Five Photos, Five Stories Day 5…Calgon, take me away.

My five days of story telling are at an end, at least for the purposes of this challenge.  I hope you’ve enjoyed the stories as well as the photos and, as always, thanks for taking the time to read and, often, comment.  Today I’m nominating any of you who would like to participate.  Remember the rules:  Write a story each day for five days, based on one of your photos, and nominate someone else each day.  Of course, there are no enforcers here, at least not that I’ve seen, so you may participate in whichever way you choose.  Above all, have fun and, whether or not you participate, have a marvelous weekend.

 

Calgon, take me away.

For me, it’s lavender.

The scent takes me back to the fields in which we lay
after our lunch of pate and wine,
hidden from the road,
scented with love.
My fingers run through your dark hair,
yours caress my lips.
You murmur French nothings into my ear.
I purr with pleasure.

I inhale again deeply,
take another sip of wine,
channel my inner author,
and continue writing.

Five Photos, Five Stories: Day 4…seventeen syllables on a poppy

It’s Day 4 of the Challenge and today’s entry is a haiku.  I enjoy writing haiku, seeing how much I can say in the 17 syllables I allow myself, a traditional count, but one to which the writer need not always adhere.  I like the discipline though, so I tend to try to stay within those parameters.

Today I’m nominating Naomi at Writing Between the Lines.  The challenge, should you decide to accept it, is to  “post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge”.  Whether she accepts or not, I hope you take a peek at her blog.  Her most recent trip, at least on the blog, was to Turkey.

Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge: Day 3…Dream ride

This is Day 3 of the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge.   I was invited to participate by Emilio Pasquale at “Photos by Emilio”. The challenge is  to “post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge”.  

Today’ nominee is Jan Marler Morrill at https://janmorrill.wordpress.com/. Jan’s the author of “The Red Kimono”, a novel about the interment of the Japanese in the US during WWII.  You need to read it.  She also writes haiku and explores various issues on her blog.

Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge: Day 2…Girls just want to have fun!

Welcome to Day 2 of the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge. Emilio Pasquale at “Photos by Emilio” invited me to take part. The challenge is  to “post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge”.

Today, my nominee is Sandra Crook at https://castelsarrasin.wordpress.com/. Sandra, I know you’re cruising the waterways of France, with iffy internet connections at best, and busy besides, and of course, you have no obligation to participate.  But Sandra’s a wonderful writer and I want to introduce those of you who don’t know her to her work.

Janie, our first rescue dog

Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge: Day 1…D-Day

Emilio Pasquale at “Photos by Emilio” invited me to take part in the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge. The challenge is  to “post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge”.  I’ve been neglecting the writing part of my blog for a bit due mostly to a combination of my part time job and spending time outside because it’s spring.  This will be a good opportunity to bring the writing back in and combine it with the photos.  So thanks, Emilio, for helping me get back on track.  And be sure to check out Emilio’s blog and his wonderful photos.

For my nominee, I choose Allan at ohmsweetohm.me.  Allan’s last job before retirement was working as an electrician on the Golden Gate Bridge and he has some amazing photos and stories.  Allan, you’re under no obligation to accept the challenge, just take it as the compliment it’s meant to be.

I’d never been to Omaha, Nebraska before June 6, 1944, and I never went there afterwards, even though it didn’t have a beach.  Never bought a German car, either.  My ideas of hell bear a strong resemblance to what I saw that day.

We went of the sides of our Higgins boat early that morning, the water stretching endlessly ahead of us and then the open, flat beach.  Behind that, the Germans and their guns lay in wait, knowing we’d have to come to them, through the water and across the mine-strewn beach.  How in God’s name we were expected to make it in alive, I’ll never know. Many of us didn’t.  My best friend drowned right next to me, in water turning red with our blood,  held under by the weight of his pack and the water trapped by his helmet. Bodies were everywhere but the only way was forward so I kept on moving, just hoping to stay alive.  Was I scared?  What do you think?  But what else could I do?  Just keep moving and, if you were a religious man, pray.  Thank God, Rommel wasn’t there that day or the results might have been different.

I still dream about that day sometimes all these years later.  And I’ve never gone back.  Some things are best left in the past.  But I still remember.  They say war is hell.  Most of them have no idea.  Unfortunately, too many of us do.