Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Family Stories, Spontaneous Adventures & Reality Shows

Today's blogs....

Welcome To My Reality - Week Twenty - Nine

2. Is there an interesting family story that gets retold when your family gets together? What's the story and who usually tells it?

My mother's family was always one to tell stories. As a child, even when I visited my other grandmother I would ask about family stories about my dad. I wanted to know those details. But the best stories came from my mother's parents. Grandpa would tell story after story, but it was Gramzie's stories that intrigued me the most. Stories of childhood pranks. Learning that my grandmother could be quite a spit - fire was thrilling.

One such story involved my grandmother and a family friend, Bert Fry. Now my grandmother was older than Bert by several years, but they all went to the same one room school house. Apparently at recess, Bert had gone into the outhouse and he was in there quite awhile. My grandmother organized a group of her school chums to bring up buckets of water from the creek and while Bert was in the outhouse they through the water down on him from the top soaking him through.

Such an awful thing to do, but something tells me he had done something to deserve it - more than being in there too long. Bert was a character himself.

I could sit for hours within the glowing lamplight of the hurricane lamps and listen to the tales that swirled around the family table. It was a central fixture in their kitchen - a room that also served as Grandpa's bedroom and the living room. Night would darken the window panes, but inside laughter and love flowed in the tellings. I miss those days. A time held in memory with a sweetness, and purity of honey - raw and untainted.

Blog City – Day 130

Prompt: What's the most spontaneous thing you've ever done?

Spontaneous. I can't say I am that spontaneous. I am not a huge fan, as jumping headlong into something without careful thought is not my forte. Perhaps that is why my mother used to say she could always trust me to use good judgement. I was not one to follow the crowd, in fact I would go out of my way to avoid the crowd.

My friend, Michelle is the spontaneous, adventurous sort. Her ideas were always sane and fun. She was the only one who could get me to go on roller coasters (which I love now). She could get me to try waterskiing (which I never mastered, but did try).

My husband can get me to try new things as well - snorkling. But I am still leary of the zip-line concept - though I may try it... eventually. I may even try para sailing with him. We have snorkeled through underground caverns - that was a little freaky.

When I was younger I would do day trips into Toronto and explore various neighbourhoods on my own. It was a way to people watch and get story ideas. These days my day trips take me to Elora, St. Jacobs, Stratford or Paris (Ontario). I take my notebooks, pens and sketchbook. I always try to get home in time to make dinner. Its called carving out time for the muse and to refill my creative well.

30 Day Blogging Challenge

FUNNY FRIDAY
Reality TV. Go ahead, make fun of it. You know you want to.
Also, list at least 3 humorous ideas for reality TV shows. For the overachievers, do more.

Oh, now this is a cool idea! I look forward to reading other people's responses on this. I am finding I have left this too late into the evening and my creative juices are drying up for the night.

Spending the night in a haunted house. Could you do it?

There was a reality show that had teams search across the country for clues to treasure. That was cool but I think it only had one season. It was probably too much like The Amazing Race - but it would be neat to see a show like that had you looking for clues and following world history - in Europe.

So you think you can draw? (Now that is dumb... but what else is there?)

There is already so much out there. I think now some shows even put Survivor with the Dating game - they go on challenges and then decide if they want to stay together (not sure what it is called, but I swear I have seen it).