Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Finding Inspiration in Three days of #Bloganuary
Yes I did, I signed up for daily prompts from Word Press to inspire my blogging, then mostly ignored the emails. Regardless, here’s a brief response to three of the prompts so far, at least my 1,2,3.
Prompt 1: What Road Trip would you love to take?
If asked a few weeks ago I would have said, Route 66, the Mother Road, one of America’s earliest highways running from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. It sounded quite romantic but the more we considered the actual road and the amount of driving involved it seemed like all the good stuff was in the West, mostly Arizona. Like we discovered in Williams, on our trip to the Grand Canyon a few years ago.
So why drive rickety roads through the barren lands of Oklahoma and northern Texas (no disrespect meant) stopping by the occasional quirky restaurant or giant ball of string? Instead, we’re planning a loop through the Southwest, mostly northern Arizona and southern Utah, with stops by the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley and a few of the other National Parks in the area. And yes, with occasional forays onto the Mother Road.
Prompt 2 : Write about the last time you left your comfort zone.
Are you kidding? I’ve been living outside my comfort zone for the past two years just like the rest of you – in a covid infected world: speaking from my little Zoom box, seeing myself as others do (hey – that’s not normal!) and wearing masks in public, all the while wondering if I’m doing enough to stay protected from those nasty airborne particles!
Speaking of masks, my first were homemade from scraps of fabric I had around the house. (I probably looked like I was wearing a pillowcase in those early days but we do what we can.) You may recall I had help from Benji.
Prompt 3 : What was your favorite toy as a child?
I suppose there were some but kids in my era had more fun playing Hide ‘n Seek late into the summer night, jumping across creeks, and building forts in the woods.
But if I had to pick something it would be my troll doll. With its happy face and goofy smile, colorful fragrant hair (I still remember that smell), it was portable enough to take to school. Wish I still had it. I picked up the one below in a collectible store and though the orange isn’t quite what I remember, it will do for now.
Hmm. Perhaps there is inspiration to be found in daily prompts!
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
The troll made me smile, my sister and I played with them as children! And, my friends and I built both tree forts and forts underground and even slept in them overnight! I wonder if kids today know how to have so much fun? Benji is a beautiful cat!
Thanks so much for your comment! So much fun to be had outdoors back then, I wonder if the current generation knows what they’re missing!
That Troll doll looks like it barely made it through the last two years! Looking forward to more small town America pics!
Ha! I think it’s an original, though mine had hair a darker color of orange. Yes, we’re looking forward to a spring road trip, complete with natural beauty and small towns too! 🙂
A photographer friend of mine LOVED his 66 trip through New Mexico and Arizona, so you’re probably on the right track, there. I too loved the troll dolls. I guess we are closer in age than I thought.
I think we’ll get the best of 66 on our road trip in the Southwest. And yes, we probably are close in age, though the exact number remains a closely guarded secret! 😄
I hadn’t thought about my trolls for ages – thank you so much for the memory 😀 I had two – one like yours, small and with orange hair (I called him Noggin after Noggin the Nog – remember him?) and a larger one with bright pink hair – I don’t recall his name, if he indeed had one.
Your south west trip sounds wonderful, very like one we did many years ago (1994 I believe!) I loved the Canyon de Chelly and the history and legends surrounding it. You probably have already thought of these, but do include the North Rim of the Grand Canyon if you can, also Canyonlands NP 🙂 My answer to that question would probably be Route 66, although I understand what you mean about the ‘boring’ bits. But we have a fascination with small town America and I feel fairly confident could find something of interest in most places along the way!
Many of us have fond memories of those little troll dolls! I remember playing with mine at school during recess. 😀
We seriously thought about Route 66 and may still do it someday. But we love the Southwest, and thought that would be easier this spring. We’ve been to most of the parks in the area and even Monument Valley, years ago. We’ve been to the south rim of the Grand Canyon a couple times but not the north so hope to fit that in if possible. So much to see! 😊😊
My mum collected troll dolls in the early 1960s. I think she had around 20 of those before she gave up. Some were as big as small children!
Best wishes, Pete.
That’s a lot of troll dolls! 😊 I only had the small one with orange hair. I have 3 now as I try to find exactly the color I remember from childhood.
OMG, I had a troll doll but I think it had pink hair. Wish I still had a lot of things from back then, but my partner thinks I’ve kept TOO MUCH stuff as it is.
I didn’t save anything! But I do find troll dolls occasionally in collectible stores, so I’ve picked up a couple. They’re small so don’t take up much room! 🙂