Tag Archives: Five Days Challenge

Five Days Challenge – Day Five

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I have been invited by Terry of Through the Lens of My Life to participate in a Five Day Challenge.  Each day, I will post a photo and write a story to go along with it.  (I probably will interpret the term ‘story’ quite loosely.  I do that.)  I will also invite one person each day to take up this challenge on his/her blog.  This challenge has been a lot of fun!  It’s interesting to see where my brain makes connections between fact and fiction and how an image is a jumping off place for those associations.

This last little story is called “The Gold Coast”:

california

Jake is a bit of a space cadet, but he’s harmless. He does things like arranging the dried kelp on the beach into celebrity images. His Leonard Nimoy was quite touching, given the timing. He’s rather a local hero in Santa Cruz. You can see him cruising the volleyball courts near the boardwalk in the early morning, chatting up the homeless and delivering donuts. Seagulls follow him around because he chats them up, too, while providing breakfast. The other day, he gave an impromptu lecture on the California Gold Rush of 1850 from the middle of the wharf. Between his barking and the sea lions’, a small crowd of curious tourists gathered. Somehow, he managed to convince them that you could still find gold on the beach where the river emptied out, just beyond the eucalyptus grove. A few of them followed him to the spot. “Now, it’s only just flakes that are left,” he began. “You can say that again!” one of the gawkers snickered. “…so ya gotta get down real close, combat-style, to see ’em. Right down on your belly in the sand, dude, like this, and follow their trail to the sea!” Yup, Jake is a real scenic attraction. You never know where he’ll turn up next.

— Next, I invite you to visit Victoria Slotto at her blog.  She is a published poet and author who is delving a bit more deeply into her photography as well.  Peruse her site for lots of beautiful images, verbal and digital, and stories that will spark your own connections.  She does quite a few writing prompt challenges, so there are lots already there in her archives.

© 2015, essay and photographs, Priscilla Galasso, All rights reserved

Five Days Challenge – Day Four

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I have been invited by Terry of Through the Lens of My Life to participate in a Five Day Challenge.  Each day, I will post a photo and write a story to go along with it.  (I probably will interpret the term ‘story’ quite loosely.  I do that.)  I will also invite one person each day to take up this challenge on his/her blog. 

Today’s offering is titled “Scarring and Healing”:

scarring and healing

The cold air pricked her cheeks as she walked the soggy trail. The sting kept her alert in her solitude, her daydreams suppressed by the chill of Now. Her downcast eyes were wary, marking her footing lest she slip on an icy patch in her resolution to maintain a brisk pace. On either side of her, oaks and pines stretched darkly upward into a damp, gray sky. The leaf litter beneath her feet offered up the rich, earthy smell of decay. She breathed it in deeply and raised her head. At the fork in the path loomed a large, lichen-covered trunk. At eye level, the bark was stripped away and a curious zigzag was laid bare. Suddenly, her legs grew weak. She stood still, staring at the jagged gash. Tentatively, she raised her hand and pressed her fingers into the seam. The place felt warm to her touch. Slowly, she traced the serpentine line, caressing each inch with intent awareness. Her brows pinched together, and her nose stung. Her salty tears ate away the iciness of her cheeks. This living tree displayed the image of her memories, the shiny white scar down his breastbone, wider and redder in a few places where the staples had given way and the flesh had became infected, punctuated here and there with the small holes of needle entry. How often she had looked anxiously on those scars. How guilty she had felt when she at last laid her head on his chest again and noticed the swelling when she raised it precious minutes later. The last thing on earth that she wanted was to add to his pain. His quick laugh was enough to assure her that he wanted her closeness more than her worries.  And with that memory, she recalled the tender touch, re-enacted it, and reverenced the miracle of healing in the patient example of the living pine. The tree stood tall bearing witness to its tale, and she moved on, alone, bearing hers.

— Next, I invite you to visit Edward Roads at My Two Sentences.  Each of his posts is exactly that, two sentences, narrating an idea inspired by his photos.  His genre makes my brain whir, filling in more detail to the story, and his vocabulary makes me get out my dictionary – which I appreciate!  I reckon his two sentences amount to a story, so he’s already completed this challenge and will probably keep it up for at least five more days.  (So, no pressure, Edward! 🙂 )

© 2015, essay and photographs, Priscilla Galasso, All rights reserved

Five Days Challenge – Day Three

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I have been invited by Terry of Through the Lens of My Life to participate in a Five Day Challenge.  Each day, I will post a photo and write a story to go along with it.  (I probably will interpret the term ‘story’ quite loosely.  I do that.)  I will also invite one person each day to take up this challenge on his/her blog. 

