WQ #18: May 3: GROWING
- (of a living thing) undergoing natural development by increasing in size and changing physically.
- becoming greater or increasing in prevalence, popularity, or influence
- of, relating to, or being the period during which something (such as a plant) grows or matures
“Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.”
— Walt Disney
Happy Wednesday, and welcome to #WQ. Here’s your chance to showcase your photos, poems, thoughts, and stories about growing. All you need is one awesome quote – which are hard to find unless you consider what is growing. I’m sorry, but I got carried away with the idea of growing. Feel free to skim, but don’t skip the very end where your posts are highlighted!
Back-Lit and Growing
“She’s a wild butterfly finding her way… just a girl growing wings.”
–Butterflies Rising
This week Anne-Christine chose the topic of backlighting to challenge our photographic skills. Most of the pictures I’ve chosen for the theme of growing are backlit. This is one of my favorites. Moji was about five weeks old and now she is almost five years old, and did she ever grow!
Growing Brave
“Courage to me is doing something daring, no matter how afraid, insecure, intimidated, alone, unworthy, incapable, ridiculed or whatever other paralyzing emotion you might feel. Courage is taking action….no matter what. So you’re afraid? Be afraid. Be scared silly to the point you’re trembling and nauseous, but do it anyway!”
― Richelle E. Goodrich
For his 60th birthday my brother and I took a train trip back east to our home state of Indiana. On the way, we stopped at Chicago. When we first arrived, we found Pier Park on the bank of Lake Michigan. Not realizing my brother had such a deathly fear of heights, I convinced him to ride the Ferris Wheel with me. First built in 1893, the new Centennial Wheel, built in 2016 rises to a height of 200 feet. We were there in 2013, so this wheel only reaches 150 feet and was built in 1995.
Like 1.7 million visitors annually, we took an elevator up Willis Tower, the third highest building in the Western Hemisphere. When we reached the Skydeck on the 103rd floor, at 1,530 feet high, he stayed as far away from the windows as possible while I snapped pictures. When I circled around looking for him, he was in one of these Observation Ledges forcing himself to take a chance. We got our pictures taken then went on our way having both grown braver in the process.
Growing Dark
“Sunset is so marvelous that even the sun itself watches it every day in the reflections of the infinite oceans.”
– Mehmet Murat ildan
Like I mentioned in the introduction, growing is a hard word for quotes. My back up tactic is to consider what growing describes and look up quotes for that word. So many of my pictures fit the description of growing dark, but this is my favorite sunset picture.
California Sunset Scenes
Growing Fearful
“If you happen to like scary movies, then you settle in, [and] enjoy the scare the way you enjoy a roller coaster.”
-Dr. Stephen Schlozman an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the co-director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds
“It was a dark and stormy night,” were the perfect opening words for a scary story when I was growing up. I found a picture to go with that opening line in my front yard in Woodlake. I have no idea what is in the background – just an unnamed monster. What do you think it was?
What words or visuals trigger your scare button?
Growing Impatient
Vince has pressed the gas pedal and we are off and remodeling our kitchen. I looked all over for before pictures, but alas, I didn’t take any until now.
The kitchen probably looked fantastic when it was built in 1985. Therma-foil cabinets were probably top of the line in 1990s when they came out. But you can see how they cracked and peeled over time. Heat and moisture are not their friends. You can’t refinish them, and they are heavy and hard to remove.
Do you see anyone at the other end?
Our kitchen cabinets will come in on June 13. We have an installer. The new appliance can’t be ordered until Memorial Day, if we want a discount, and we want a discount. But never mind, the project is off and running, growing more complicated by leaps and bounds.
He’s excited. The new fan is in. I have a cracked stove and a bit of dust, but I think we will live.
Roads to Growth
“Studies have shown that a vacation can be beneficial for the overall development of your child. They come back happy and enriched, having experienced a beautiful world outside their home and exposed to different cultures and ways of living.”
– Amruta Deshpande, Parent Circle
Not many of us can be like Anita of 100 Country Trek and visit 100/195 countries in our lives, but every trip you take your children or grandchildren expands their opportunities. Our youngest is beyond that and we have reached our second childhood so here are a few pictures from our recent road trip to Las Vegas. Notice the landscape is growing mountainous. Along the Nevada roadside is this industrial area where the state is growing electrical power.
Backlit Growing and Overgrown Plants
Last Week’s Featured Bloggers on Gardens
- FRESH CUP OF COFFEE – ABSTRACT MUSEUM ART
- KEEP IT ALIVE – VIEW YOUR FIRST POOP EMOJI HERE
- LADY LEE – ENGAGING WITH ROBERT FROST AND TWO SUITORS
- LOVING LIFE – TREATISE ON ABSTRACT
- PICTURES IMPERFECT – BEWILDERING!
- SECOND WIND LEISURE – 3400-MILE ROAD TRIP
Your Post Goes Here
- Fresh Cup of Coffee – great parenting post
- Keep It Alive – the cost of growing wise
- Lady Lee – Bits and pieces of her wonderful adventures in life
- Second Wind Leisure – unforgettable wedding photos of her daughter’s wedding.
- This Is Another Story – How does your garden grow?
Try Mr. Linky to link your post, or to read other posts. It’s easier than waiting for me! 🙂 Try it, you’ll like it.
WQ #18 Inspired by
- Lens Artist Photo Challenge #247 – Backlit
- FOTD – rose and dandelions
- Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – industrial
- Cell Pic Sunday – The Unknown Soldier in Rome
- Sunday Stills – Road Trip
- Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share & PPAC – coming Friday
Upcoming and Ongoing on Always Write
Lots of love to all of you and best wishes for a wonderful week.
- WQ Page
- WQ #19: May 10: MOTHER’S DAY/ROYAL PURPLE
- WQ #20: May 17: HERITAGE/INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY
- WQ #21: May 24: HONORABLE
- WQ #22: May 31: MIDPOINT/WRITER’S CHOICE/DOUBLE DIP CHALLENGES
- #DICKENSCHALLENGE started February 7th. Join Yvette Prior, Trent McDonald, and me in reading ONE – not THREE Dickens’ novellas by June 9th. Donna from Retirement Reflections posted an excellent review on her challenge, What’s On Your Bookshelf this month.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
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