Connected

It’ has been almost a month since I responded to a Word Press weekly photo challenge. I’ve been doing the photo challenges off and on since Mary from Wilderness of Words introduced me to them. Thank you, Mary.

The photo challenges have me connected with a different way of sharing how I make the days count, every day. This week’s challenge is connected. The verb “connect” is among the most versatile ones in contemporary usage. We turn to it to describe an emotional click with another person, but also to talk about the status of our (ever-proliferating) gadgets. The word has it’s origins in Latin

con + nectre

which in Latin translates ‘to bind with’ using the word formula

con means with and nectre means to bind, 

word meaning = suffix meaning + root meaning + prefix meaning

Once upon a time, I taught English Language Arts and we studied word parts and word part meanings.  When I was younger, much younger, studying word parts helped me unlock word meanings and in turn opened up a new way understanding. It connected me to meaning. When I taught word parts to my students, I could see the same thing happening to them as understanding word parts led to deeper word meaning and connection. I still pay attention to word parts, but not like I did when I was in the thick of teaching them.

Our town has a weekly farm market; they call it a French Market, because the market stalls resemble the type of street markets in France. I’ve seen in the Parisian neighborhoods and I remember them from our last trip to France and Nice in ‘97. Metal frames support a fiberglass roof. Workers set up the market stalls late Friday night and the vendors set up early Saturday morning. The French market comes to town beginning with the last Saturday in April and it lasts until the last Saturday in October. There is a vendor who’s been there as long as I’ve been going. Ari’s Flowers. They have the best flowers and assortment of roses and other flowers AND their flowers are inexpensive – $18 a dozen for roses – of any color. Pink, bright pink, pale pink, yellow, red, white, orange – I’ve even seen lavender and a pale green rose. Most times I get pink or yellow or a blend of colors, but never red. I learned a long time ago my wife didn’t like red roses. It’s my wife’s birthday next weekend. I got her flowers this week and I’ll get flowers next weekend – our home has been flower-less for a while since Mother’s Day and it was time.

This week’s photo challenge suggested setting up a mesh – a new way of sharing photos. I decided to give it a whirl. It’s fairly simple. I created an account, downloaded the app to my iPhone, and uploaded my photos. You can login with your Word Press account, so there is not another user name and password to remember – which seems to be the undoing of me lately. More on that subject another time.

The result is the slide show at the top and here. I double-dipped, for simplicity’s sake.

W’s team won their game yesterday. They played well, despite having a brand new quarterback behind center. It’s Sunday and there is church in the park this morning with a church picnic afterwards, later perhaps a bit of fun family time. Today’s is gonna be a great day. I know it and I can feel it. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, one dozen roses are always a good a good idea – staying connected.

What kind of flowers do you prefer? Colors?

In this week’s challenge, share a photo, a gallery, or a mesh of what being connected means to you. You may choose to focus on one of the verb’s meanings or on several, and you can go literal or figurative, abstract or explicit: whatever you see fit. I can’t wait to see the photos you share!

17 thoughts on “Connected

    1. Thank you. One of my favorite photos of her was with W on their first Mother’s Day in ’98 – the two of them together with a bouquet of assorted roses. and I will pass on the birthday wishes! Enjoy your week.

  1. Time for a password app. I pay a little and use Dashlane. It logs me into sites automatically, keeps track of all passwords, generates new ones, automatically sets new passwords if requested. A huge time saver.

    Gorgeous roses and good for you for filling your flower-less house. Cheers —

    1. Thank you for the advice – I am going to give it a whirl and see how it all works. We tried a new restaurant last night – BBQ good food and perfect dinner to round out the official weekend – we have today left – it will go quickly, but the flowers will last until Friday or so – new batch on Saturday and I’ll go in the morning this time! Have a wonderful week, enjoy.

  2. I keep enjoying the flowers in my own garden. It’s been a wonderful year for blooms. I’ve replaced some of the leggy petunias with fall chrysanthemums. They’re not blooming yet, the buds still green and tight, but soon they’ll burst with vibrant color and give the leaves a challenge for supremacy. Maybe I’ll post some photos of my own to my blog.

    1. Looking forward to seeing them – the roses look great in the kitchen and the garden is in transition from late summer to fall. Black-eyed Susans abound and we have a couple of Xenias. Soon…. fall will be here. Have a wonderful week ahead.

      1. Hello Clay, I just planted some fall chrysanthemums. We have a lovely gentle rain today so they should get a good start. Your garden sounds amazing too. That does it, as soon as the rain stops, I’m posting some new photos to share with my visitors. Thanks for the encouragement. Stay well.

    1. I love our flowers in the garden and your comment reminded me that June was peony time and we had lillies on the table up North in July. I was only thinking of bought flowers – how short-sided! In the winter the Ari’s Flowers goes indoor – so I can keep the color when everything outside has gone dormant. Thanks for stopping in and have a great week!

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