Tag: gifts

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Gifts – Week 2

6 Comments

strawflowers

everlasting

There are those who have a special bond with the earth. Our uncle – Wojek – was just such a man: stubborn and suspicious, with eyes like an animal that would size a person up in a glance, he was blessed with the ability to nurture all things green. With no patience to engage in dinner-table discussions about the state of the world or the latest styles for longer than it took to clean his plate, he could spend hours carefully twisting the branch of a bonsai, coaxing seedlings to sprout out of their cotton-wool nests or just turning over the dark, damp earth in preparation for that year’s vegetable garden.  He was our source of botanical wisdom – if Wojek said the brown withered plant held sadly in our hands was beyond salvation, we knew there was truly nothing else to be done. More often than not he would just give us the look, take it and in a month’s time have it four times the size, green and thriving in his kitchen window. Wojek had come through life like a character in a Russian novel and throughout the years never saw the need or the use of being on the giving end when it came to assorted family holidays but a passing mention about a childhood memory of strawflowers resulted in a bed of blooms as variegated as the colours of a summer’s worth of sunsets. It was just who he was.

This fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme – Gifts – is as much about the temporal as the eternal and last week, Across the Bored queried “What is a gift for you?” -A present, a prize, the look in her eyes, a talent to sing or big shiny ring, the love of a child or something more wild, the quiet of night or just waking up, right…… We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Gifts

18 Comments

laduree

sweetly unexpected

It used to be that we would pack our bags and trot off to some far-flung destination with nary a care, now our journeys have become more defined. Time is of the essence and as much as we are still taken away from the nest for vacation, work or duty, more often than not in the recent past we are the ones to stay behind and wonder how life unfolds for our own young travellers.  Luckily, the luxury of technology lets us remain close through our devices – our phones even ring, oddly enough, in the tone of the land we are trying to reach and voices coming from across the ocean are sometimes clearer than if they were across the country. At first the days seem longer, quieter, less filled with the big, bold noise of life and then suddenly they are past and once again we are standing in an airport waiting for our missed ones return from another most amazing and enlightening adventure.

We are glad to see them back with all their appendages intact, no wallets, cameras or even worse, passports pilfered from pockets or packs and in a good mood, happy to be home.  There are enough stories and pictures to last through quite a few dinners, their experience of the world and observations of the people in it the source of much amusement and sometimes, disbelief. Our offspring have found this form of indulgence satisfying but have also learned that the little things do count, like taking the time to find a sewer-rat hand puppet for a sometimes annoying sibling.  And so, unexpected as a lovely box of macarons, the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge gives you – Gifts.

“What is a gift for you?” –  A present, a prize, the look in her eyes, a talent to sing or big shiny ring, the love of a child or something more wild, the quiet of night or just waking up, right…

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?

  1.  I will post some commentary on a random topic that pops into my head (such as the above) and then ask you to respond on the same.
  2. Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
  3. Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
  4. The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
  5. ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.

 SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post

  1. Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Two Cents Tuesday Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
  3. If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Two Cents Tuesday” challenge on your own blog.
  4. Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
  5. Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.