Friday, February 13, 2009

Saturday Wordzzle Challenge: Week 50

This is week 50 (can you believe it?) of the Saturday Wordzzle challenge. Anyone new to the process can refer back here to find out how it works. I hope you all enjoyed my goofy idea of using your blog names or special things about those who are our most regular posters as this week's words. Seemed like a good idea at the time I did it.



The words for this week's ten word challenge were: ubiquitous, do you see what I see, getting a word in edgewise, wild goose chase, grandmother of five, Freemasons, Pacific Paradise, everything and nothing, insanity prevails Mini Challenge: shortening the distance, it’s all about bloggers, the Fortress at Pigeon Falls, finding Pam, a raven’s nest



Here's my ten-word offering for this week:



Do you see what I see? Me, Rebecca Gargola Remmington, living the good life in beautiful Hawaii. Who would have thought I’d end up as a grandmother of five living in a Pacific Paradise and as happy as a human being can be. My husband Fred is a dedicated Freemason and such a good man. He’s an expert on everything and nothing, kind, generous, curious, open-minded. What with four kids and six grandchildren all sharing the same household, insanity prevails as often as not, but it’s a creative fun-filled insanity full of wild good chases and lots of unexpected adventures. Except for the ubiquitous presence of large and small people everywhere I look and and the difficulty some day of getting a word in edgewise, I’d say my life is as good as it gets.



And here's my mini challenge:


Imagine finding Pam – who I hadn’t seen in about 20 years - at the Fortress at Pigeon Falls of all places. I mean I didn’t think any body much had ever even heard of Pigeon Falls, let alone knowing about the Fortress so running into an old friend was a real and delightful surprise. Pam, it turns out had married, divorced and was now running her own business. It involved something about shortening the distance people had to travel between locations… even obscure ones like this fortress. She kept saying it’s all about the bloggers or something like that. Was kind of over my head to tell the truth. Still, it was nice to see her and to share my big excitement of finding a raven’s nest. I’m an avid birder – always have been. I don’t think Pam really understood what I was talking about any more than I understood what she was up to. Still, we stopped for a great lunch at the Fortress CafĂ© and had a grand trip down memory lane. It was a great day.




And for the mega challenge:



Shortening the distance between the town of Freemason and the Fortress at Pigeon Falls seemed to me like a bit of a wild goose chase and an absurd waste of eight million dollars, but as with all things political insanity prevails more often than not. This was one of those cases where the ubiquitous and sometimes criminal Mullaly clan (who owned both the Pacific Paradise Shopping Center and the Raven’s Nest Nursing Home) saw some kind of big profit. I think they owned much of the land on the projected route of the new highway and they were pushing it through the town council with all their might. No chance of a grandmother of five like myself getting a word in edgewise or even getting a chance to try. Finally finding Pam, my best friend, a lawyer and one of the only people who had a chance of outsmarting the Mullaly clan, I whispered to her “Do you see what I see? To which she responded, “It’s all about bloggers.” This made no sense at all to me until I realized that she had not said bloggers but LOGGERS… Suddenly it all made sense. It was a done deal. If he loggers and the Mullalys were in on this together, there was money to be made and no amount of logic would stop the destruction of 60 miles of beautiful woodlands between two places that nobody with a lick of sense cared a whit about getting to faster. But there would - it seemed inevitable now - be a Freemason/Pigeon Falls short cut. Even Pam, brilliant as she is, could not stop this one. Insanity would indeed prevail. Pristine wilderness would be destroyed for the short term profit of two families and they would con everyone in the community into thinking that they had done them a big favor. Some days life stank.



~~~~~~~~~~~



Next Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: spring fever, coyote, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, birds of a feather, broken camera, artificial flavoring, cane, garage, ask and it is given, gay


Mini Challenge: glorious, sugar and spice, premature baldness, gargoyles, campaign trail



Thanks for playing. For those who are new, here are some guidelines to make the process more fun.





Enjoy! See you next week.




DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR NAME TO MR. LINKY!!!!!



15 comments:

Finding Pam said...

Raven, I really enjoyed your stories. I don't know how you do it week after week. Great Job!

Thom - - Dr. John said...

I feel like a heel cause I haven't done a Wordzzle in ages. Fun twist with this week's words.

gabrielle said...

I am glad you posted because I love your stories. But it would have been ok if you stayed in bed.

I love that you didn't feel obliged to do happy endings. The last story is my favorite.

Happy 50th!!!

Alice (in BC Canada) said...

I enjoyed all three of your stories, Raven. Thanks for writing them, even when I'm sure you were not really "into it". Don't worry about visiting around, I know you'll make it over once you are feeling better.

Alice at I Was Born2Cree8
Wordzzle Challenge – Feb. 14 ‘09

Richard said...

I like the name Rebeca Gargola Remington. Hawaii sounds great too.

Rich

Anonymous said...

Raven -- I hope the sun comes out and brightens you up soon. The winter blahs are horrid things.

Despite being down you did a great job with these words. I expected them to be much harder to work with and was pleasantly surprised at how well they went together -- just like all of us bloggers!

Akelamalu said...

I'm sure the words/phrases are getting harder every week, I so struggled again this week! However you, as always, made it look effortless! Great writing Raven - you're the Queen!

I won't be joining in next week as I'm off on holiday. :)

Dr.John said...

Three great stories using very hard phrases. I loved the fact that the lady in the first story picked up an extra grandchild between the beginning and end of the story. Things multiply on Island Paradises.
The second story reminded me of times I tried to talk to people about something and we simply didn't understand each other. Good writing always touches reality.
But the last one was the best.One could feel the frustration. Such a sad ending.

Dianne said...

Hope your feeling better today. Your writing didn't suffer at all
I like Rebecca's story the best :)

bettygram said...

Rebecca has a nice life.
I would be one of the happy people over the short cut. In real life I was because the curves and hills were very dangerous. You make the stories real.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Really enjoyed your last one - especially since my late friend Pam was a passionate advocate for forests and fought long and hard to avoid clearcutting here in Nova Scotia. Weird!

Carletta said...

Hi Raven,
I see from your previous post you've been down.It's been hectic here. Sorry I haven't been by. However, it is still Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day - love ya!

I'll be back in the morning to read your wordzzle.

Melli said...

Ahhhhh, these were great! I really REALLY liked the 10 word! I wanted to play with these words so badly this week ... but I just haven't had time... *sigh* I'm enjoying reading everyone's tonight though!

Carletta said...

The ten word was my favorite!
I've only read yours and Dr.John's and reading the blog names made me smile with each story.
A really clever list this time Raven.

Sandi McBride said...

Oh Excellent work Raven...the creator out creates herself!~
Sandi