Journal Writing Prompt #9

 

I stumbled upon this site while responding to poems offered at Big Tent Poetry this weekend. It is a month of writing one observation a day, through the month of January. I have already registered to participate and noticed that Viv has done likewise. It would be a very good way to ease into making a note each day, whether on your blog, or in a notebook. It is obviously aimed at honing observation skills, but can be a doorway into many other things. Many times, these brief concentrated descriptions can be turned into poetic lines, offer inspiration for even more writing, whether prose or poetry. I plan on doing the stones here on this blog, each day. This is not the prompt for today, but a suggestion only. You might want to take a look and perhaps take part in this river of small stones. I have put the URL here in case you are interested.

http://ariverofstones.blogspot.com/2010/12/welcome.html#comment-form

This is the busiest week of the year for many of us. Last minute shopping, preparations, getting the house ready for guests, or ourselves ready to be guests. The list of things to do can be endless. Mine seems to have grown overnight. In all of that hassle, asking you to write seems like an intrusion. So, I want to go easy on you. We all have favorite memories of Holidays past. The prompt for this week is to write about one of those memories. It can be a certain activity, tradition, a particularly humorous episode that comes to mind when the Holidays come into view, or a list of people you don’t see except at this time of year. Whatever you decide to write about, make sure it is something you like and that gives you that Holiday feeling. You might want to write about a gift you received, or one that you gave that had particular meaning to you. Here’s my example.

For many years, my family would get together during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and go on a family sleigh ride. We would all bundle up in our warmest clothing and drive out into the country, to a farm that provided this service. The sleigh was a huge hay wagon with benches along the sides for sitting. Most of the kids and some of the adults would ignore the benches and sit on the fresh straw that covered the bottom of the wagon. There were two huge Perchuron horses that pulled the sleigh and we would slide out into the fields and sing Christmas carols as the dusk settled around us. The farm folks would provide a bonfire, where we would stop and roast hot dogs and marshmallows, then get back on the sleigh and sing some more as we rode slowly back to the warm barn, through the night and the snow. Everyone enjoyed it and many of the kids would bring a special friend along to share these moments with. Afterward, we would adjourn to my parents home, later my sister’s, and exchange Christmas gifts.

For me, those memories are filled with warmth, laughter, and music.  Here is a photo of some of us gathered near the horse and sleigh. You can enlarge it by clicking on it.

If you have questions or comments, please put them into the comments section below. If you would like to share your writing put your URL there and I’ll come take a look.

Whatever you do, have a wonderful holiday, and enjoy.