It was such a peculiar day for everyone living in the town of Birmingham. Despite the unusual dark clouds, not only physically but also mentally inside the brain of every citizen, human nature called them to accept the abnormal feeling of the air. Neighbors stepped out of her houses to take in the grey look that had been set upon their usually bright neighborhood. The trees seemed to drop their leaves a little lower, the grass had lost it's happy green color, doors were shut, and only the occasional sound of any evidence of human life was heard. Nara's mood was no different than that of the town. She pulled into the driveway of her newly owned house and observed the white siding that had remnants of dirt and grime. She mentally added power washing to her moving in to-do list. She walked up the steep steps of her raised house and came up to see that the door was open. It was not only open but was falling off of its hinges. A disgusted look rang across her face as she felt a feeling of discomfort in her gut. She then slowly walked around the house as someone does when they are shopping. She was ready for anything daunting to lunge at her. Then, in a moment of complete and utter silence, she heard a small crack behind her. She thought to herself "Oh, the floor may just need a fixing." So she added that to her moving in to-do list.
"Hi" a small voice said. That must've been just her imagination. "There is no way there could be someone else in here with me!" She thought to herself. She heard a crack in the old and dusty floorboards once more. She turned around to face her one and only fear at the moment, and she couldn't believe to her eyes what she was seeing. A small child dressed in ugly dark green corduroy pants, a once nice (but now torn) faded blue shirt, and shoes that seemed to be two sizes too small. The child was a boy and his face was covered in soot. His eyes were green, they held a sense of nostalgia, missing what he once had but lost it to an unseen, unfortunate event. Nara became empathetic but kept her distance from the lost boy. No words were exchanged for quite some time until the boy asked, "What is your name?" Nara was taken aback by the somewhat personal question but trusted the boy and told him. "Nara." The boy repeated over and over. "Nara. Na-ra." Her name rolled of his pink colored lips in such a personal manner that Nara wanted to stop it. To put his name with his face Nara felt it was only fair to learn the lost boys name as well. "Peter" he replied with great confidence, puffing out his chest. Nara studied the boys round face, his pink nose that matched perfectly with his pink colored lips. His eyes were a beautiful green color. If she looked close enough, Nara found that they told a story. Great pain and longing hid behind such young eyes. Nara felt that it was wrong for Peter to feel that way. She decided that his name went perfectly with him and she would keep it that way. It was Naras turn to ask a personal question. "Where are your parents Peter?" Peter caught his breath and the pain in his eyes was more evident now. "They are not here right now, but they will be back" he said falsely. Nara could see right through young Peter and pointed out that young boys are taught not to fib and he should not lie to a lady he had just met. She felt bad for criticizing Peters actions, for she did not know of his past. She felt like asking would cross an invisible boundary so she just kneeled to get to his eye level. By this time she had moved closer and felt more comfortable with the boy. "How long have your parents been gone Peter?" She used his name in order for him to become more comfortable with her. He paused and looked her straight in the eyes and then away at the brown, rotting floor. "I don't know, I stopped counting the days" he replied and the longing that she saw in his eyes now appeared in his small voice. A small tear appeared in Peters eye and before he could, Nara took her thumb and wiped away the tear as it streaked down his face.
Peter also observed Naras face. She was young, but few wrinkles showed that she knew much more than Peter. He could see the compassion in her eyes that she had for Peter. She not only cared for Peter but she cared for other people too. It was her specialty, he guessed. After Peter had built up trust in Nara, he decided to no longer lie, and he told her everything.
When Nara heard what Peter had to say once he confided in her, she felt an instant connection. Her and the boy were no longer strangers, they were more than that, more than friends. Nara decided that she could not stay in her house that night, and neither could Peter. When the peculiar feeling of the day had suspiciously disappeared, the citizens of the town opened their doors to the recently discovered lost boy, and the new stranger.
