Shutter Sisters

a ticket to ride

By

Summer brings with it fairs, amusement parks, playlands, and fairgrounds.  Growing up we had the traveling country fairs. Summer weekends were marked by different festivals pulling into the small rural towns and setting up for a few days of fun. Each had its own unique name, and some its very own queen. My favorite was the apple dumpling festival, of course with its newly crowned “little miss apple dumpling” and her grand counterpart the apple dumpling queen. Summer fun and pageantry, full of food, rides, games and even the occasional livestock. Now as an adult I live near a summer playland complete with whirring rides, bags of pink cotton candy and one very loud arcade. We know summer has officially begun here when the playland is open for business. Going always makes me nostalgic for the fairs of my youth, the rides are the same rides I rode as a kid, the junk food the same, even the photos I take now of my own kids on the rides look no different from the photos of me as a kid that line the old family photo albums. I remember being little and handed that coveted book of ride tickets. The excitement that paper book of tickets evoked. Adventure in my little hand; what to ride? how many rides would I get?! would I be tall enough for the bigger rides???!!!! Oh the anticipation.

Adventure does not have to be GRAND, it can be as simple as a hand full of paper tickets. Have you had any little adventures in your life lately?

In spirit of August’s One Word , adventure, share yours with us today.

Comments

  10. Last Autumn, I committed to taking a series of four day personal retreats on a quarterly basis for a year. The retreat spot I chose is a small sacristy that had been converted to a hermitage in the mountains near a convent. The first few times the nights were the hardest part about it, as I heard every noise imaginable out in the woods. Now, after my fourth trip, I'm not afraid any more. Right before I wrapped up this last visit, I spotted this baby racoon outside my door and he seemed as curious about me as I was about him. http://www.flickr.com/photos/leanne8790/6044173520/

  11. once a week we have what we call a 'family adventure' with our dogs
    we go to the shopping mall and return through the park, where they can run and explore freely
    the dogs love it, and we really enjoy their enthusiasm and the beautiful greenness around us

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/61760618@N08/sets/72157627331899049/detail/

    my personal adventure today was climbing on top of a big heap of discarded branches and photographing all the beautiful colors and shapes hidden among the leaves and twigs

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/61760618@N08/6053063515/in/photostream

  12. haha… i wish i could say i had some adventures as of lately. but with a 9-week old nursing little one at home, it's hard to get away for anything too adventurous… big or small. but i did get a little quiet get-away recently when the hubby got home from work and took our son for me for a couple hours so i could have some solitude. not really adventurous in the typical sense… but venturing out, none the less…

    http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-summer-nature-preserve-photo-walk.html

    love your tickets sign! so full of nostalgia!

  14. A scary adventure for me. I wrote this yesterday…………..

    How do I feel?

    Shocked at myself. Scared. Nauseous.

    Underneath it all, very well hidden at the moment, is a frisson of excitement.

    Why am I feeling all of this?

    30 minutes ago I instructed an Estate Agent to sell my house.

    It’s been my home for almost 24 years.

    I raised my sons here. I’ve cried here. I’ve laughed here. I’ve despaired here. I’ve loved here. I became sober here. I’ve aged here.

    Every emotion possible has been felt in this house.

    You are aged 119. I’m aged 50. We don’t fit anymore.

    I love you Ferndale. I’m willing to sell you to somebody who will love you too. A family that can also grow within your warm walls & wonky windows.

    How do I feel?

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenhillphotography/6054454176/in/photostream