Day 1 of attempt to overcome writer’s block

The sunlight, sharp and clear, bears down on the driest of earth in a blaze so painfully pure that it may as well have been an open flame. I try to avoid the blast by huddling into the small shadow left by a rather small Ficus, but the howling wind bites into every part of me, exposed and shaded. Nature does not discriminate.

 

Here I Rayne Blog Challenge # 3

This is my favourite one off my blog challenge list.  The options on this are only as limited as your imagination.  The title for the next challenge is simply named:

The Letter

Well, what are you waiting for?

 

The Here I Rayne Blog Challenge # 2

The path to hell is paved with good intentions:

Hell it seems is definitely a place on earth.  After all, do you have another explanation for in-laws? I have to be clear on this. I used to never be able to relate to people who have problems with their in-laws. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t always see eye to eye, but real problems? Not really, no.

So when we have the opportunity to go on holiday to the Kruger National Park with the in-laws it really didn’t seem like a challenge. Two weeks with the in-laws? No problem. I expected it to bring the family closer together.  That feeling did not last.  A two day road trip where every stop was controlled by my father in law, where sleepover spots were picked by my father in law and departure times were… you guessed it… controlled by my father in law.

So off course you are expected to:

Give up the front passenger seat

Be available during the entire holiday in the Kruger Park as chauffer service

Be the villain if you want one day to yourself

Do the dishes if you want a moment of peace

Be considered insane if you want to read a chapter of your book before bedtime (what, you don’t take a book on holiday?)

Bite your tongue no matter what negative comments are floating around about you

Not say anything if you shower in cold water (in winter)

Smile all the time. Never ever stop smiling (my cheeks still hurt months later trying to keep that smile in place)

Never, ever get annoyed with your other half, no matter what he does or say.

After the holiday, when you are on your two day road trip back home, you will be expected to:

(on the sleepover night)

Be extremely quiet

Not play with your child outside

Be impressed by your father in law’s impressive holiday planning

Hear how much nonsense comes out of your mouth

Not use the laptop

Go to bed at 19h30

On the last day of the trip (on your birthday)

Be expected to know directions to a place you’ve been to once (from a road you’ve never been on)

Be considered crazy when you say it’s the wrong road

Get yelled at when the road (that you’ve been insisting is the wrong road for 30 minutes) has you ending up 100 Km from where you should be.

As a footnote, you should also know you will be expected to hear the implication that you were unpleasant during the holiday (no matter how polite, nice or helpful you were)

So yes, the path to hell really is paved with good intentions.

 

The Here I Rayne Blog Challenge # 2

The Here I Rayne Blog Challenge # 2

The path to hell is paved with good intentions:

This challenge comes much later than I had expected, but this challenge is something that I’ve wanted to play with for a while.

So what do you need to do? Well, honestly, it’s entirely up to you, take the title, think about it, and run with it.  Choose a book as inspiration; make yourself the victim or villain and live the metaphor.

Now go and pave that path!