Inspiration

My Meandering Path to a Revival Blog Post

Well, now what? Here I sit at my computer wondering what the heck to write about. The time change has something to do with my brain fart dust or maybe it’s the smell of paint fumes?

I digress.

I sit here long enough to let the dust settle. Take another sip of coffee and realize the paint fumes in the house have indeed lessened. I can smell the coffee now, so I move on to typing again.

Something.

Anything.

Drip, drip, drip, like raindrops, my thoughts drop onto the page.

I know that the specific word I’m trying to find hangs there dangling somewhere in my brain. Waiting to launch onto the page.

Peck, peck, peck, and then I pause. As something else catches my eye. I grab my camera and get distracted once again.

Where was I? Oh, yes, what is my favorite word? I dunno. Um. Where have I had that thought before? Was it really back in 2018? Let’s loop back there and check it out.

So, there you have it, I found a backdrop to a meandering path so I could write a revival blog post.

What do I mean by revival? In case you were wondering, the term revival is one of my favorite words. Along with quaint. Duh. That’s obvious by the title of my blog. But, you already knew that about me.

Why do I like the word revival? Because it means I get to revive things that still have life in them. I love it when they just need a bit of dusting off. Or a link to the past so my thoughts will flow like water in a stream.

On a path in Irvine Park in the town where I live.

Or like when Linda gave us the prompt before. I wrote about not knowing what my favorite word was back in 2018. (Hint…head out on the path to that post now by clicking here…and then come back, please! ;-)).

Meanwhile, I’ll dream of 2019 when I was walking on a 7-mile beach as you read the 2018 post.

I love walking on the beach and looking down to see my footprints disappear under the splashing waves.

…I hope we get to go back to that beach again someday.

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed reading the old post.

Where were we? Oh, yes, one of my favorite words.

Revival.

Revival also means, repair.

Speaking of repair, Mister’s Durango is back to drivable and will be survivable for the winter. I, for one, did not know how many coats of stuff needed to be applied to a partially primed fender to make sure it survives the winter months for hopefully a few more years. Thank goodness the cold temps and weather held off so Mr. could get it done.

The path in the garage has been cleared for the prominent placement of the snow blower. It’s November. Winter temps and snow will be here before we know it.

I wonder if the deer who make trails in the snow are ready or not. They’ll be disappointed with the lack of branches to nibble on.

Revival also means I end up looking at old photos and getting side-tracked down rabbit holes of memories. So many memories. So many photos. They multiplied on our server like the rabbits did in our yard this year.

Aw, I’m happy I wore a path in the grass on my way to the tea house this summer.

Then, it happens just like clockwork.

On a side note, did you know that cats are not fans of gaining an hour to their routine? Just saying…I’m sure you heard the howling around the world. Our dear furry clock, aka, Dessy, let us know by her howling this morning that she’s not pleased with the decision to delay her breakfast. She’s content for now.

Me with a random thought to share

When it happens, my solid trail of thoughts to write cohesively is overwhelmed by random discoveries and moments that have warmed my heart along the way. I meander with ease.

Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.

— Erol Ozan

As luck would have it for you, my meandering is off the beaten path. I may have lost track. I’ll be back again real soon.

Until we meet here again!

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “your favorite word.” Decide on your favorite word and use it in your post any way you’d like. Enjoy! And Terri Webster’s Sunday Stills – Paths and Trails.

PS – What photos take you off your intended path of focus for the day? What have you revived lately? What is your favorite word?

51 thoughts on “My Meandering Path to a Revival Blog Post

  1. Meandering path is apt for this post, Shelley 😀 , good job on reviving an old post! Your snow scenes with all those footprints reminds me of what just happened two days ago at our place. Now it’s already gone but round 2 snow is on track for tonight and tomorrow! I love your tea house!! I have a she-shed but it only has two windows and no fancy doors, but it works. Trying to get hubby the change to doors to french doors or something, but he has too many paths to take in getting other things done around here!

    1. Thank you, Terri! I had wanted to take walks and get fresh new photos, but the rain prevented it, so I meanandered into the past.

