Curling
daily prompt · Rafa Nadal · tennis

Curling

Amy16 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?
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Just kidding. Watching curling is like watching paint dry. I don’t watch the Olympics. But since they are being held in Paris this year, I just might start. I recall in years past I watched the Winter Olympics’ skiing and ice-skating competitions, but that was a long time ago, and I was a kid.

Anyone who’s been reading my blog since the beginning knows what I’m going to say I will most likely watch present day: tennis. The Summer Olympics are being held in Paris this year from July 27-August 4, Rafa Nadal is probably playing his last season of professional tennis, and Roland Garros (The French Open) is his jam (he’s not called the King of Clay for nothing), so I am deducing he’s going to aim for the double play: Roland Garros and the Olympics – which will be played on the red clay, the same courts as Roland Garros. There are current rules in place, however, that may be a bit of a hurdle for him to be able to do this. Without getting too complicated, he will have to appeal to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) to be able to be allowed to play in the Olympics. Fingers crossed.

Rafa Nadal hoists La Coupe des Mousquetaires, in his first of 14 French Open victories (to date), 2005
Rafa Nadal won men’s singles gold at the Beijing Olympics, 2008

I suppose you know where I’ll be for Summer Olympics Paris 2024. I will not be in Paris. But I will be watching from my couch at home, wearing a beret, eating croissant and sipping un Café. 

©️2024, itsamyisaid.com, all rights reserved.

Uncategorized

WordPress Not Working

Amy61 Comments

I’m trying to like and reply and interact with you guys, but this issue with WordPress is worse each day, and I can only get in here for a few minutes before it tells me I’m off-line. I am not off-line and every other website works. I am sure I am not the only one struggling, but I feel like I am.

Please know that I see your likes and your comments and I am trying to reply to you. Thanks for your patience.

Frailty
animals · Grief · Love · Nature · Writing

Frailty

Amy32 Comments

April 2, 2011

A young deer collided with my mom’s car this morning. We were driving back from the grocery store, trunk full of food, discussing something mundane about the week; something I can’t recall now. We saw one deer dart across the left lane of traffic and we gasped. My mom applied her brakes. We momentarily believed we had escaped what could have been a horrific situation, and then, just as suddenly, two more young deer darted from the brush.

My mom did what she could to slow down, but there was no way to avoid what was to come. The third deer ran head first into the driver’s side of the car. A loud thunk was felt and we pulled over. Already I was sobbing. I did not look back. I COULD NOT look back. My mom was shaking and sobbing. People began to pull over, maybe wondering if they could help us, maybe wondering if we were ok. Some did come up to the car and talk to us, making sure we were all right.

Physically, we were fine. The car was not damaged. Emotionally we were not fine. I am still not fine. That young deer didn’t die right away, it lingered for maybe 10 minutes before dying. Someone – I don’t know who – came and took the deer away. I don’t know if it was the County or a person who was planning on utilizing the meat. I don’t care. A deer died a traumatic death in the middle of the road because of a man-made vehicle that could not stop in time. The people inside that car do not agree with killing of animals for sport, and one of them (me) is adamant against such activities. So, to accidentally kill a deer – or any animal – is, for me, excruciating.

To unintentionally kill a beautiful animal that has every right to live is a horrible, horrible feeling. I took my mother’s hand and held it. And we cried. I cried not only for that young deer in the road, but for all the other deer who meet similar fates, and for others who are cruelly killed for sport.

Finally, the police arrived and said they do not file police reports for deer collisions, and since there was no damage to the car, my mom would not have to fix anything, so need to contact the insurance company.

Deer hair lingers on the driver’s side window, though, and I can’t bear to go over to that side to see the small dent I have been told is there now.

So that’s it. Nothing can be done. We just go on about our day? What about the two other deer? Where did they go? Do they wonder what happened to the young doe?

Are they waiting for her on the other side of the road, off in the distance?

Sorry, I just can’t finish this. I can’t stop crying.

Please, whatever you do today, hug your dogs, your cats, your ferrets, whatever pet you know and love. And hug your people, too. We are all fragile in this life.