This story could take so many more paths, but it would be better to end on a nice note, one like Nara was hoping the day would end on. Peter now belonged to Nara. She became more known around town. She was beloved by many residents of the town. Not only because of her caring personality, but because of what she did with it. She helped many people of the town of Birmingham. They came to her with their problems and she talked with them for however long they liked. They confided in her just as Peter had done her that first night there. Nara met a lovely man and he became happily wedded to her. Peter was elated to have a father and mother once again. The pain of his past was still there, but Nara was always there for him. After some time, peculiar days were no longer existent. The town became brighter and happier. The gray clouds turned into white, cotton ball-like clouds. Kids like Peter would lay out on the green grass as it softly tickled the back of their legs and the bottoms of their feet when they would play. They would find the clouds that looked like bunnies and giggle at the thought of it. Nara and her lovely husband would sit out and watch the beautiful sight. Sadly, Nara had to move away, for her work was done. The town stayed happy and thankful for her. They would always remember the young Nara that appeared on that one peculiar day. She drove away with her lovely husband and Peter in the back. Wrinkles appeared on everyone's faces, but this time, from the smiles that they never expected to fade away.
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Continuation of the squished-margin thread. Your message first, then my response to it.
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Aw man, I’m sorry that the painkillers don’t block the pain as much as you’d like them too. I’m also very sorry about your father. Cancer really is horrible and I haven’t experienced it up close before but I know how much it can affect someone, especially their close family. My friend's mom died last year from cancer and it was hard for everyone. It’s good that your father doesn’t suffer from that pain anymore. He’s enjoying heaven and the people up there with him :)
I would do my writing before school if it didn’t mean having to wake up at earlier than 5. Maybe I’ll try that one day and see how much I get done.
Haha, y’all is definitely a part of my daily vocabulary. I say it a lot because it’s how I grew up. People who live in Charleston say it a lot too, especially the ones who live out near Hollywood and Ravenel.
Haha, that’s funny. I don’t know how my friend and I came up with that Halloween costume idea but it was cute. We got blue tu-tu’s and red shirts that said Thing 1 and Thing 2.
That does make sense that some people wouldn’t want to abandon their flooded houses that they spent all their money on. I wonder what the people who survived Hurricane Katrina did. They probably weren’t able to go back to New Orleans for a while and when they did, they might not have even had a house left. I bet there were a bunch of people who left New Orleans for good and never went back because they were so traumatized. I would be scared if something like that happened to me. Speaking of hurricanes, I’m writing a story about one right now.
Yep. I think it would be funny when she finally found a random tooth in her teapot. If she didn’t remember how it happened, she might also be a bit scared. I would get a crack out of finding a tooth in my teapot.
That’s very nice that your female best friend’s mother was the one who nursed you while you had the flu. The flu scares me so I’m glad you got better from it in time for Christmas. From experience, I know that being sick on Christmas is one of the worst things that could happen to me because I hate being sick and I love Christmas.
I’ll remember your birthday! That’s also very easy for me to remember because it’s five days after my friend’s birthday.
Well, if you do get the vaccine, I hope it isn’t like playing Russian Roulette. Maybe you should wait a while and see how it affects others your age.
I’m glad you’re not one of those people who wear a mask in the car when they’re by themselves. I always wonder why people think they need to wear a mask when they’re the only one in the car. Maybe they forgot but maybe they think they could spread the Covid...to themselves? I’m not sure. I just know that I won’t be doing that.
I’m glad things got better with your grandmother!
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Thank you for your sympathy, empathy, and compassion. It means a lot to me.
I'm also glad that my father doesn't suffer anymore. I just wish he hadn't to go back to heaven so soon (he died a week before his 73rd birthday in late May 2007).
I'll just keep trying to get through each day and each night with as little pain as possible, and writing stories whenever I can. Sometimes I write as a distraction from the pain, sometimes I write when the pain is reduced enough to let me think creatively.
Maybe if you were able to go to sleep earlier than usual, you might be able to wake up earlier than usual (maybe around 4 am, for starters?) and get some creative writing done. Neil Gaiman said in an essay that the late Sir Terry Pratchett used to write after each workday (it was the only free time he had on weekdays). He'd write about 400 words each evening before bed. A year later, he had a book written, with 100 words left over. So he put a sheet of paper into his typewriter (this was before he started using a computer) and started the next book.
