POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Prompt One

By Nandy Ekle

I am going to attempt something new each week here. I have a list of story prompts that I want to use for my blogs each week. These are not my original ideas, they are from several lists I have found.

So, here is Number One. Not sure what to call it, but here goes.

THE FURTHEST AWAY FROM HOME YOU HAVE EVER BEEN.

I’m a person who loves to travel. Going different places to see new things is very thrilling to me. When I was a kid our family took the traditional vacations-two weeks on the road to to a destination for fun and relaxation. We stayed in hotels with swimming pools, we ate picnic lunches at roadside parks, we saw mountains and lakes, deserts and forests, beaches and cities. I have a lot of great memories; however, I am told that we actually went places and saw things and had experiences that I don’t remember at all because I was too young.

My husband and I have also been on several trips: Washington state, Oregon state, West Virginia, Missouri, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Not to mention all over our home state of Texas. We’ve even been on a couple of cruises, going actually leaving the U S of A and spending a day in Jamaica and a couple of days in different cities of Mexico.

I think one of my favorite places to visit is the Redwood Forest in Northern California. I love the mountains and I love the trees. These beautiful giants grow close and thick, the branches and leaves blocking the sun. Standing in a clearing surrounded by the ancient forest is a truly surreal experience. The fog comes in from the Pacific ocean, which is just through the woods that direction. You can smell the salt in the air and feel a cool breeze. When you look up to the sky, you only see so far up because the tree tops have trapped the mist. And as the branches shiver their leaves in the breeze, you could almost swear the mighty redwoods were whispering to heavens.

My second favorite place is the Rocky Mountains. Once we spent a weekend in Estes Park, Colorado. I have to say, the experience was just very nearly as wonderful as the time we spent in the Redwoods of California. We went to Colorado on a Friday in October, and on Saturday there was a light snow. The whole weekend was perfect.

My third favorite place to see is New Orleans. We went to New Orleans to do some research for a story I wanted to write. We weren’t able to stay long because of some problems, but while we were there we saw incredible things, learned some very interesting history, and ate fantastic food.

I could get very philosophical here and talk about my journey through life, but I’m not a philosopher. So I’ll just leave like this.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.