Freedom and Old Photos

September 29, 2018 by JoAnna 25 Comments

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “dom.” We were instructed to “use it as a word, or find a word that starts or ends with it.” and to Have fun!

Ok, I’m going to be honest here and admit that dominatrix came to mind first. One of my earliest creative writing mentors wrote a book about that. A memoir actually. Her name is Shawna Kenney. It’s been a while since I read it, but it seems like it was relatively clean, maybe R rated, but cleaner than you might expect.

But that’s not what I want to write about. No, I don’t need a segue, cause this is the stream of consciousness. Though there might be one to freedom. I suppose a dominatrix would have a lot of freedom…. But that’s not what I want to write about. Why does that keep popping into my head?

Freedom. I have the freedom to make my own schedule in the Great Purge of the house my parents left me. I don’t get bored. No boredom once you get to be my age. I haven’t been bored in years. There’s too much to do and nothing to do would be freedom.

What works best for me is to focus on one task for the day. A primary task planned the day before. For a couple of days it was old photographs. There are, like I’ve mentioned, hundreds. Maybe thousands. I’m tired of that right now, but here’s a treasure I found of my parents on a picnic with me standing by making a face. Yes it’s blurry. It was probably taken around 1961.

Now I want to change my opening to this post, but I can’t because it’s SoCS. Just goes to show you that there’s all kinds of people in the stream. Anything can show up. Aren’t my parents cute?

Yesterday, I worked on my father’s room. The hardest room and the last bastion of the Great Purge. Except for the attic. But let’s not go there. It was hard to put some of his clothes in a bag for donation. Hopefully some one can use them.

The day before yesterday, I ripped that funky 70s contact paper off one wall of the kitchen. It was very satisfying.

Now I get to go look at paint samples to get close to the yellow that’s on the other wall. This is fun. Is it a distraction from working on the photos or my dad’s room? Sure, but it’s hopefully going to make the house easier to sell, and to live in while our other house gets a new bathroom. Is fantasizing about buying a mountain home after I sell my parents’ house – the one they don’t need anymore – is that fantasy a distraction or a motivation to complete the Great Purge?  Maybe it’s both and that’s okay.

So as not to leave you with a messy photo, how about some other old family photos I’ve come across in my work.  These are of my dad in Korea I think. Maybe after Korea. Let’s see what I’ve got. Not planning you know.  Nope this one is from Cuba. He was at GTMO after Vietnam. Where are the Korea pics?

Here are some from Korea. He was at an Able Medical Station after getting wounded. I think it was something like a MASH unit. My dad loved MASH. I found an old copy of the book here at the house and discovered an inscription that I had given it to him for his birthday in 2002. I’ve been reading it. They were crazier than in the TV show. Well, I didn’t mean to run on like this, but I guess I’m really proud of my dad.

My dad is in the top left picture  – the tall guy on the right.

Okay, one more. Here’s a favorite. Here he is getting to know Lobo, the dog I adopted while he was in Cuba (after Vietnam) and soon to retire from the Marine Corps. I haven’t gotten to the Vietnam photos yet….

For more Streams of Consciousness, visit Linda’s Blog:

https://lindaghill.com/2018/09/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-29-18/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!