I think only my mother's side of the family uses "y'all". They mostly live in Texas (some are near Dallas, some are near Austin). One exception: My maternal grandparents used to live in northern Alabama and I don't recall either of them *ever* saying "y'all". I'll say "yawl" (a kind of sailboat, along with ketches, sloops, skipjacks, catamarans, trimarans, etc.), but I don't think I've ever said "y'all".
You and your friend could've said, "We definitely have a Thing for dressing up for Halloween." (grin)
Some people never returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina because they had nothing to return to. If you want to watch a movie that partly has to do with Hurricane Katrina, I can really recommend, "Higher Ground" (it's part of the "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" series); Keb' Mo plays the part of Gabe, a carpenter and a singer/songwriter/guitarist. My only regret about the movie is that it's only about 85-90 minutes long. It could've been twice as long and I think that I would've liked it even more.
I'll check out your hurricane story once you've submitted it to this website.
I didn't have flu anymore when Christmas Day rolled around. And it was such a wonderful day (especially in the morning) that it made having flu for at least 2 1/2 weeks worthwhile. I'd happily get the flu again if I could experience another Christmas like that one.
That makes sense. Your friend's birthday is July 2 and mine is July 7. I used to have a best friend in the mid-1970s who was born on the same day/month/year that I was (but I was born in Germany at about 11 am, or 6 am EDT; he was born in America about 11 hours after me). My mom had a friend who had two daughters with the same birthday as me (but one was about a year older than me and her younger sister was about 4 or 5 years younger than me). Popular day to get born on.
I'm going to see if I can get vaccinated out-of-state (I live in Pennsylvania; my mother lives in Virginia). Because if I can, my mother offered to let me stay at her house if I get sick from the vaccine. That way there's someone to help nurse me, rather than going through it alone here at home.
I agree with you. If I'm by myself, I tend not to wear a face mask. When I go to Little Caesar's and buy pizza, I wear a face mask when I get out of the car. But once I'm back in my car, I take the face mask off and drive home. I think most of the people in my neighborhood are probably already vaccinated (especially the ones who are older than I am). My mom is and I think my twin nephews also are. My mom said she had no major side effects from the vaccination (either the first jab or the second jab). But, from what I've read, that seems to be the case for the 60+ crowd. I'm 53. So I'm not sure whether it'll bother me a little, a lot, or not at all. It's frustrating, because I know I ought to just get vaccinated and get it over with (I'm not anti-vaccine at all). But the side effects (especially the rare blood clotting) do make me hesitant. At least, in my area, I wouldn't be getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine; I'd be getting the Moderna vaccine instead.
Same here. My grandmother was seriously smart. She got a Ph.D. in English (her dissertation was about Shakespeare's plays; my mother has a bound copy of it at her house). She taught junior-high-school-level English in the mid-1950s and then taught undergraduate- and graduate-level courses at her local college (she taught both English courses and, in the Summer, a course on film; she let her grandkids sit in with the class when they watched old film shorts in my grandparents' living room; my grandmother had a projector and screen to view the film shorts on; I got to watch Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Kops, and others, and used to think, "This is a class? I wish *I* could take a class like this." My grandmother also used to have parties at her house and some of her college students would come over. They were fun to hang out with and there was *always* a bridge game going on at the kitchen table at each party. I never learned how to play bridge that well; my mother's eldest brother (she's the eldest of four, followed by two brothers, and a sister) used to play bridge on a Mac computer. He tried to teach me how to play but I just wasn't the right person to teach it to. I've learned other card games since then (taught by other people), but I never got the hang of bridge.
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No problem, glad I could be of help :)
I definitely know what you mean. I’m also glad that my grandfather doesn’t suffer anymore but I also wish he didn’t have to go so soon. I’m thankful for the years that he had, though.
