Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

This is the Ten Things of Thankful (TToT) bloghop. Kristi is our host. She invites one (and all) to read, comment and, if so inclined, contribute a post that shares the occasion of people, places and things that elicit the sense (and experience) of gratitude. (PS it’s a lot more fun than I’m making it sound.*) You really should link up (at Kristi’s blog).

So, here’s the deal, lest there’s a reader who might be thinking, ‘Oh, that’s, like, one of those Gratitude blog things, where people write about rainbows and how everything is perfect.’ One word: do you know where you are?! Have you read anything else in this this blog? lol

I kid the new Reader. In all seriousness, this TToT is an enduring virtual community and, as such, is an example of the unique good that is inherent in the virtual world. It is, imo, a genuinely new thing in the world. Sure, you could have friends from far away, (“Your party has been reached. Please deposit seventy-five cents for the first five minutes.” or “Are you keeping an eye on the time, it may be evening hours, but the long-distance rate is...”) and you could even send photos from vacations and birthdays and other forms of frozen time. But this place, the virtual world in general and the blogosphere in particular, is different. It is real. And before someone thinks, ‘Yeah, sure for a something on my computer screen or phone, its fairly real.’ I will say, when you were seven-years-old and you got the card from your favorite aunt (who lived visit-maybe-every-five-years away) and you look at the ten dollar bill** in the card, how real was your aunt? No, it wasn’t because of the money, (well, not exclusively), but because with that gift, your day was altered even more than the gifts from the people who handed you presents. For a short time, you would include a person you might not have seen for years in your everyday world. Later in the day, or maybe the next day, when you got to your friend’s house, the topic of conversation was all about the present. “Hey! My aunt send me money, lets figure out what I should buy!”

So, when it comes to bloghops like this here TToT here, you not only have the opportunity to share things with people you know, you get to share in (a glimpse) of another reality. Very cool.

1) Una photo above (the one of the left***)

2) Phyllis photo above (the other one)

3) Time of year/season. below is a Before photo of Una’s garden 2020

4) Place/venue/group of friends with whom I can think out loud. See intro comments and Item 6

5) Six Sentence Story this is Denise’s contribution to the on-going effort to learn to write better. (I speak only for myself. One read of any of the other contributions to the ‘hop will make clear why I hang out there. Go there and you’ll have the pleasure of reading some of the best flash fiction. And, therefore, for me, the place to try and figure out how it’s done.)

6) Hobbomock Chronicles. Speaking of writing and hanging out with friends, Episode Sixteen is next up. Maybe later today, the first of the coming week. I’m still recovering from a bout of ‘This is a book I’m trying to write.’ The thing with my writing, at least at this stage, is that I can’t think about whether it (the story) is correct (in a structural sense). Every now and then I give in to the urge to try to learn (about writing fiction). While I suspect I absorb something each time I indulge, the conflict between what I read and what I think I’m doing (with my writing) produces in me a conviction that ‘You can’t do this!’ The only cure is time to forget about whether or not I’m creating a solid narrative for the protagonist and get back to writing what the characters tell me is happening to them.

7) Una’s Garden. Soil turned over. Nothing planted yet.

8) THIS SPACE AVAILABLE Anyone out there, on the fence, about participating, this your chance. Send me, (via comments below) your favorite (or the one you’re least sure of) and I will clear this space and paste it right here, complete with whatever attributions you choose to send with the Item. Try it, can’t hurt.

9) something, something

10) SR 1.3 From the Book of Secret Rules, (aka the Secret Book of Rules) ‘The approach of the end of a list is, in and of itself, a cause for celebration. Celebration is, normally, an activity reserved to mark, recall and otherwise commemorate, “Look! I finished!” And so, with a list of grats. That it something to feel grateful for. Go ahead, the Book say, ‘Darn right it’s an Item!’

* well, the short explanation is, ‘I’m a clark‘

** err, remember the reference time frame for the writer, we’re not talking ‘way back in the 80s’

*** surely one of my favorite form-jokes

music

nbsp;

*