Weekly Wordzzle Challenge # 218

I have become the lone wordzzler once again. All the worse since all I'm posting these days is wordzzles and the occasional political video. Still haven't decided on how to deal with the photo issue (out of space). Doesn't feel like a post to me unless it is decorated with some visual distraction or another. So it goes. Not sure if I will try to do my exercises this evening or put them off until Saturday as usual.

Saturday 5:00 update:  I am happily NOT the lone wordzzler. Yee ha! Finally did my exercises. Not that good, but they are done.  Now I'm off to visit the other wordzzler, bless her heart.

Words for this week's 10-word challenge were:  gargantuan, Alice doesn't live here any more, gas, paper clips, speak, advice, state, ginger, spray, important  And for the mini:  hamburger, ostrich, vinegar, perpendicular, frozen



My mega:

On the advice of her therapist, who insisted that it was profoundly important her to face her fears and speak to her mother about the pain and abuse in her childhood, Amanda Spray found herself on the road to her childhood home. It was a challenge she had resisted for weeks, months, years. "You can live like an ostrich, frozen with your head in the sands of a past that is long gone," Ginger Grand, her therapist had said a few weeks ago, "or you can face your fears and state your case to her. I'm not promising you any miraculous change from her. She is who she is. But however cruel or indifferent she may be, you need to face her to understand that she is not the gargantuan monster that the inner three year old controlling your life right now believes her to be. As I told you, I'm willing to come with you because I know how frightened you are."  They had stopped for gas and since Ginger's anxiety was so intense that she was having trouble remaining perpendicular, had decide to stop for a bite to eat.  The diner across from the gas station was called Alice's Restaurant. This made them both laugh and sing a few bars of the Arlo Guthrie song and that alone eased some of Amanda's anxiety.  The place was not what they might have wished - the menu was four typed pages held together with paper clips - and the waitress (to put it kindly) was neither friendly nor good at her job. "I guess Alice doesn't live here any more," Ginger quipped and Amanda found herself laughing again and They both ordered a hamburgers. Amanda ordered a salad with some kind of vinegar dressing and Ginger opted for french fries.  Despite appearances, the food was good and by the time they left - having milked the Alice's Restaurant meme for many more laughs - Amanda felt steadier and ready to face what lay ahead. It was as though the restaurant's odd name and the song and the laughter had all been some divine preparation for what lay ahead. When it was all over, she wondered how she could ever have been so terrified of the sad, tired, bitter woman who was had shamed and brutalized her child self and become a giant specter still ruling her life. In real life she was small and rather pitiful. She had even apologized, although it was clear that she didn't really understand what she had done wrong. Still, it was something. When the left, she felt like a new woman. "Thank you for making me do this, Ginger. You are the best therapist ever." "I just pointed the way, Amanda. You had the courage to come here and face your fear. I'm very proud of you. Congratulations."


My mini:

Fred Martin could not believe the merchandise at the new supermarket - Perpendiculars, it was called for no apparent reason - which had just opened in his town with much fan fare. While they did still carry traditional foods like chicken and hamburger, they were actively marketing ostrich meat and eggs, buffalo, elk, bear and a host of other odd "delicacies," which he had no interest in trying. Even the frozen food aisle had a host of peculiar items. They did have an excellent selection of ice cream, though. He would give them that, he though, selecting a couple of items that he hoped would delight his girl friend, Jane. Heading towards the counter with his frozen bounty, he almost forgot the vinegar she had sent him to the store to purchase and gave thanks that he had remembered in time. Much to his irritation, such lapses in memory were the kind of thing Jane never let him live down. Luckily, she was a superlative cook and pretty and he loved her, so he lived with it and tried not to give her any extra ammunition.


And the 10-word:

Looking at the tragic state of her once lush garden which was now swarming with gargantuan spiders, Japanese beetles and an apparent host of other creepy crawly momsters, Ginger Matthews rather regretted not listening to Alice, the former owner's, repeated advice about how important it was to spray on a regular schedule. That kind woman had even left her some 50 pages of "Garden Guidance" suggestions clipped together with a giant paper clip thingy. When her neighbors and even her mother had tried to speak to her about the consequences of neglecting to tend to the garden, she had stubbornly refused to listen. (It was actually more that she hated being told what to do, than that she opposed spraying, but the result was the same regardless of her reasons.)  "Bunch of old gas bags," she had muttered to herself. And more than once as someone invoked the former owner's name, she had responded crankily: "Alice doesn't live here any more. I do." This made her present predicament even more disturbing. Unless she could find someone to help her undo the damage and cover her tracks, she would have to admit to being wrong. That would be even worse than being told what to do. "Stupid garden," she muttered, while frantically searching for gardeners on the internet. "Stupid bugs.... Ah, here's one... No Spray Organic Gardening." Even if they can't help, she mused happily, I can always blame them. And sighing happily, she picked up the phone and dialed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words for next week's 10-word challenge:  gratitude, immediate, vivid, choice, fragments, carving, charity, solitude, lagging, where did I put my glasses

And for the mini:  irresponsible, teddy bear, colorful, knife and fork, wheels

Thanks you for playing.  Newcomers can check here for some guidelines to make the game more fun. There are no rules, just some general guidelines and tricks.