Hopefully the pain never keeps you from your writing for too long!
Hm...400 words a day for a year. That doesn’t sound too bad. Last summer, when I attempted writing a book, I tried to write a thousand words a day. I succeeded for a while but eventually, it became too much and I realized writing that much a day is probably for full time writers, especially when I’m not really sure how I want my story to go. Also, I guess I could go to sleep a bit earlier. I mean, I go to sleep around 9:45 so I’m not sure how much earlier I could go to bed. Maybe during summer I can focus on going to bed earlier because I usually go to sleep around 11 since I have nothing keeping me from sleeping late in the morning.
If you seriously looked at the way I talked and the things I like, I guess I would probably be a basic southerner. I say y’all and sometimes, sadly, a’int. I drink sweet tea like I need it to survive...and I listen to country music.
Haha, we could have ;)
Okay, thanks! I’ve only read and watched a few things about Hurricane Katrina. Something about real life being reenacted on-screen makes me uncomfortable sometimes. Especially the movie “The Impossible.” It didn’t hold back with the raw details of a family surviving a hurricane and I had to step out because it made me queasy. But, things that keep the gore on the down-low, I enjoy.
Thanks, I’m still working on it, trying to figure out what to do next...
Aw, I’m so glad you’re Christmas morning was that good! I bet it’s nice to look back on it and smile about all the little details that happened that morning.
Cool! That’s crazy that you know so many people with the same birthday as yourself. I wonder if there are many people in the world that were born in the same month, year, day, hour, and minute that we were. Probably not many. You could narrow it down even further and see who was born at the same second that you were born. That’d be nearly impossible to find that person. I don’t even know the second I was born on. All I know is that I was born at 1:12 in the afternoon.
That’s very very nice of your mom to offer that! I think you should do it if you feel comfortable getting the vaccine. I’ll pray that you won’t get sick from it if you do get the vaccine.
Same, I wear my face mask into businesses when I’m shopping or going into a restaurant. When I sit down at the restaurant, though, I take my mask off because no one else is near me and I’m at my own table. My mom got the vaccine and the only side effect that she has was a sore arm. My dad hasn’t gotten it yet because I think he has a few of the same fears as you. I wonder if everyone will eventually get vaccinated...
Wow, your grandma does sound like a smart person. It sounds like she had a fun education but she also worked very hard for it. Good for her. I’ve never played bridge before but I know lots of other card games that I can’t name off of the top of my head. My mom used to go and play Bunco at a friends house every night. It was like Bingo for middle-aged ladies. She would always have so much fun. Maybe one day I’ll be going over to my friends houses and playing Bunco with them.
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That's what real friends are for: no matter what, they support each other through thick and thin.
In my case, I wish I could've spent more time with my late father. Those last nine months (September 2006 to May 2007) weren't always the happiest, but the happy times we shared were wonderful. It was like recovering the twenty years since he and my mother separated and got divorced, and then condensing those twenty years into nine months.
Unfortunately, the pain *has* taken some of my writing time away, but if it ultimately helps the pain's source to heal and get me back to normal sooner, then it's worth it. I don't mind losing a warm afternoon to sleeping as much as I can if it helps me heal.
If you can't go to sleep earlier (and wake up earlier) to let you write before getting ready for school each weekday, maybe you can write before bedtime instead (if your homework's done and you have nothing else that's urgent to do). Just write as much as you can (whether it's 100 words or 400 words or whatever) and then stop. Don't force yourself to write *too* much. That way it's still fun instead of turning into work.
It's really okay how "southern" you want to be, sound, etc. I've moved so much that I'm not sure *what* I am, except for an ex-US-Army brat (my late father served from 1954 to 1977). I've lived in the southern part of Germany, the west coast of Turkey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and the DC area. Along with my mother and two older brothers, I used to spend part of each summer (when I was a kid) in northern Alabama where my maternal grandparents used to live. I *wish* I had a distinct accent that's more interesting than the boring Midwestern accent I seem to have.
