Borobudur Temple part 2
I mentioned before that the walls all tell the story of enlightenment. Did I mention that they tended to be a bit tall? Much of the time we couldn’t see just how high up we’d gotten.
Suzie’s House 450 : Ben’s Poetry and an Invite
Emma hated the halting side of herself. When she and Lisa reached Ben’s bedroom, Lisa walked right in like it was her own home. Emma hovered in the doorway, wondering if it was really ok to go into Ben’s bedroom when he was downstairs, even if he did say for them to go first.
Lisa walked right up to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a notebook.
“Well?” She looked over her shoulder. “Don’t you want to see his poetry?”
Telemarketer
I’m rude. When a telemarketer calls – be it human or machine – I cut through the chit chat to say “take us off your calling list” then hang up. Well, normally. But a particular number kept coming up wanting to discuss “issues of concern to your location.” The actual human on the other end wanted me to answer two questions. Only two. 1)Who did I support in the upcoming primary. 2)How firm was my decision. There was no follow up and have been no calls since. Was my adamant support of Smokey the Bear too much?
Low Art
Ted caught Ruth as she was leaving her house.
“I heard you’re an art collector. I’m an artist. I brought over one of my faller installations. Would you like to see it? It’s in the back of my pickup.”
Ruth considered making a break for it, but her car was right next to his pickup and at ninety years old, she wasn’t exactly moving fast these days. “Alright, young man. Lead the way.”
The only think in the back of the pickup was an old toilet with a bowl full of flowers.
“What do you call it?”
Ted grinned. “My Neighbor’s Lawn Ornament.”
She bought it.
The Challenge: Write a story in 100 words or less
The Hub: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
The Photo Credit: Ted Strutz
Borobudur Temple part 1
Mostly I just want to show off my pictures. 🙂
Borobudur is one of the largest Buddhist monuments in the world. It’s a pyramid with a 150,000 square foot base and six tiers. It’s made entirely of volcanic rock. The advantage of volcanic rock is that it is relatively light weight due to the gas bubbles inside, and easier to carve than sedimentary stone. There are pieces of it as large as a small car included in the temple.
We started got off the bus near a map/sign showing the overall complex. They warned us on the bus to be careful to not look at anyone who carried any kind of merchandise until we got to the other side of the monument because the aggressive vendors would saddle us with stuff we would have to carry all the way to the top and back down again.
Suzie’s House 449 : Three Words
“Do you have to be so brutal about it?” Ben emphasized the word brutal, knowing full well that Lisa would know what he meant. Not just that she was being rude to poor Emma.
“Is that your word of the day?” Lisa smirked.
Independence Day
From the moment we arrived in Jakarta until we left Indonesia entirely we saw flags and bunting. This was three weeks of flags and bunting to celebrate Indonesia’s Independence Day.
My Precious
Over the course of ninety years, a woman can collect a lot of things. Ruth had more than her fair share, much to her pride. She had the ormolu clock given to her at a prestigious university after a poetry reading of her finest work. It sat in the window next to her yacht racing trophy. Even the house itself was a masterpiece – a mansion built on the best piece of land in town and handed down by her ancestors since before the city incorporated. Too bad it was all going under water when the river rose this year.
The Challenge: Write a story in 100 words or less
The Hub: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Photo credit: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Indonesian Veterans
There was a dictator named Suharto. He ruled Indonesia as president from 1967 to 1998. We went to visit with Indonesian veterans in his house and went through the adjoining museum dedicated to him while we were there.
Suharto’s home isn’t normally open to random visitors like us. We were allowed in as a special treat offered by the brother of the house’s current owner. They had two lines of chairs facing one another in a long, otherwise empty room. The veterans occupied one side while we filled the other. Their idea of refurbishing takes a fair amount of artistic skill.
Suzie’s House 448 : Eating Lunch in the Den
Emma flopped onto the old couch in the den of Suzie’s house with an audible sigh. She was so lucky the place was vacant today. Or at least the old witch who liked to tell her she didn’t live here wasn’t around, like being a renter gave her special privileges or something.
Art Restaurant
Most of the places where we were treated to dinner had an old world feel to them. It might be a Dutch heritage, or it might be the gentility of classic Asian ambiance. Either way, there was a sense of timeless elegance with now and then a rural paradise thrown in.
This time we had lunch in a place that might have come from down the street from me. The walls where a cheerful yellow, and all four walls were intact including closable windows. The ceilings were very high, and a colored clerestory window gave the leaves of the trees outside a stained glass look. At first I thought it actually was stained glass, made to go with the artwork on the wall.
Melt Down
Not getting through to me? I blame Bluehost. I’m trying to get it fixed, but this could take a while.
Suzie’s House 447 : Get on Your Hands and Knees, Ethan
“You love me?” Sophie stared at her husband in stunned surprise. Even when he knew she’d tricked him into marriage? He’d known it all along?
All these years she’d turned herself into a doormat just so he wouldn’t leave her for his high school sweetheart. All for nothing.
