It’s Fall or Is it?
Posted by lindamartinandersen on October 29, 2015
“A Writer’s Playground” –A place to find wordplay, writing, and monthly calendar activities for kids and those young at heart.”
Excuse this interruption, but.. have you commented on Deanna Klingel’s guest post for a chance to win a handmade Origami bookmark? It’s a great way to celebrate World Origami Days and Deanna’s upcoming book, Blue-Eyed Doll. Enter by 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 31, 2015. Click here to leave a comment: https://lindamartinandersen.wordpress.com/2015/10/20/celebrating-world-origami-days-with-deanna-klingel-bookmark-giveaway/ Thank you.
Another request, please consider sending a poem or get well message to Joy Acey, a poet and friend, who has been unable to post to her daily poetry blog recently, due to a hurt hand. Click here to cheer her day: http://poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com/ Thank you again.
“And now to return to our regularly scheduled program.” (I always wanted to say that.)
“It’s Fall or is It?” by Linda Martin Andersen
Here’s a writing prompt for you…
“It’s Fall or is It?” The pictures below show something that doesn’t seem right. Contrary to the norm. A contradiction. See definition here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contradiction
Irises usually bloom in spring. I promise I photographed these the same day as the burn bushes glowing red with fall color. How can this be? Were the irises transplanted and then burst into bloom on a warm fall day? I don’t know. Any other thoughts?
Copyright 2015, Linda Martin Andersen
Burn bushes at T.H. Broyhill Walking Park in Lenoir, NC. Copyright 2015, Linda Martin Andersen
Iris in bloom at T.H. Broyhill Walking Park in Lenoir, NC. Copyright 2015, Linda Martin Andersen
Think of other contradictions you’ve seen or heard and use them to prompt a writing exercise. Here are a few more suggestions:
- He’s rich. (referring to a homeless man)
- I can make it on my own. (Can anyone, really?)
- A lion who is cowardly (Wizard of Oz). Other book characters?
As always, thanks for visiting “A Writer’s Playground.” Come again soon and bring a friend. I hope you’ll leave a writing prompt suggestion of your own. Please remember that children 13 and under need an adult to comment for them. For more fun, sign up to follow my blog. Thank you
A Writer's Playground 
annabellefranklinauthor said
Those irises are clearly late bloomers! I always feel a bit sorry for late bloomers – they look rather lonely, as all their friends have long since been and gone.
lindamartinandersen said
Good points, Annabelle. I have to admit there was a bed of white irises in bloom too, but I didn’t photograph them. I saw these first and they blew my mind.
Your comment about late bloomers lead me to think of Leo the Late Bloomer. I imagine there are lots of other books based on this theme.
Thanks for commenting! Great to have you here!
Joan Y. Edwards said
Dear Linda,
These were pretty irises! Imagine how courageous they were to bloom at this time of year!
Thanks for sharing.
lindamartinandersen said
Joan,
I like your character description–courageous. Good one. I like your take on things. Thanks for commenting. Enjoy the beauty of the season.
Joan Y. Edwards said
You’re welcome.
Deanna K. Klingel said
Have you ever seen Indian Pipes? They are a complete contradiction in plant life. But I love them.
lindamartinandersen said
Deanna,
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Indian Pipes, but I wanted other readers to be able to. Here’s a link to an article and photo. https://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Monotropa%20uniflora Thanks so much for posting and sharing such and interesting contradiction in plant life. Smart lady! Keep telling yourself that!
Carol Baldwin said
I love these pictures and the thoughts they prompted. I LOVE this type of game and will be looking for examples of contradicitons on our drive home!
lindamartinandersen said
Carol, please share examples of contradictions you see along your ride, even if you can’t share until weeks from now. I’d love to hear what you observed. Glad you enjoyed this post. I enjoyed pulling it together. It’s a writer’s kind of fun–appropriate for “A Writer’s playground.”
Tracy Campbell said
I’ll be back Saturday to read and comment more. 🙂
lindamartinandersen said
I look forward to it.
Tracy Campbell said
I’m ba-ack! I clicked on the link to encourage Joy http://poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com/, but it said the post does not exist? “And now to return to our regularly scheduled program.” (I always wanted to say that.) HEE HEE And this is a perfect contradiction which worked beautifully with my post–>A lion who is cowardly (Wizard of Oz). *Grin*
lindamartinandersen said
Tracy, please try this link to the notice about Joy’s hurt hand: http://poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com/2015/10/so-sorry.html
So nice of you to try to leave a comment for her. You are one terrific lady and courageous too, not cowardly like the lion on Wizard of Oz. If others want to know the inside joke here, read Tracy’s recent blog post here: http://tracycampbell.net/blog/thecourageofacowardly-lioness/ I hope both of these links work!
Kathleen said
Beautiful pictures Linda! I’m stumped about the irises too. Looks like a wonderful place for a stroll!
lindamartinandersen said
Hi Kathy,
Another one stumped. Thanks for trying though. I agree–T.H. Broyhill Park is a great place to stroll. Beautiful too. I will have to share more photos sometime. I think you’ll like what you see. Thanks for commenting. A pleasure to have you here, as always!