Sounds like you'll enjoy the "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" series, then. It started off as an 85-minute pilot movie, then 10 TV-episode-length episodes, and then went back to 85-minute movies. It's produced and written by Martha Williamson, who also produced and wrote, "Touched by an Angel" (if you've heard of that).
It was definitely a very special Christmas for me. One that I hope I'll always remember (even if I eventually end up with dementia and/or Alzheimer's like my late stepfather had).
Probably. There are only 365 days in a year (366 in a leap year), so there's bound to be plenty of people born on the same day. They just might not born in the same *year*. Another person who was born the same month and day (but not year) as me is the late Swiss race car driver Jo Siffert (he was born 24 years before I was and died in a race in England in 1971 when he was only 28 years old).
It's really okay. I'm just glad that I wasn't born on Feb. 29, since that would mean a much much much smaller group of people (and, technically, we could only celebrate our birthdays once every four years).
I'm also not the type of person who would like to have a doppelganger (someone who looks like a twin or almost a twin). You can tell that I look similar to my middle brother, but I look more like my oldest brother. Which is fine with me. But I don't think I would've been comfortable with a twin. There's a YouTube channel called "Twin Strangers" and I've watched the videos. If it's for real, then chances are there are probably at least a few people in this world who not only *look* like me or you, but they might also *sound* like me or you. Which is a little creepy, I think. Like having the face in the bathroom mirror turn out to be part of a real person, not just a reflection of my face.
So far no symptoms from COVID (God be thanked). When I go to Weather Underground's website each day (and sometimes multiple times each day), they also list how many people are sick with COVID in the county I live in (Dauphin County, PA) as well as how many have died. Over 21,000 infected and 540 (so far) have died. It's about half that many in the county where my mother lives (Arlington County, VA). If you're curious, you could look up your own zipcode, get a weather forecast, and see what the COVID infection and death rate are in your county.
My only fear is getting sick from the vaccine jab(s) (I'll need to get two, since the one that's locally available is Moderna; thankfully, not Johnson & Johnson) and not having anyone to help nurse me until I'm better. It's such a roll of the dice. They *say* the odds are very good that you won't sick from it, but some people have not only gotten sick from it (and recovered), but others have died from blood clots caused by the (in this case, Johnson & Johnson) vaccine. Not something you want to think about if you live alone (I have neighbors, but the nearest family member is in the DC area, which is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours south of me).
In the 1950s, one way that the vaccine people got Americans to get vaccinated against polio was to get celebrities to be vaccinated. For instance, there's a b&w photo of Elvis Presley getting vaccinated.
I have some games here at home (not as many as I used to have prior to moving to PA in 2017, though). Most are European games. But I recommend the card games: Take 5 (also called 6 Nimmt in German), Take 10 (also called 11 Nimmt in German), Hornochsen (I don't remember what it's called in English), and Turn the Tide (also called Land Unter in German). There's a website (http://www.boardgamegeek.com) that is all about games (not just card games, but board games, abstract games, wargames, going to thrift stores to look for games; selling games; designing games; etc.). It really opened my eyes to so many games that I'd never heard of and that I'm glad I was exposed to.
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Definitely. If you don’t have friends that don’t or will not support you, then it’s probably not going to be a very healthy relationship when even a little bit of pressure is put onto it.
I’m sorry you didn’t get as much time as you wanted with your late father. He sounds like he was a very nice guy and definitely deserved some more time here with you. At least you still have the happy times to look back on and cherish. I love looking back and remembering my Papaw Jigs or my Papaw Freddie. Hopefully one day, you’ll get to see your father again and finally spend some more time with him.
I’m also sorry that the pain has taken some of your writing time away. I know how it feels to lose precious time like that, even though I don’t usually lose it to pain. Sleep as much as you want so you can heal and keep writing wonderful stories!
That’s a good idea! I think I’ve done that a few times and gotten some good work done. Writing before bed is actually a good idea for me because when I’m trying to fall asleep, I think about a lot of things and sometimes, it’s story ideas. So maybe I’ll try that tonight and let you know how it goes. I’d like to start a novel and see how much I can get done. I don’t have to finish it any time soon because I’m not in a rush to publish any books. All I know is that I want to publish one eventually and see where I go from there.
