364 words, maybe not the most grammatically correct of full sentences (especially if you'd ask my high school english teacher), but I thought that it sounded more poetic and more in line with the feeling I was trying to convey to kinda set it up this way, hope that's ok!
340 Words: With each harvest, the memories of life on the farm with my grandparents come flooding back. Harvest is no doubt a time of hard work and sleepless nights, my grandparents always made sure that we found joy in the work. Whether it was joys found while working in the field with Grandpa or joys in the house with Grandma as the family came together for snacks and meal, I’m forever grateful for all they taught us. Working hard together can actually be fun. As an adult I now know the pressures that each role of harvest carried, but both made it seem effortless. Each harvest, my Dad and his siblings continue Grandpa and Grandma’s legacy working hard together and having a good time while doing it. At times others of us roll in and help a little here and there. Just seeing the family in the field working together brings out all the feels, or “allergies” as we like to call them in our family when we get a little misty eyed. I know my grandparents would be so proud and are smiling down from heaven watching as everyone works together and finds the joy regardless of how hard the works. Truth be told, just seeing the family in the field brings back the memories of Grandpa talking on the radio, Grandpa letting us ride along and also riding out the field with Grandma with lunch. I can smell the fresh bread and fresh cookies, the summer sausage sandwiches and taste the Pepsi to wash it all down. I can hear Grandpa’s glass of ice clicking its way to the field, the glass of ice he would refreeze after every use for who knows how many days. I know now the challenge of making fresh bread and how much patience it takes to make cookies so I better understand now the level of hard work Grandma was putting in whether she was out in the field or not. Thankful every day for the values my Grandparents instilled in our family.
437 words When I joined the Navy in 1992 my first posting after recruit school was to 'F' Troop. The was the training squadron where we did all our practical learning. We practised on old out of service aircraft like Vietnam era Hueys That had been first delivered to the RAN 9 years before I was born and last delivered 10 years before I joined up. Going through versions UH-1B, C & D. Members of the Royal Australian Navy flew several variants of this aircraft in both the gunship and utility configuration as part of the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam and with 9 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force. Most people associate them with the Army in Vietnam but the Navy had them too. This one in particular is full of memories for me. 898 is a UH-1B. I have laid upside down with my head in the nose cone (where you see the pilots feet) to repair electronic parts of the navigation and flight systems. I have also stood up under the rotors inside the aircraft in a hole only a maintainer would know lol. I learned to lockwire, build and repairs looms on this girl. I remember learning to patch and repair on her even though it is an ATA job as a just in case training experience, using wet n dry sandpaper to rub her back. My first flight as a ATC was in this kite. We flew from Nowra to Bowral over the bush and the reservoir. She is very special to me. Obviously she reached a point where she was put into storage and transferred to Historic Flight. She is now part of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society. In October 2020 898 made significant steps back towards full flight status as a HARS historic airframe. On the 18th of November 2020, preceded by its unmistakable sound and right on 0930 hours, HARS Navy Heritage Flight's UH-1B Huey 898 put in a majestic appearance at the Open Tarmac Day, the culmination of years of restoration work by volunteers at its Aviation Affairs base in Nowra. A mate i joined with (30 years ago this year) works at HARS and has kept up to date as she progressed. He even sent me a clip of her flying where you can hear the distinct Huey 'thwok thwok" sound. I was so happy I cried. To this day I stop dead wherever I am if I hear the sweet sound of a "wokka Wokka'. He and I spent a lot of time together working on her. These pictures are from her first official public flight at the Open Day.
So many possibilities for this challenge. Wonderful people, special places, memorable moments, I found it hard to choose. Until the local ferries came up in a townhall meeting last Monday. Someone said how they' used to go for a "ferry round' with the kids. We do that too, so that's when I knew I had to make my tribute page about the ferry. Journaling in the gallery, word count 315.
I have run out of time so putting this up but not happy with the colour of the frame I created. Day-26---Rememberance by Dannisa posted Feb 2, 2022 at 10:58 PM
My Tribute/Remembrance Is All About My Amazing! Mom!...She Was The Best Mom!...She Loved Us All Very Much!...She Has Long Passed Now But I Miss Her Everyday...We Were Best Friends...She Taught Me So Much All About Baking,Music & Life...She Was A Funny! Lady!...Loved Everyone!...& Had A Heart Of Gold!...Each Day I Remember Her & Wish She Was Here...I Cried Briefly While Writing This...Stopped & Cried Again After Looking At The Final Page...Certainly Something I Don't Do That Much Of...But I'm Super Happy At How It Turned Out... Love You Mom!...Miss You Always...Hearts & Hugs Always,Rhonda...xoxo......I Have 404 Words Total... For My Amazing Mom Layout- I Used : *Wildflowers By Rachel Jefferies *T Is For Together-Rachel Jefferies *Strength Of A Woman-PT-Old Vintage Paper/Hello 2012-Colorstyles-Overlays-NBK Design *Font : Orator Std Medium
437 words This week this world lost a person who played an enormous part in shaping the lives so many kids from Hortonville, WI, including this girl. In fact, I do not know that I could point to any other single teacher or coach and measure an impact as great as what Clif left behind. When I signed up to join the forensics team, there is no way that I could have predicted the world that would be opened to me. I selected demonstration speaking and eagerly started writing a speech to demonstrate how to show a dog in dog show. I would go on to do two more year of demonstration speaking and a year oratory before I found my true passion, debate. Hortonville did not have a debate team. Clif had never coached debate before. However, to get to be recognized among the elite programs by the National Forensics League, you needed to do both. So, he went to a coach’s summer camp and taught himself how to coach debate. I was on that first debate team and we were not very successful…we rarely won rounds much less a tournament in those early years. Nevertheless, I never wanted to get better at anything as badly as I wanted to get better at debate. Clif found summer camps and other former debaters to help grow our skills. He drove us all over the state and parts of the country to get us the best possible experiences. He helped me reach my goal of qualifying for national tournaments. I always knew he was a great coach and teacher but I did not get a full appreciation for what a great mentor and man he was until much later in life. Disguised in coaching forensics and debate, he helped me find the drive that you need to be great at something…a life skill I use every day. Disguised as road trips to tournaments that would be fun he opened my eyes to places that a girl growing up in a small town would not have seen and may not have gone looking for on her own. Disguised as request to help run a tournament or work with younger student he created the understanding that service is important and a vital responsibility of each person to ensure the future…and learning how to coach did not hurt either….again … a life skill that I use every day as a parent and boss. Disguised as calls to see if I would judge next weekend or to get my feedback on the latest argument the team was working on, was a person making sure that the girl who went off to college was adjusting OK since her parents, having never gone to college, didn’t really know if she wasn’t OK even if she said she was. I am so incredible grateful for his presence in my life and for him seeing and inspiring things in me that I did not know were possible. I am also incredible grateful to his family for sharing Clif with us even when there was not enough time to share. Clif will be missed, but never forgotten.