I DO BELIEVE

IT'S TIME FOR THE

INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP BLOG DAY

The first Wednesday of each month, members of IWSG announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share insight or a personal experience or story. Remember, the question is optional. IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh and is a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life.The awesome co-hosts for the February 5 posting of IWSG are:  Lee Lowery, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Jennifer Hawes, Cathrina Constantine, and Tyrean Martinson!

February 5 question – Has a single photo or work of art every inspired a story? What was it and did you finish it?

I have posted before...

About things that scared me while growing up...

Like watching Bela Lugosi in Dracula on TV.

Many nights with my head under the covers.....
I believed Dracula was going to morph into a bat...

Fly in my bedroom window...

And turn me into a vampire...
So I kept my window open just a few inches in the summer.

My dad would always come in and open it wide...

“No, daddy,” I’d squeal, “don’t open the window all the way.”

“But it’s too hot in here.”

“But I’m afraid a bird will fly in.”

(Yeah, I wasn’t thinking bird, I was thinking bat)

Reluctantly he’d close it.

But bats and vampires...

Weren’t the only things that scared me.

My parents had quite an interesting  library...

And even before I could read...
I’d peruse the illustrations in those books...

Like Milton’s Paradise Lost

And Dante’s Inferno

Both book illustrations influenced my first book, Azael’s Lot that included angels, fallen angels, and demons

But there’s one illustration... 
In Eugene Field's Poems of Childhood...

That even today gives me the shivers...

It's "Seein' Things at Night"...
Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish.

And why you ask...
Does it still give me the shivers?
Because ghosts...
Are in my “Realms of Possibilities”

Of things that do go bump and boo in the night. 

And you?

Did an illustration or photo ever influence you?

Always,

Em-Musing

PARADISE LOST?

YAY!

My sister and her husband came for a visit…

It was wonderful!  

While they were here…

It rained a little, was cloudy some…

But mostly, the sun shone…

However, every day the same question…

“What’s the weather gonna be?”

“I don’t know,” I’d say, “look outside.”

But they were bothered…

Kept checking their weather aps.   

I told them…

“I live 23 miles south of Playa del Carmen…

And 105 miles south of Cancun…

So the weather between here and those places…

Can be very different than what’s on your ap.

“Relax,” I said…

“You’re on vacation; enjoy being unplugged.”

Our excursions included beaches & cenotes…

Shopping, eating, and just major fun…

Always though, when we came back home…

CLICK

On went the TV to a U.S. news channel…  

Or the obsession with Facebook and emails.

“Relax,” I said…

“You’re on vacation; enjoy being unplugged.”

And I had to keep redirecting the conversation…

Away from U.S. politics.…

And comparing the U.S. culture to here in Mexico.

“This is not the U.S.”  I said…

“They do things differently…

And it’s OK, it’s their country.”

*  breathe  *  breathe * breathe *

I told myself.  

They’re new to paradise.

So? 

What about you?

Do you take your same mindset… 

Wherever you go… 

To a new or different place, setting, or country?

Or can you embrace the difference…

And really unwind, relax and unplug…

Not only your electronics…

But your mind?

Always,

Em-Musing