©️2024, itsamyisaid.com, all rights reserved

Back In The Day
daily prompt · Writing

Back In The Day

Amy9 Comments
Daily writing prompt
How would you improve your community?
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The community that is now filled with people who don’t know each other and don’t care to know each other, used to be one filled with block parties and neighborhood watch patrols. People would come sit on your porch and have a cup of coffee or a beer and chill. Santa Claus came every year on the local fire company’s biggest firetruck. Everyone knew everyone else, and stopping your car to chat with your neighbor was common. No one behind you would honk their horn to hurry you on your way.

Last week I witnessed a minivan with no tags drive around a tow truck into someone else’s front lawn to get past what must’ve been an annoying situation for the minivan. I couldn’t believe what I had seen. Couldn’t the guy have waited a few minutes, or turned around in my driveway and gone around the block? No. Too impatient. About 15 minutes later, he came back and did it again from the opposite direction. Yes, it was all a bit suspect, but without a license plate, I couldn’t call the police. See the other thing, back in the day, neighbors looked out for each other and would call the police or investigate a strange situation if they saw it. They would also look after each other’s houses and pets when one or the other went on vacation.

This doesn’t happen anymore.

I only know a few of the original people in my neighborhood, and the new ones are not from the back in the day mentality. Everyone is huddled inside of their homes, doing whatever. It’s the antithesis of community.

I’d be willing to bring back block parties and neighborhood watches, but the sad truth is one person doesn’t make a community – it takes a group of like-minded people to foster a sense of community.

The question is the answer and the answer is the question. And I don’t think the definition of community will ever be as understood as it was back in the day.

Let The Light In
Photography · spring · Writing

Let The Light In

Amy22 Comments

As the sun continues to move to a stronger angle as spring approaches summer, I like to play with the light as it’s setting. I took a few photos with my phone the other day.

I saw this solar chandelier a few years ago in an outdoor accessories magazine. But I wanted to hang it inside, I didn’t want to leave it outside where it would get ruined by the rain. My mother always wanted a certain chandelier from IKEA that was very sparkly. We shared a love of sparkle. She also wanted a pink chair in her bedroom.

One of the first items I purchased after clearing out her room and making it into a sitting room, was a champagne pink, velvet chaise. A little later came the solar powered chandelier. I can turn the switch to activate the light, but to be honest, the natural sunlight hitting it late in the afternoon is more beautiful than any artificial lighting.

The setting suns caresses the solar chandelier, causing happy twinkles of light while my pink fedora rests for a spell.
Is That The Alarm? Ew.
daily prompt · Humor

Is That The Alarm? Ew.

Amy15 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?
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The first hour of my day depends on what day of the week it is. Mondays look a lot like:

I meant to do that. Once I get up off the ground, I meander with one eye open and several bruises (and maybe some broken bones) to my computer and fire it up. I contemplate Monday, and always come to this conclusion:

After I eat my gummy vitamins, I feel a little bit more awake. It’s usually at about this time that my computer has updated over the weekend and will insist on a restart after I’ve connected to the Internet and have opened all of the apps I need.

On especially chaotic Mondays, which is really all of them, sometimes my Internet will disconnect for no reason at all. And then what happens? You guessed it – another restart.

Some days it happens more than once, and I want to unalive my computer. I don’t, of course (because it’s not alive…or is it?), but I wish I could.

And that brings us to 9 AM – my second hour of work. That’s when things get a little weird and I start to get a bit hungry. I have a small lick of my laptop, and I’m ready for hour two of my day.

Happy Monday everyone!

Everything and Nothing
daily prompt · Humor

Everything and Nothing

Amy13 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What makes you laugh?
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On a bad day, nothing is funny.

But I rarely have a day where it’s so bad that I can’t laugh at something.

Last night, I had a really bizarre dream. it was totally out there, unrelated to anything I had done all day yesterday. I remembered it this morning, which is not common for me. My mind remembered every detail. I can’t say much about this dream because it was really over the top, but I am still laughing about it, and adding my real time commentary as I think about it out loud.

I can find humor in almost anything. It’s one of my coping mechanisms, and I developed it early. It truly is a lifesaver.

Happy Fri-yay everyone.