Bridges of Fleming County...sort of

Last Saturday we took a day trip out to Eastern Kentucky.

I fell in love with Kentucky the first time I visited in March, 1998 - and then moved here shortly after. The first fall I spent in Louisville was stunning! I grew up on the west coast...we didn't have a lot of fall colour, mostly yellow...perhaps a touch of orange or red now and then, but predominately yellow. or brown. fun for the crunching under feet sound, but not much gloriousness to look at. Kentucky is a different world when it comes to fall colour...orange. red. purple-magenta-plum-y shades. Deep, rich colours that take my breath away.

Pair the perfect autumn day with a full tank of gas and voilà! mini one day holiday.

The plan was to visit and photograph four of the 13 covered bridges remaining in Kentucky - there used to be over 400 - three of them in Fleming County.

The thing about day trips and "planned" excursions is that you have to leave room for the unexpected and spontaneous.

After a late start Saturday morning, we arrived at our first bridge, in Bourbon County, mid-afternoon.

The Colville Covered Bridge, built in 1877, fully restored in 2001.

Colville Covered Bridge. Bourbon County, Kentucky. keg 10.13.12

Next to Hinkston Creek. Bourbon County, Kentucky. keg 10.12.12

We nibbled on a quick picnic lunch and then headed off toward the next bridge destination.

...and a change of plans.

While driving along Highway 36 we passed a yard sale. They had several old 6-pane window frames with the glass still in place; they gave me a couple of ideas. So we turned around to have a look and inquire about the windows. When we pulled in the driveway I noticed an old tractor, nearly covered in weeds and growth, at the top of a small incline, by two beautiful old tobacco barns.

I purchased two of the windows, and asked Jethro and Connie (the couple having the yard sale - they introduced themselves almost as soon as we walked up) if we could run up and take some shots of the barns. They said yes.

Somewhere along highway 36. keg 10.12.12

swoon. keg 10.13.12

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We found at least 10 more yard sales along highways 36 and 11...stopped at a couple...found a few more fabulous finds, including 2 vintage 70's purses which I scored for a total of $5.00.

The late start and unexpected yard sale stops resulted in too little light to continue our covered bridge search that afternoon, but in no way am I disappointed by the events of the afternoon and the resulting photographs and fantastic finds of my Eastern Kentucky day trip.

Confidence is...

This is the last prompt for a time.

The Absinthe Road is going on haitus.

This post marks 2 years. and I feel that it is time for a re-assessment. re-organization. re-purposing.

I was thinking the other day about confidence. how even the most confident, beautiful, amazing people, have their insecurities.

How, on the outside, someone may exude confidence and security. but their secret may be that they hate their thighs. their teeth. their nose.

Prompt #104: For today's prompt I want you to take your insecurity...and glorify it. find the "something beautiful" in the thing you dislike most about yourself.

The biggest and most heartfelt thank you to those who have followed and congratulations on all you have written.

and if you'd like...check out my daily blog at Things I Love - 365 days

crawling down your sleeves...

It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them. The words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page. ~ Joan Baez 

I have always felt this way about my poetry...as though, when writing...I am channeling the stars. 

There is something magical in writing. it's almost hypnotic. 

Prompt #103: does your writing crawl down your sleeve? let it.  

Popcorn pops again...

Prompt #102: use the following words in a poem or other creative piece...
Vacillate. Corruption. Distance. Voice. Challenge. Determination.

write write write!

It's April.

It's National Poetry Month.

and Robert Lee Brewer is at it again. It's the 5th annual April Poetry challenge.

every day this month, Robert will be posting a prompt. and really, it doesn't have to be poetry specific. you can take the prompt and fly anywhere with it.

or choose any of the multitudes of April challenge prompts that happen to be out there. what's important is that you are inspired to write.

so...

Prompt #101: pick a National Poetry Month prompt and write write write! get poeming. get noveling. get writing!

3KD

It's my 100th post.

I feel like I should do something special.

so, on a whim...your prompt is this:

Prompt #100: email me at karen(at)karenegreene(dot)com and tell me why you'd like to have a copy of my poetry collection Three Thousand Doors. I will randomly pick a winner and announce next week.

Invisible ink...

The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible. ~Vladimir Nabokov

Prompt #99: What will you put on that blank page today? Look out your window, look in your front yard...or the back yard. look down the street...start writing about the first thing your eyes land on. poem it. song it. essay it.