I wish I had a distinct accent as well. It seems like we think the same thing about our accents because in my opinion, mine is pretty boring too. It’s okay, though, because I am definitely not the only one. Fun fact: my dad’s 50th birthday party was this Saturday and a bunch of his friends showed up. One of the couples was from Wales and they had a Welsh accent. It was pretty cool. My dad was making a toast and was saying that everyone there had an interesting story “including my friends with an English accent.” Jane, his friend, corrected him and said “Welsh.” It was funny but I’m glad she corrected him because I would have never referred to it as Welsh either.
Oh, cool! I’ll check it out!
That’s true. It’s also pretty cool that you were born on the same day as Jo Siffert. It’s sad that he had to go so early in his life. 28...wow. I knew race car driving was dangerous but I didn’t know it was that dangerous. Or maybe I did and didn’t think about it until now. Either way, I don’t think I’d fare well if I was Jo Sifferts family and he died in the race. It’s pretty obvious that he could have lived longer if he wasn’t a race car driver. But I guess when it’s time to go...it’s time to go.
True. I’m glad I wasn’t born on a leap year either. My friend Maggie was born on April 20th. She told me “I’m not sure how I feel about sharing a birthday with Hitler or national marijuana day…”
Uh, yeah, it would be creepy if you were just looking in the mirror and it turned out to be another person. I’ve met a girl who looked like me before and we actually were best friends for a few years before she started going down the wrong path and I decided to stay away from the things she was getting into (and still is). People still think we look a lot alike but I don’t think so anymore because her hair is to her shoulders and mine is to my lower back. She also got highlights in her hair, which made it more blond. Honestly, I’m glad I don’t get compared to her anymore because it wouldn’t be a compliment these days. Have you ever met someone who looks a lot like you but you’re not even related to them? It’s kind of creepy when you do.
Yay! I’m surprised to have less than your county but as of now, the COVID death rate is 504. We’ve had 43,130 cases, though, yikes. Out of that many cases, I can’t believe I don’t know anyone with COVID. If you want some good news, Charleston weather today is 74 and partly cloudy. Sounds like a good day to go walk around downtown (which is what my cousins are doing today).
I guess getting the vaccine *is* a roll of the dice. I’m not good at giving advice when it comes to stuff like this but I can tell that you’re confused on what to do. Hopefully you can figure it out and be confident with your decision when you do make it.
Hm. I know a few celebrities that have been vaccinated for Covid. If I remember correctly, I’m pretty sure that I saw Tom Hanks posed about getting it.
Okay, I’ll check those games out. I love card games, especially when I’m at summer camp and the rain is keeping us from our usual activities. When that happens, we all gather in the common room (we’re usually the biggest church there so we get the biggest cabin) and play Spoons, Rummi, BS, and other fun games.
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Whew. I don't know whose messages are getting longer, yours or mine. Both, I guess. (This is *not* a complaint. Simply an observation.)
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I figure that if I've earned my way into heaven (instead of just to purgatory), then, yes, absolutely, I hope to be with the people there. But if I end up in purgatory instead, then maybe that's a place where I can help people as best I can. I don't see the Afterlife as an extended vacation. I see it as another place where I can teach, learn, share, etc. Kind of like going from high school to college
I'll definitely sleep as much as I can (apparently, I have some sort of sleep disorder where I sleep about 1 hour at a time, get yanked out of deep sleep, use the bathroom, then go back to bed; if I stay in bed instead, I find that I can't fall asleep again; almost as if the cycle *has* to happen in that order). Some nights feel like forever. But when I'm sitting at the desk (like right now), I can go at least two or three hours without a bathroom break. So it's definitely not something in the conscious part of my brain; it only happens when I'm asleep. I've tried using Nyquil in the past ... bad idea. The last time I used Nyquil (10 years ago?), I got yanked out of deep sleep, tried to stand up, lost my balance and fell forward, then managed to stand up and head for the bathroom. Dayquil, thankfully, doesn't have the same effect on me.
