Polaroid

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“How do you open this darn thing? I can never remember.”

Someone finds the button, and the black box pops open into an odd wedged shape.

“There! Is there film in it?”

“Dunno. Take a picture and find out.”

“Oh, alright. You girls, stand over there! By the hearth.”

With a bit of jostling, the girls obediently shuffle into place and assume the pose: arms wrapped around one another in a display of sisterly love. They look toward the camera and smile.

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“Now smile.”

They spread their grins even wider.

Snap. Flash. Hiss.

The camera spits out a white-bordered card with a milky greenish-brown square in the center. The photo hangs where it exited, just short of falling to the ground. The picture taker dislodges the print and sets in on the coffee table.

“There! Let’s see what we’ve got.”

We circle around the table and watch as ghostlike images begin to rise from the murky Polaroid. Soon we can make out the features of the girls, and as the photo continues to develop, we see that one of the girls’ eyes were closed when the picture was snapped. Oh, well.

The print is a bit blurry, too dark, and the subjects are not framed properly. Typical. Someone notes the date on the wide bottom border, and there it is: a posed moment in time that documents a birthday, holiday, new dresses, or maybe just the changes from year to year as the girls grow and mature.

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The captured moment goes in a shoebox where many others have been collected, and it turns into another memory to be pulled out and sorted and enjoyed for years to come.

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It is shared by passing it from hand to hand. It is cropped with scissors if one wishes, but that’s not likely to happen. The highlights are enhanced by tilting the photo toward the nearest window or lamp, and the image is sharpened by adjusting one’s bifocals into better focus.

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I sift through my shoebox now and again — probably more often than the girls realize — and the photos always make me smile.

Truth be told, I wouldn’t trade my Polaroids for all the Photoshopping in the world.

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The photos above were most likely taken by a variety of relatives. Unfortunately I cannot assign individual credits. 


The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Transcript

Supercize Me

Today’s Daily Post Discover Challenge asks us to celebrate our Superpower.


I don’t generally contemplate superheroes and superpowers. I didn’t read comic books as a kid, and I didn’t play with superpeople action figures.

If there were superhero video games – actually if there were any video games – in those long ago days, I was oblivious to their existence. The only game I knew that employed a joystick was Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.

I do recall watching Batman and Robin on TV, but the only real superpower they seemed to have was the ability to slide down a fire pole and arrive at the bottom dressed in full crime-fighting regalia. I don’t recall ever seeing how they got back into their civvies after saving Gotham City and returning to the bat cave. Maybe they shinnied back up the pole, gathering back the bits and pieces of clothing from where they had been shucked on the way down.

It would appear that superheroes don’t generally get to choose their special powers. Spiderman was accidentally bitten by a radioactive spider. He may have wanted to grow up to be a human cannonball, but no – the errant arachnid consigned him to scaling walls and spewing dental floss from his palms.

Superman was born with his powers, which weren’t even “super” on his planet of birth; they just appeared so to the non-super types here on Earth. Wonder Woman’s powers were gifts from the Greek gods. I doubt she got to pick her gifts. You know how Greek gods are, always wanting things done their way.

As to my own superpower… well, I have the power to see things that aren’t there. No, I don’t hallucinate. Let me rephrase a bit. You know those intuitive types of people who can see past facades and insincerities? It is often said of them that they see situations and people for what they truly are. I, on the other hand, see things for what they’re not.

It usually starts innocently enough. I’ll be going about my own business when something random unexpectedly catches my eye. A thought bubble appears above my head that says, “Hmmm.” Which is shorthand (or short-brain?) for “That looks interesting. I wonder what I could not do with that.” And then I turn it something it’s not.

My superpower takes hold, and suddenly my paint pants become wall art:

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or my yard debris turns into a wood carving:

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or a sheet of carbon paper becomes a photo series:

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One might think this superpower of mine is not very useful for fighting crime, evil and injustice everywhere. And one would be correct. But it does fight boredom, taking-oneself-too-seriousness and creative block.

I think I should get a costume.  And a sidekick. And an alter ego moniker. Hmmm…

Just call me the Hmmm-inator. Or not.