      Your snow was so pretty on top of the vivid fall colors. Sorry you’ll get another round of snow tonight and tomorrow. We’re still in rain, but highs in the 30s are on the way. 🥶🧊🥶☃❄⛄

      Your she-shed sounds nice, hopefully if you keep adding install the french doors to the to-do list they’ll eventually make their way onto the shed. 😉😊😃

      Safe travels next week, I’ll see you back at Sunday Stills on the 20th.

  2. So many wonderful photos in this post, Shelley! The winter scenes are bone chilling. I noticed the path in the grass right away, you do get your use out of the tea house! Have a great new week.

    1. Thanks, John. Yeah, I agree with you, the winter scenes are chilly. It’s 31 degrees right now, so we’re getting a glimpse of what it’ll soon be like until Spring next year.
      I’m glad I spent so much time in the tea house this year. I will miss being out there over the winter.
      I hope you have a great week too!! Stay warm, Vegas is looking a little more fall like for temps this week!

        1. So do I. It’s only 34 degrees here this morning. The clear skies made it easy to see the lunar eclipse. 🌒🌚🌕

    1. Hi Frank, welcome back from your blogging break! Yes, we’ve all meandered 🙂
      Yeah, the paint smell was not fun. I think there is still some smell, too bad it’s too cold to leave the doors open to completely air the garage out.
      I’m jealous…you’ll be by the beach soon…!

    1. Aw, thanks, Janis, I’m glad you enjoyed the meandering post.
      Until I can go to that beach again in person, I spend plenty of moments looking at the photos. My desktop photo on my computer is a sunset from there. I could stare at it all day. 😉

  3. I love the photos your shared today. Reading blog posts take me off the path, but I enjoy the distraction. I hope you have a good week.

  4. I cannot fathom how you have to shovel, clear a snowy path just to get in or out of the house. Mr did a good paint job. Hope you survive Winter Shelley 🤗💕

    1. Yeah, it’s a dang good thing that we have a snow blower, if we didn’t we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere until Spring!
      Thanks, he of course thinks it could’ve been better, but did agree that if we wanted perfection we could’ve spent the $7k on it. 😉
      Thank you, Brian, we hope to survive Winter too. We need to chop more wood so we have a backup heat source for the extra cold and snowy days! 🤗😊

  5. Hello there. I like your phrase about hoping to have your thoughts flow like water in a stream. It’s a fine feeling, isn’t it, when that happens as we write? If only all of my writing sessions reached that level!

    1. Hi Neal! Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the phrase about water. It is a fine feeling when our words flow easily and can definitely relate to the wish that they’d always flow that well.
      I so enjoyed your post about your trip to the beach in Cape Cod. I can see why you two enjoy vacationing there. I hope you’ve stored up many happy moments to share with us until the next time you return there!

  6. Quaint and revival are great words! Why didn’t I guess they were your 2 favorite words…duh, right?! Makes sense. My favorite word is wildflowers and it’s in my blog name.
    Great photos and stream of consciousness. Hope you adjust easily to the time change. We’re going to miss more sunlight hours.

    1. Hi Esther, it’s great to hear from you.
      It took me a long time to discover those two words as favorites of mine.
      Aw, wildflowers fits you well too. I like that you put singlikewildflowers together. Flowers do make our hearts sing with joy 💐💐💐
      Thanks for stopping by! Well…I’d like to say the time change is easy, but it’s been challenging so far. It is so hard to adjust to the change in light. I bet the kids will miss the sunlight hours. As old farts, we do like having more morning light here as we enjoy walks at that time of day. It does make it easier to go to be early when it gets dark…we’re showing our age now 😉 🤣

  7. Oh my goodness, I can’t imagine getting ready for a cold snowy winter!! My mind would be wandering back to the beach 😊 Lovely photos, Shelley!

    1. Hi Lisa! Yes, we’re not getting too awfully excited about winter either. It’s a good thing I have lots of photos to revisit to warm me up on the extra cold days.
      Thank you – glad you enjoyed the photos. I wish I could see the beach you shared recently…that was an absolutely stunning photo of the sunset!!

  8. Loved your meandering and your photos. I think meandering is a good word for all of us. Revival is good as well as during the colder months we will all need reviving. Have a great week.

    1. Aw, HI Anita. Thank you for your words filled with kindness and support. \You’re right, we all meander. All of us approaching the cold of winter will need some reviving as we endure the next several months! 🥶🧊☃❄⛄🧊🥶☃
      But…it’s soon time to pull out the seasonal decorations…have you started decorating yet?
      I hope you have a great week too!