Today’s story is called “Behind the Pine Curtain”:

pine boughs

Far to the North, deep in the taiga, things are different. The anthropocentric domination disappears; the caribou and the gray wolf roam freely. Seasons, not schedules, set the pace of life: snowfall creates quiet, thaw invites growth and activity. The wind whispers and howls, carrying the voices of ravens, golden eagles and coyotes over wireless stretches connected only by a network of fresh air. Pathways through the boreal forest are deeply rutted by cloven hoofs and claws; these are the tread marks of travel. Trade and currency are exchanged in life and death, who eats, and who goes hungry through the night. There are no agencies or systems to correct these interactions between inhabitants; none are needed. Let no revolution disturb this country, no liberation infiltrate its borders. Let it be wild and perpetuate its own freedom.

— Next, I invite you to visit Kaye at Rebooting.  She’s one of my newer blog friends, and I think she’d be up for a Challenge.  She’s a hoot, in my opinion: British and cheeky and very entertaining.  Cheers!

© 2015, essay and photographs, Priscilla Galasso, All rights reserved

Five Days Challenge – Day Two

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I have been invited by Terry of Through the Lens of My Life to participate in a Five Day Challenge.  Each day, I will post a photo and write a story to go along with it.  (I probably will interpret the term ‘story’ quite loosely.  I do that.)  I will also invite one person each day to take up this challenge on his/her blog. 

My offering for today is called ‘Outward Bound’:

ship

And after all that had been said, Brody still couldn’t understand why she thought sailing off into a wet, white void was more like freedom than chasing ducks on the shore. But she had the bigger brain and he wore the collar, so he trotted up the gangplank and resigned himself to barking at seagulls from the deck.

 

— Next, I invite you to visit Jamie Dedes at The Poet By Day.  She is an honest-to-goodness Poet, and posts her poems and photographs (and other interesting tidbits) on her various sites.  She has more than five days of work on her blog, so this is not a challenge to her, but an exhortation to you to peruse her garden.  She is also the co-founder of a blog magazine (‘blogazine’) that considers me a contributing writer.  Our identity: “We are a consolidation of two collaboratives, a compendium of works from diverse and visionary creatives with the shared core values of peace, justice and nonviolence.” We are coming out with our fifth issue of The ‘B’ Zine on March 15.  I am pleased to have contributed a feature article to each issue. 

© 2015, essay and photographs, Priscilla Galasso, All rights reserved

Five Days Challenge – Day One

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I have been invited by Terry of Through the Lens of My Life to participate in a Five Day Challenge.  Each day, I will post a photo and write a story to go along with it.  (I probably will interpret the term ‘story’ quite loosely.  I do that.)  I will also invite one person each day to take up this challenge on his/her blog.  I’m excited to participate, as I have been eager to set aside time to indulge my creative side.  It’s a spring awakening, of sorts, so thank you, Terry!  Here’s my first offering:

frost script

Sometime during the night, a winged spirit must have visited my window. There are the traces of his presence and his flight, frozen against the pane. It’s as if he were caught peeking in at my dreams, and perhaps left a note to apologize for the intrusion. Dear Messenger, does your scrolling script bring word from that soul who lives in my memory and heart, the figure of my dreams, the love of my past youth? If so, then I thank you for this precious gift, gone with the rising warmth of morn. A brief delight, as was his kiss, a fluttering pulse. It is enough to tickle my imagination and leave a smile.

– Next, I invite you to visit Naomi Baltuck at Writing Between the Lines.  She has already accomplished much more than this challenge requires, and as a professional storyteller and author, she may not have time to participate in this specifically.  (You’re off the hook, friend!  But you’ve been tagged for visits. 🙂 )  I love her posts…it’s like nestling into the cozy corner of a children’s library for Story Hour.  Her photos and stories are like the picture books that you loved to discover as a kid: humorous, expertly illustrated, and with a great message to take away.  Enjoy!  And thanks for spending time here!

© 2015, essay and photographs, Priscilla Galasso, All rights reserved