I'll keep trying to write as best I can. At least I know that it won't usually be worse than no-story-for-a-week or no-story-for-two-week. And, on the positive side, I've broken my two-stories-a-week record *twice* last week or the week before. I wrote a *third* story, which surprised me, and then, surprising me still more, I wrote a *fourth* story. All during the same weekly contest (not two stories for one contest and then two stories for the next contest). I just wish they could be more cheerful.
I hope you not only get to finish writing a novel but that at least one of your novels gets published. That would be great. I could tell people, "I knew Anna Mosqueda *before* she got famous. When she was part of a group of really creative writers, improving her writing/editing skills, and still hoping to have a novel finished and published."
Until safety changes were implemented in the 1970s (not just inside the race car, but also changing track layouts because top speeds kept going up and adding safety barriers), there were a lot of race car driver deaths. I like watching videos of simulation racing at YouTube, but I wouldn't want to be one of the drivers in the pre-1970s race cars. Too many chances of something breaking, or someone's race car banging into mine, or whatever, and the result being (more often than not) a crash and (sometimes) the death of the driver.
Another race car driver who died at age 28, is the late Bernd Rosemeyer. He was driving an Auto Union Type C streamliner on a public highway in Germany, trying to increase the world record for top speed on a public highway. Crosswinds hit the race car during a return run; he tried to correct and ended up off the highway and among trees; his body looked just fine when it was found, but he was dead; he left behind a wife and a son (who went into medicine instead of racing).
I'm not sure how different the Welsh accent is from English accents, but the language itself is *very* different from English. It's one of the few surviving non-English languages in the British Isles (along with Irish Gaelic and Cornish). Btw, I'm supposedly part-Welsh on my father's side of the family. In fact, I'm quite the mixture of ancestries. Here's the combined list (father's side and mother's side): British, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Dutch, German, Danish, Swedish, and Ukrainian. With possible French protestant, possible Swiss, and possible Cherokee.
I'm trying to remember when Shakespeare was born (when the Julian calendar was still in use and the switch to the Gregorian calendar hadn't been made yet). The best guess is April 23. My female best friend's birthday is April 21.
My middle brother (who lives in southern California with his wife) asked me one day if I'd been in his area of California. I said no, I hadn't, and asked why he wondered. He said because he saw someone who he thought was me. Another time, my oldest brother said he hadn't seen me in a while and I quipped, "Just look in a mirror. We don't look that different."
Temps here seem to be headed back toward Summer temps yet again. *sigh* I miss Spring weather.
Not confused about the vaccine. Frustrated? Yes. Frustrated that I'm just young enough (below the age of 60) when the chances of *some* side effects is likely, rather than not likely at all. My mother said that she just had a sore arm; otherwise, she was fine. But she's almost 79, not 53 like I am.
Back in the 1950s, celebrities also promoted the polio vaccine. There's a photo of Elvis Presley getting vaccinated.
This way you're not stuck with the usual group of American card games and board games. If you go to stores like Target, they have a game section with lots of different games (not just Monopoly, Life, etc.). I wouldn't be surprised if Charleston, SC, had a game store. I prefer the European games; they're usually much more interesting and much more fun.
Btw, if you haven't tried it, Rummikub is fun. But if you play with an opponent who as good as you are (if not better than you), you could end up playing just one game of it over an entire afternoon. Then it feels more like chess, because during your turn, you're thinking, "Well, if I do this, they'll probably do that. Hmm."
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I know, they are getting long! I don't mind it either though because I'm currently in an OSHA certification class. I've finished the lesson but I have to wait another 30 minutes to take the test. It really is getting on my nerves.