      1. Have I started…lol…almost done. Switch get flipped mid November…oh…that’s this weekend. 😁🎄🤸‍♀️🤗 YAY!!!

        1. Oh, my, goodness…almost done!!! I love it! I haven’t even finished setting out my small collection of Thanksgiving decorations. 🦃🦃🦃

          1. Wow…they hit the shelves in September? Soon the saying of Christmas in July will be valid. 🤔
            Way to find some new crafts though, I’m sure they helped bring some joy and I bet you can’t wait to find new homes for them in your decorations!

  9. I’ve never been able to revive interest in any of my old blog posts. I’ve tried that tactic, but find that readers want to read about the here and now. I can meander, just in the now. HOWEVER I enjoy it when other bloggers look back at what has been. Especially beaches, vacations, things I haven’t seen or done in years.

    1. Hi Ally, I catch the drift about the old posts. I find that in my own mind when I look back at the posts, “I’ve been there, done that, said it, and don’t want to revisit it.” LOL. Like you said though, it was fun for me to look back to see all the photos I took for some odd reason or for the beauty I saw in those moments.
      Here’s to hoping we all get back to doing those travel and adventure things we adore doing.

  10. High five to Mr. for painting the Durango himself! Wow! It looks brand new. I understand your meandering. You did a good job of leading us around the post. Poor kitties. I’m feeling pretty smug with myself for getting up at 7:00 am instead of 8:00 now. LOL!

    1. Thanks from Mr. While he would like it to look perfect, we know it’s 17 years old and on it’s last legs, we just hope it lasts until new car prices return to reasonable. 😉
      Thank you for understanding the meandering. Our cats are on the naughty list today…they woke us up at 3 am (4 am their time) and they’ve blessed us with some piles to clean up.
      Way to enjoy the morning time change. It is nice to have daylight when we walk at 7 am. I sure wish we’d do away with the whole time change thing and just compromise with a half-hour one time change and stop this non-sense. 🤣😁😊

  11. I love your meandering an all the direction to took it with Revival right there with it. Ahh to be on the beach. The photos define revival of the soul for sure. I love the photo of the river from the park. Great post.

        1. You’re welcome. Thanks, I read the post and that’s a cool effect. My phone isn’t quite that fancy, so I couldn’t do it, but like the outcomes you were able to do!

    1. Thank you, Rebecca. That’s a great quote too, I’ve always like Lord Byron’s words of wisdom.
      Cheers to a warm cup of tea blessed with excellent advice!

  12. That wonderful trip was in 2018 already? I know there was fun BC (before Covid), but January 2018 I would not have guessed. I also would not have guessed that cats do not like the time change and turn into ornery little critters if breakfast is late. I love the sweet Downy shimmying up the tree. The snow – ugh and the deer that you now can confirm are there from their hoof prints in the snow. Do rabbits make jump marks in the snow? I have rabbits in the back yard – little black balls are my evidence as I don’t see jump marks and there’s nothing to nibble on, even in Summer. The rosebush is not a great option and the hydrangea is up too high for chomping on. 🙂

    1. I think we went in Feb/Mar 2019…yeah, it was 2019. Definitely pre-Covid.
      Don’t get me started on Dessy and the time change. This morning she woke me at 3:16 am. She meowed right in my ear to tell me it was time to feed her.
      Yes, it’s deer that were eating the trees. I’m sure the rabbits do too. The rabbits make jump marks here often. The critters we have in the yard/field tend to nibble on whatever they can find for food.

      1. I always go in the backyard after it snows to check out the tracks and to make a space for the end of the downspouts (which are like popsicles inside most of the time anyway). Looks pretty bare out there. I’ve never seen jump marks, so likely they go to bed early while the snow is falling. I have berries on the Golden Vicary that look like grapes … your critters would like those.

        1. You’re wise to keep an eye out for tracks. If I see some bunny tracks in the snow, I’ll take some photos and share them in a post.
          Oh, yes, our critters would enjoy those grape-like berries.

          1. OK, I will see them and know for sure. I never saw that Cottontail bunny who had a nest in the front yard of a homeowner’s property after the Winter two years ago It would lay there, with snow all around it. Yes, yummy treats for them. 🙂

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