Writing Challenge: The Devil In Details
Your challenge this week is to practice your powers of observation. Take any person, place, or event, and write three paragraphs describing your subject in great detail.
As I sit on the oversized chair in my living room trying to relax from a long day of labor. I can’t help but be calmed by the last beam of sun breaking through the front window. The natural light bounces off a pink antique dish leaving a magnificent collaboration of colors on the floor. My big beagle Chester is laying in its bright center, no doubt enjoying the warmth it is providing. His breathing is calm, as the colors seem to dance about his body. He remains unnerved as he snores his peaceful snores in the center of a sunbeam. Life is good!
In the background of this peaceful scene President Obama is delivering his Inauguration speech to our nation. I can hear the strength in his voice as he reminds us of our duties as citizens. I can hear the passion in voice as he eloquently reminds us of the importance of compromise. I hear the hope in his voice as informs us that “peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.” My heart begins to warm, my mind begins to ease and I become settled with the confidence that our future will be bright. Life is good!
The sun is about to turn in for the night. Chester begins to stir as if a warm blanket has just been removed when the last of that sunbeam makes its way back out the window. The scent of sautéed onions begins to fill the room with a sweet aroma. Onions? Dinner? Shit! Shit! Shit! I got to the pan just in time to turn off the gas flame, rescuing those caramelized beauties from a tragic demise. My pot of boiling water was now on the edge of extinction, but quickly resuscitated with a new batch of fresh water. The poor baby carrots appeared to be involved in some sort of rapid dance-off. As I lowered the heat they all seemed to collapse to the bottom of the pan surrendering to their exhaustion. They showed no signs of life until I drizzled them with honey and they began pleading to be consumed. Life is Good!
Life is full of surprises…Enjoy the Ride!
Life With The Top Down 
it’s moments such as these that break through the noise of life and show us how truly good life really is..
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Indeed!
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Thanks for the little vignette about your afternoon and the dancing carrots. Very descriptive. Well done, BTG
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Thank you!
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Good description! in the center of a sunbeam… I love that phrase!
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Thank you! I could use a sunbeam right about now…it’s freezing!
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Don’t you hate it when you are having an “ahhh” moment, revelling in the peace and calm and you forget the onions?? Thanks for sharing this. DAF
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Hahaha! You got me. I should have known your retreat wouldn’t last. Excellent!
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Seriously, what the heck was I thinking?
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And now you know the genesis of “Cajun blackened” dishes…. 😉
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Hahahaha!
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Whew! You almost had to call Dominos! Close call!
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It really was….yikes!
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I feel there’s been a shift in the President’s stance, and he seems to be coming from a more confident space, a more profound core. I’m filled with hope that the work that needs to be done will, at the very least, be started! xoxoM
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I certainly hope so too!
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I too sat glued to the TV, with hope and stardust promise in my eyes. If goodness wins out, we should make progress in Obama’s next term of office. Hope you enjoyed those caramelized onions! I can smell the from here!
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Such a lovely thought…thanks for stopping by!
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It was a wonderful day, yesterday, wasn’t it? Life is DAMN good!
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Indeed it was Elyse. Did you attend the festivities?
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No. I don’t do crowds of people. But I watched every minute of it!
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Gah! Those moments never last!
Loved your descriptions, especially the dancing carrots
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Thank you!
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You set the scene well, and as I read along, basking in the comforting glow of you words, I was waiting for the disaster I knew was forthcoming. It came in a near cooking misadventure… but you saved the day in such a descriptive way! Good one…
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Thank you Ted!
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What beautiful pictures your words conveyed!
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Such detailed descriptions that I thought I was right there with you, even screaming the “sh..” word!
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Watching the President, I find, is always calming and gives one hope. So I can see you becoming so relaxed and then in a split second, sprinting for the stove. Too funny!
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