seat- a half filled container exposing a meal never finished.

The radio played, but I couldn’t hear it.

My mind was blank. My breaths slowed.

An eternity seemed both to pass and fly by.

Perhaps I’d gotten the date wrong? The time even? But I knew it wasn’t the case.

I heard the car door slam, and immediately looked at the clock.

Writing Room

Prompt: A genie has granted your wish to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?

Ooh, okay. So when you enter, the first thing you realize is it’s two levels high with large windows and skylights. Hanging plants fill every window filtering natural light into the space (and since this is magic- they don’t require maintenance!).

Two walls on the first level are covered in a combination of large, dry erase glass boards dedicated to writing projects and framed prints of commissions. My mother’s antique desk is angled to have a perfect view out the windows with plenty of blank journals to fill. A shallow stream winds through the floor with koi and turtles providing gentle white noise. Across the room, writing nooks with daybeds sit at each window.

The majority of the second level is open to first with a wide walkway wrapping around to be accessed by one of four ladders. A large axolotl tank is built into the wall farthest from the windows with more dry erase glass boards. Writing nooks like those on the first level carry up to the second.

Back on the first level, hanging chairs and plants drop from beneath the walkway above.

Built in coolers store aloe water and ghost pepper chips are plentiful. The room smells of vanilla and gingerbread. My 0.38 pens never run dry. Oh! And the room is soundproof so when I listen to music for inspiration it doesn’t drive my partner insane.