Tag Archives: Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

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The photo I included in today’s post is of a fantasy world. If only it were real!

My perfect vacation would include plenty of time out in nature, especially if it involved beaches and mountains. It would be marvellous to be somewhere that made it possible for both of these things to happen in the same day.

Nature is incredibly soothing to me. I love hearing the tide lap up against the shore or leaves rustle in the wind.

There’s nothing like seeing the majesty of sharp mountain peaks reaching up to the sky after hiking for an hour or two.

Ideally, I’d convince my parents, siblings, sister-in-law, and nephews to join my spouse and I on this trip. I’m quite lucky to have a family that all gets along with each other well. We could rent a couple of houses next door to each other so everyone could find the perfect balance of alone time and family time since many of us are introverts!

What would I do during this trip?

• Build sand castles with my nephews and whomever else wants to join in
• Swim
• Hike
• Create Land Art from leaves, rocks, shells, and other natural materials
• Eat whatever delicious meals my sister-in-law made because she loves to cook and is wonderful at it
• Splurge on a professional massage one day
• Sing or share stories around a bonfire at night
• Laugh at old funny family stories
• Nap (Vacation naps are the best ones ever!)
• Visit nearby historical sites or museums with likeminded relatives
• Have an alcoholic beverage or two. I virtually never drink, but sometimes the family will recommend or make something sweet that I enjoy a little bit of

In my experience, the best vacations are the simple ones that you allow to unfold as they will. There’s no need to spend a ton of money on specific excursions or events every day to make me happy.

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This entire post could be summed up into one word: massages.

There is nothing I enjoy more than getting a gentle massage from someone who has a lot of experience giving them.

It’s one of the most relaxing things I can possibly imagine. I carry tension in my back and shoulders that sometimes translates into pain, so it’s glorious to have all of those knots gently loosened and sorted out.

Years ago, there was a massage studio somewhat close to my house that offered back massages at a pretty reasonable rate.

They’ve since closed, but I will be keeping an eye out for future massage opportunities once this pandemic has ended and it’s safe to get them again.

(And, no, that isn’t my dog in the photo in today’s post. I simply wanted to share a photo related to massage that was G-rated for anyone who reads this at work. Some of the massage photos on stock photo sites can be a little risqué!)

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This was one of those topics I could discuss for hours. If any of us ever meet in person, ask me this question if you want to see me poke my head out of my shell! (I’m often a little quiet and shy at first with new people).

Character: Anne Shirley from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series

Why: I adore it when talkative, extroverted people make the first gesture of friendship, especially when they’re as personable as Anne. Our personalities couldn’t be more different from each other, but our shared love of books and baked goods would give us all sorts of things to discuss.

Character: Sankofa­­ from Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control. (My review is here).

Why: She’s the sort of character who needs friends who move slowly and are highly respectful of her boundaries. I’m excellent at both of those things. It would be cool to have a chance to ask her about how her powers work and what she plans to do next in her life.

Character: Yetu from Rivers Solomon’s The Deep (My review is here).

Why: Our personalities are so similar! We’re both quiet, easygoing folks who enjoy learning new things and exploring. There’s definitely something to be said for companionable silence sometimes. Maybe she could teach me some new swimming strokes, too.

Character: The hobbits and the Entwives from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.

Why: Honestly, who wouldn’t want to have a dinner party with hobbits? They’re peace-loving, jolly, and kind folks who are also fantastic cooks. I’d want to meet the Entwives because I’ve wondered what really happened to them ever since I read this series. In my opinion, they survived and eventually reunited with their husbands, sons, brothers, and other male relatives.

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There are so many things I enjoy doing outdoors.

Nature Walks and Light Hiking. That is to say, I’m happy to walk or hike for a few hours, but I wouldn’t want to do it for multiple days or weeks in a row like some of my relatives do! I like coming home to my warm, soft bed at the end of the day. LOL.

Bird watching. I will also happily watch squirrels, dogs, and just about any other animals that cross my path.

People watching. Humans are fascinating. I love observing how we interact with one another when it’s possible to watch strangers in socially-appropriate ways.

Bicycling. It’s been ages since I did this, but I do enjoy bike rides quite a bit. They’re even more interesting if you can do them somewhere quiet and close to nature.

Canoeing. My last canoe trip happened even longer ago than my last bicycle ride, but there is something incredibly peaceful about skimming over a calm pond or lake in a canoe.

Going to the Beach. I especially enjoy building sand castles and walking up and down the pier there.

Swimming in Chlorinated Water. I prefer swimming in places where I know there isn’t anything sharp or slimy at the bottom of a pool. Occasionally, I will swim in a lake, pond, or ocean, but I try to wear protective footwear in those cases.

No, I’ve never had a terrible experience with getting cut or bitten or anything. It simply weirds me out to unexpectedly touch things with my feet in cloudy water.

Picnics. It’s so relaxing to me to pack or buy a meal and then eat it outside on a nice day. Somehow, food tastes a little better when the wind ruffles my hair and I can see birds flying by.

Visiting Cemeteries. Does anyone else enjoy reading headstones and seeing how the art and inscriptions on them has changed throughout history? Cemeteries are such peaceful places, and they’re generally filled with a lot of nature to observe as well if you remain quiet and alert.

