Author: ralphcuellar

Ralph Cuellar lives in Oregon, and loves nature and politics, and is usually in conflict over both. He is a writer and has played around with software and hardware a little too much in his life, so he left that world behind after a little dance.

PROMPT: NIGHT SKY

August 26, 2019

The prompt for today’s meeting was simply, Night Sky.

 

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PROMPT: SIMILES AND METAPHORS

August 19, 2019

The prompt used a reading from the book titled, INCAS The Gold Of Cuzco, by A. B. Daniel.

     INCAS
The Gold Of Cuzco

The fog would now disperse, now descend at the whim of invisible gusts of wind. Occasionally Gabriel, approaching a pass, would find himself blinded briefly by the harsh light of the sun slanting through it and would then see a sky as deeply blue as ocean.

He felt as though he was traveling into a supernatural world. Gradually the slopes became as gentle as a rolling sea swell. The short yellow grass was covered in dust worn from the rocks by years of frost. The monotony of the red and ocher earth was broken only by occasional black boulders rising from it like colossal blisters. Man was unwelcome here, and only luck could determine the success or failure of a voyage across this land.

In this passage the author is comparing the land to the ocean, and the expedition to a “voyage” across the land.

The prompt is to write a couple of paragraphs that use similes and metaphors to make a connection or analogy between things that are essentially unlike each other.

 

TASTE OF CHILDHOOD

The following was submitted by Writers in the Grove member, Mary Jane Nordgren.
It was in response to the prompt, “A taste, a touch, or a smell from childhood“.

taste of childhood

grandma was a lady, precise, particular

her dining room table manner formal

but at her green-patterned, formica kitchen table

sis and I got to dig into root beer floats

and slurp every last quarter-inch of sweet-bubbled foam

 

PROMPT: THREE PROMPTS

July 22, 2019

There were three prompts in today’s meeting:

First Prompt: This month is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, so the prompt is: One small step…

Second Prompt: A poem taken from the book titled, “A Pebble In The Sky, with beaches”, by Bev Walker.

Flyway

A path taken, invisible, indestructible
You know where it is, you’re drawn to it.
The wind may take you there.
Then again, it may not.
You can’t see or touch it with your hand.
It’s not on a map.
Others may show you some of it,
Just to keep you on course.
But you must flap your own wings.
No one feels the wind in your face for you.
It gives you wings, takes you traveling
From the sea to a house in a tree
From universe to universe you may go
But it goes nowhere.
It’s the voice of parent, friend, child
Or it makes no sound at all
Sometimes the view takes your breath away.
Sometimes the weather grounds you.
Even then you discover
It’s worth every minute.
Take the invisible , indestructible path
Of His incomprehensible truth.
Fly!

Third Prompt: A poem taken from the book titled, “A Pebble In The Sky, with beaches”, by Bev Walker.

Between Raindrops

There’s this space I like. Here. Now.
   It’s somewhere between Christmas
and a brave new world. It’s a quiet space.

The noise, hurry, hoopla, deadlines, anxieties
   Are gone.
It’s not time yet to get up and start over.

It’s not time to pay bills, clean house, write letters.
   Go. Do.
It’s a space warm and slow.

It’s like the quiet of a stable
   Cloaked with gentler sounds
As childhood ought to be.

The sun shines between showers
   It doesn’t know yesterday,
Or tomorrow.

Yesterday thousands died in an earthquake
   Wars have not ceased.
Disease and misery flourish.

But like the space between raindrops
   There are moments even dragons must sleep.
Treasure this space. And then…

“The cattle are lowing, the baby wakes…”
Like the peace of snowfall
Take Christmas with you into the fray.

 

PROMPT: MAKE A LIST THAT TELLS A STORY

July 8, 2019

The prompt for the writing group today is from a blog post by Susan Schmidlin titled, “My Favorite Holiday”

My Favorite Holiday
July 4, 2019  by Susan Schmidlin

Yup you guessed it, my favorite holiday is HAY SEASON! What? It is true, my favorite time of the year is hay season, I like it so much that I personally call it number one on my holiday list. Now, you may be thinking, what is there to like about hay season since there have been numerous posts about issues, worries, problems, long days and stress that doesn’t end until the final bale is in the barn. So I will try to list them (in no particular order).

  • I get plenty of fresh air
  • The hay fields smell glorious as the green grass is drying in the sunshine
  • Long days in the hay field make for very sound sleep at night
  • The cows are happy because they are in charge of cleaning up each field as we finish and there is lots of good munching out there
  • My abdominal muscles get a daily workout
  • Long hours on the tractor give me time to think about our Universe and to ponder and solve difficult equations (trouble with this is that notes cannot be written since two hands are needed to keep tractor where it is supposed to be and the second I get off the tractor all revelations disappear into the ether)
  • The residents of the whole household are too tired to bicker with each other
  • My farmer-tan (elbows to wrists and neck to ear tips) makes me look like I just got off a Caribbean cruise if I wear the right clothing
  • I have gotten really good at hand signals to other family members across the field (examples are: do I leave the tractor in the middle of the field or bring it to the barn? do you need a coat? how about a break since I need to piddle, want to dance or may be delirious? -these three are the same gesture and sometimes are all happening at the same time). Anyway, I am going to rock the next game of charades
  • I don’t have to cook since everyone is too tired to eat. Just heat up something from the freezer with a salad before trundling off to bed
  • I wear out some of the most awful clothes I have (its my way of cleaning out my closet since hay season is rough on clothing). This year I ruined two pair of jeans, three shirts, a sweatshirt, several pairs of socks, two pair of heavy duty gloves and one pair of shoes. Good riddance to every last one of them
  • I tend to lose a few pounds without even trying
  • I get to celebrate this holiday for days, and days and days and…
  • And the most important reason that I love hay season holiday: I am sooooo happy when it is over!

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The prompt is to make a list that tells a story.