The afterlife has always been something that's weird to think about. Many people believe different things about it and I don't think anyone has a similar picture of what it's going to be like. Obviously, Christians like me believe that there is a heaven and there is a hell. That's all that I believe there is. But other people, such as you believe there is a purgatory. Some don't believe there's anything at all. I respect that and in no way am saying that these people are wrong. I'm open to your beliefs if you act the same way towards mine. I've heard of purgatory before but I've never actually thought about it. I sort of get what it's like. Does the name scare you as much as it scares me? It honestly sounds scarier than hell.
That's odd that you have to follow that cycle every night. I definitely get what you mean by the fact that you have to get up and use the bathroom or you can't fall asleep. The same thing happens to me but it's before I go to sleep. I'll be laying in bed and if I feel the slightest urge to use the bathroom, I have to go. I'm fine with it when it happens at home but when it happens at summer camp (where I always get the top bunk) that's a different story. Last summer, my friend and I decided to sleep in her unfinished pool house that was about 20 yards from her actual house. We didn't consider the fact that, to use the bathroom, it was one of the most complicated things ever. So complicated, that it was impossible. This is what we would have to do: climb down the ladder in the pool house to get to the first floor, leave the pool house, open the gate to the deck, open the front door while also setting the house alarm off, we would then have to turn the alarm off, wake up the entire family and argue with her dad about why we thought it was a good idea to sleep in the pool house, use the bathroom, and go back to the wasp-infested attic in the pool house and cuddle back into our half-deflated air mattress. We made it through the night, though.
Congrats! I'm glad you were able to write more than two stories the other week. That's a really good accomplishment that I've yet to make. I wrote one last week and as for this week...I haven't even started. Usually, I write a story, take a week break, and then write again. If it goes longer than a week, then I've been caught up doing schoolwork or something else. As a teen in high school, it's definitely more difficult to write as much as I'd like to and stay on a decent sleep schedule.
That would be awesome! I could also say the same about you! I hope one day our books are on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. Or Amazon.
That makes sense that more deaths occurred back then when there wasn't as much injury prevention technology. I'm glad that we've made it safer for people to keep race car driving without as many worries. There are still plenty of things to worry about but we have more things to help prevent deaths. That way people can live their childhood dreams. I feel bad for that man and his family. That must be horrible to get that type of news. Or imagine if they were watching the race.
That’s cool that you’re part Welsh! I don’t think I have ever heard the language but the accent was fun to listen to. It sounded like an English accent mixed with a bit of Scottish. You *are* quite the mixture of ancestries! I’d like to take one of those tests and see what/who I come from. My friend’s mom did one that she got for Christmas and found out (at 43 years old) that her dad wasn’t actually her dad. Turns out, her mom lied to her and her real dad is still alive and living in Georgia. If you want a sweet story...they met up and now my friend has a grandpa and her mom still has a dad!
That’s funny that your brother saw someone who looked just like you! I was walking into school one day and a lady said “Hey Ellie LeGette!” I turned around and she was looking at me. I went “I’m not Ellie,” and she told me we looked a lot alike. I agree with her. I know Ellie as an acquaintance and we have the same hair color and length, skin tone, and we like to do a lot of the same hair styles. I don’t blame that lady for mixing us up.
I miss Spring weather as well. With the arrival of summer also comes finals in school. My AP exam is next week so hopefully I do okay.
Glad your mom was okay after getting the vaccine. If you do get it, I hope you’ll be okay. I know it can be frustrating with everything going on right now.
Thanks for the card game recommendations. I’ll totally check them out because I like playing card games on rainy days or even on nice days. It’s also fun to play with my grandad.
News: Our governor is allowing people to opt-out of wearing masks in public schools. If we bring a waiver and turn it in, we don’t have to wear one. A lot of people are saying that’s a bad idea but I don’t think it is. It’s nice for people to have a choice and I think it’s time to start getting back to normal. What do you think?
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Happy endings:
:) :) :)
You did a great job!
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Thanks!
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You're welcome!
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Wow! This was a really great story and I am happy that it had a happy ending.
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Thanks! Glad the bad grammar didn't affect how much you liked it;)
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THIS IS SO GOOD
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Thank You!!;)
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