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Writing. This spring I’ve been spending more time doing this. Thank goodness for renewed interest in writing and a sharp reduction in my writer’s block! There’s nothing like seeing your characters and worlds come alive. I’ll let you all know when I have a publication date for my next speculative fiction book.

This isn’t me, but this is something I’d do.

Snapping Photographs. 2020 wasn’t a great year for finding interesting things to photograph due to what we all experienced during it that I won’t go into any detail about here, but I’m hoping 2021 will provide more opportunities to capture beautiful moments. Maybe it will even be possible to photograph other places in the world in 2022.

Dancing. Thank goodness for all of the instructional videos online. I love learning new moves and styles of dance. They make me feel so free and happy.

Anthropomorphizing Everything.  I regularly say hello to the animals who live in my neighbourhood whether they are domesticated or wild creatures. I’ve hugged trees once or twice and am not afraid to call a building beautiful out loud if it thrills me. These things bring joy to the world, so why not bring attention to them? In my opinion, we should all appreciate harmless things that lift our spirits and give us hope.

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This is going to be an eclectic list.

Get All of My Dental Work Done at Once. It’s non-urgent and is being done slowly and as necessary. If I had a windfall of cash, I’d bite the bullet (metaphorically speaking) and get everything checked off the to-do list as soon as possible.

Buy Ethical, Local, and Eco-Friendly Stuff. I’d buy as much food, clothing, shoes, electronics, and other various household items from local merchants and farmers as is possible here in southern Ontario.   Buying local can be more ecologically friendly in general, so I’d keep an eye out for businesses that were cognizant of that as well. There’s something to be said for supporting small businesses and your local economy if you have the extra money to do so.

Donate Anonymously. For example, homeless shelters and food banks have always needed donations, and the demand for their services is sadly higher than ever. They should focus on the fact that they suddenly had more resources to help people going through tough times and not worry about giving me credit for anything. I’m too bashful to pose for photo-ops. LOL!

Hire A Housekeeper. I would pay them handsomely to come over for a couple of days a week to clean, shop for groceries, and do laundry. It would be wonderful to have the time I currently invest in that stuff freed up for other pursuits, although I do feel a little selfish to even mention this. It would be such a big splurge.

Buy an Annual Membership to My Local Art Museum. I used to go there occasionally before this darn pandemic began. I’d love to have the freedom to go as often as I pleased and during quiet times of the day when there aren’t any lines to see any of the paintings.

Treat My Family to a Vacation. That is to say, I’d take my spouse, parents, siblings, nephews, and sister-in-law on whatever sort of trip everyone agreed upon. I’d pay all expenses and try to convince them to accept some spending cash, too. Money is only as good as the memories it makes and the joy it brings to others.

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Cover designs can vary so much from one round of printing to the next that I decided to focus on titles this week. I included links to descriptions of the plots of these stories for anyone who needs them, and I also added a sentence or two about why each one grabbed my attention.

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

I loved stuffed animals and dolls when I was a kid, so the idea of a velveteen rabbit appealed to me immediately.

The Kind of Girl I Am by Julia Watts

This title didn’t make sense to me at all when I first saw it, so I had to figure out what it was actually saying!

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride

Isn’t that an attention-grabbing title? I sure thought it was good. Originally, I’d assumed he was adopted and wanted to see if my guess was correct there.

The Bigger Book of Lydia by Margaret Willey

This was one of the first times I ever remember seeing my name in a book title, and it made this a must-read for me. Luckily, it’s become a little more common to find characters who share my name these days.

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Generally, I prefer not to binge-watch shows. It’s easier for me to enjoy them when I take at least a few days between episodes, especially for shows that can be repetitive at times.

These are the exceptions to this preference of mine. Two are shows I finished ages ago, and the final one is something I recently started watching.

Show Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Why I Binge-Watched It: Just because vampires (or monsters, or teenage girls) behave a certain way in other universes doesn’t mean they’ll follow those rules in this universe. I loved the risks Joss Whedon took with the plots twists in this series.

Show: 30 Rock

Why I Binge-Watched It: The zany ensemble cast was hilarious. This show was set backstage on a fictional version of Saturday Night Life. It featured everyone from celebrities (both real and fictional) to the various long-suffering employees there who try to appease all sorts of ridiculous requests from their guests and sometimes coworkers as well.  I loved all of the funny references to previous storylines and guest stars they included later on.

Show Title: The Simpsons

Why I Binge-Watch It: A little while ago, I started watching The Simpsons from the beginning since I only ever saw random episodes of it when I was growing up. It’s 90% brain candy and 10% astute observations about western society. That’s the perfect combination of factors to make me want to see more than one episode a day.  The early seasons have held up well, too, if any of you are curious about watching or rewatching them!

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This week’s prompt was an easy one. I’m going with my favourite foods.

Lasagna (dairy-free, of course!)

Breadsticks

Chocolate almond milk

Lemon meringue pie

Dairy-free mint chocolate chip ice cream

Since it’s the last meal I’m going to eat, you’d better believe I’ll be picking two of my favourite sweets as dessert!