Weekend Coffee Share (1/1/17)

#WeekendCoffeeShare is graciously hosted by Diana at ParttimeMonsterBlog.com.


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If we were having egg nog, I’d wish you a hopeful, healthy and safe New Year!

I have issues with wishing for happiness, but perhaps we can postulate that if one has hope, health and a sense of safety, there’s a good chance they can find happiness as well.

Oh, the egg nog ran out last night. No problem, I’ve got coffee brewing as we speak.

If we were having freshly brewed coffee, I’d tell you I’ve vowed to put 2016 behind me come this year. No ruminating on fears, disappointments, anger, sadness and doomsday prophesizing. I’ll try to build on the many, many positive moments of last year.

So here is a partial list of what I am wishing for and anticipating in 2017:

 The continued blessing of sharing my life with a loving family, companionable pets, and myriad hand tools and DIY project supplies.

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Opportunities to contribute to preserving and expanding the beauty and health of this planet.

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Tenacity to hold to an ethical, honorable and selfless ethos, such that our society can rise above the mires of that prior year I said I wouldn’t ruminate upon (hint: 2016).

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Oh, alright…

♦ ♦ ♦  I also wish for happiness for all! ♦ ♦ ♦ 

Welcome to 2017! Let’s make it a year to cherish!


The Daily Post daily prompt: Year

Strong as Iron

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“After arriving from China my dad took a year to save enough money working in San Francisco and he then walked to Astoria.” [ 718 miles ]

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“My grandfather brought home salmon cheeks, a delicacy to the Chinese but a waste to the cannery owners.”

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“He was a veteran of World War 2 and the Korean war and he filmed breaking stories on the coast for news stations and he was the official photographer for the Miss Oregon pageant.”

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“We went to American school in the daytime and Chinese school in the evening.”

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“My mother graduated with a college degree but Chinese women seldom had job opportunities so she…”

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“Grandma said dad was so sick on the boat from China that he would have been fed to the fish if he had died. Now a seafood lab is named after him for the fish feed that he and his team developed.”

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“The tongs formed in the 1870s and grew to as many as nine but began to disappear in the 1930s. Remaining tongs were known more for their…”

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“Chinatown was like a playground. We had no…”



These photos were taken at the Garden of Surging Waves, a city park in Astoria, Oregon, which was built to honor and celebrate the Chinese heritage of that area. The Story Screen in these photos is an iron structure that includes the entry gate, and these large panels that tell about the hardships, struggles and contributions of some of the Chinese immigrants in Astoria as well as their descendants who remained in the area and who continue to be vital components in the fabric of the community.


The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Resilient

Down the Path in 2016

At the beginning of this year, instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I chose a theme for the year. My theme was “magic.” Of course by February I’d totally forgotten about the whole theme thing, but I would say that 2016 has indeed been magical on several levels.

As some other bloggers have done, I’ve chosen 12 photos, one from each month of this year, and am sharing them here today. They are snapshots of the magic that was 2016.

January came in rainy and grey, but there are always patches of color underfoot. Mind the steps; they’re slippery.

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February: Spring tries to rush things, as these daffodils bravely poke up from the cold ground in late winter.

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March: Combining color and creativity is always magical.

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April begins filling out nature’s beautiful spring palette.

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May: Beauty in art and animals.

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June: Warm, expansive days encourage outdoor activity.

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July: The heat (and plants) get a little prickly. But just a little.

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August: Those lazy, hazy days of summer.

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September: Shadows begin lengthening, but there’s still plenty of time to get out and play.

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October: Time to break out the warmer (and waterproof) clothing.

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November: Grey skies return, and the last vestiges of autumn defy the rain and wind.

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December: Snow is rare where I live, so one must make the most of what little we get.

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The seasons followed their usual path in 2016, but these photos each carry a reminder of special moments, special places, special people, and the magic  of a year well played.

My theme for next year? I’m still pondering that. I can’t determine the path down which 2017 will take me, but I can certainly choose my company and mindset. I plan to choose wisely.

Do you have a theme for 2017? Resolutions?


The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Path