Monthly Archives: November 2020

CMMC – November Alphabet – Word that Contains R and S

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R & S: Items from the Shop 1. Photo: TLClark, 11/26/2020.

Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge this week is Word that Contains “R” and “S”.

Yesterday, after supper, we started a list of words. Turns out Dad’s shop is a super place to take pictures in response to Cee’s challenge. Looking at the two pictures of his workbench (similar but not exactly alike), how many words with both an “r” and an “s” can you name? Note that we decided plurals don’t count unless the singular form has both an “r” and an “s.”

R & S: Items from the Shop 2. Photo: TLClark, 11/26/2020.

For a closer look, scroll through the following photos.

Here’s our list:

  • Chalk String
  • Crescent Wrench
  • Crosscut saw
  • Pencil Sharpener
  • Rasp
  • Sander
  • Sandpaper
  • Scissors
  • Scrap Lumber
  • Screen
  • Screw
  • Screwdriver
  • Scroll Saw
  • Spray Bottle
  • Spray Paint
  • Square
  • Stairs
  • Steel Bristle Brush
  • Surge Protector
  • Tape Measure
  • Washers
  • Yardstick

Thanks, Cee, for another fun challenge!

CMMC: November Pick a Topic

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Judy, Julie and Snickerdoodle. Photo: TLClark, 11/10/2020.

It’s another photo challenge and I get to pick the topic based on a picture! Click on this link to see the picture and the guidelines of Cee’s challenge.

Walk. I’m visiting my parents and we walk with dear friends every day. The picture above is definitely a candid shot, another possibility for the topic of the day.

Fence. More than one fence keeps folk on the foot bridge and out of the water. I’m intrigued by stripes and the grid in the shadow.

.Foot Bridge, Shiloh Conservation Area, Billings, MT. Photo: TLClark, 11/19/2020.

Orange. The only orange I could find outdoors in central Montana in mid-November is on Snickerdoodle’s scarf. After I looked a the challenge photo again, the topic for this picture could also be fuzzy.

Snickerdoodle. Photo: TLClark, 11/21/2020.

Posted in response to Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge – November Pick a Topic from [her] Photo. Such fun!

RDP Saturday: STEPS

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Steps – Not Quite Done. Photo: TLClark, 11/21/2020.I

Though I read the Ragtag Daily Prompt for bloggers daily and sometimes even think about what I could write, the day usually ends before I do anything about it.

Not today.

I’m at my parents’ home. Dad is building new steps to go out the back door. And the prompt is steps.

Dad posing with his new steps. Photo: TLClark, 11/212020.

When I asked if I could take his picture with the steps, Dad straightened right up and said, “cheese.” (Not exactly. But it looks like he said, “cheese.”)

Working on the Steps. Photo: TLClark, 11/212020.

Sometimes a project goes together as planned.

Other times, it takes making just the right face.

Dad Working on Steps. Photo: TLClark, 11/21/2020.

Whether it’s new steps or something else, may you make just the right face to have it go together perfectly.

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Posted in response to the Ragtag Daily Prompt (RDP) SATURDAY: STEPS. Click here to see the challenge; then scroll down in that post to find links to other responses.

A Photo a Week Challenge: JOY

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Longtime Friends. Shiloh Conservation Area, Billings, Montana. Photo: TLClark, 11/6/2020.

In this strange time of pandemic, what brings you joy?

Julie and Judy. Shiloh Conservation Area, Billings, Montana. Photo: TLClark, 11/6/2020.

For my parents, it’s a walk and a visit with longtime friends. The walking started as rehab for Mom. In this time of social distancing, it’s grown into a (nearly) daily habit – good for body, mind, and spirit.

Tom and Don. Shiloh Conservation Area, Billings, Montana. Photo: TLClark, 11/6/2020.

The gals stay on level ground. The guys take a longer loop. The dog would like to go with both but is forced to choose.

Snickerdoodle. Photo: TLClark, 11/12/2020.

Posted in response to Nancy Merrill’s challenge “A Photo a Week Challenge: Joy.”

After All Souls Day

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Monday was my first All Souls’ Day remembering my best beloved.

While I miss him dearly I am also grateful that for him all sickness and suffering is past.

John lived with metastatic prostate cancer for more than nine years and took time to consider a farewell.  As I establish a new rhythm of living and return to blogging (at least that’s my intent!), I thought I’d share his final word.

‘Biography’ by Shel Silverstein (from Every Thing On It, 2011):  ‘First he was born / And then he was warned / And then he learned how to swim / And then he was married / And then he was buried / And that’s all that happened to him.’

“I do not have any ancestors of note. My descendants are presently in the midst of busy lives and, should they distinguish themselves, it would be presumptuous to claim credit for their success.  I stand in death just as I did in life. To paraphrase the words of Sir Winston Churchill, I was a modest little man who had much to be modest about.

“Let it be said that I have had the companionship of an exceptional person over the last twenty-five years. She brought joy to my existence and there is no way that I can express my gratitude for her presence.

“I am also grateful to the countless bright, humane people who have shared my life’s journey. Thank you. May your lives be as rich as mine has been.

“Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576, physician, mathematician, astrologer, gambler, philosopher) summed my life accurately when he wrote, ‘Although happiness suggests a state quite contrary to my nature, I can truthfully say that I was privileged from time to time to attain and share a certain measure of felicity. If there is anything good at all in life with which we can adorn this comedy’s stage, I have not been cheated of such gifts.’ (from The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved by Mario Livio, 2006)

“As Lt. Colombo might say, ‘Just one more thing’.  Since life is not quite as simple as Shel Silverstein has put it, there is one last detail that must be added. Human relationships are complicated and messy. To those I have offended or treated badly, I apologize.”

– John M. Clark, “Final Word,” 2020