July 27 Prompt

Hello.
Hope you all had a good week. I'm not sure, but have we been doing these prompts for a year? I can't remember when we started, but I have really enjoyed do this, and I hope that you all have found somethings that you can write about. If anyone knows when we started e mail me. k I'd like to do a little celebration via Internet.


"Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself."
--Cicero

My family and I live in a neighborhood of 50 year old homes. The houses seem to have a life expiration on them. A few years ago the roofs were all being redone. Then there was a faze of the houses getting new paint jobs. (And they all were needed). In the past two years everyone has been having the main line to the street done. The plumbers show up and the owners go out to meet them. They all have the same expressions. I know, we had to have our main line re plumbed two years ago. The plumbers and owners stand in the yard. The plumber points to the extra large Ash tree near the street. I know what they are saying. "This tree is beautiful but the roots have invaded your pipes. The old pipes are terra cotta and they crack and once the water drains out the roots go for the water." The owners look sad. You can see the dollar signs floating in the air above their heads. Some have had the plumbers just clean the line and send the man on his way. Then in a few months the truck appears with a different plumber. The story repeats. The neighbor across the street from us was the first one to have the plumber replace the main line to the street. She is a wise and savvy shopper so she got some day laborers to do the digging. The process seemed easy enough but when we had the plumber out to do ours we were not as lucky. With more dollars floating around our conversation the plumber told us that we had two lines going to the street and at a "y" of piles there were nothing but shards of ceramic.
The neighbors around us are now going though the same thing. Their sad faces and the dollar signs can't be missed. We've been there before and feel their pain of loosing pipes and replacing them. The yards are dug up and burly guys unload the trucks. PVC pipes littering the yard is a sign that the main line is the problem. Sometimes small back hoes are brought in to wheel around the dirt and rocks. But the look is aways the same on the owner's faces. Sadness at the decline of their home. And that the beautiful tree in the front of their home could do such damage.

Here are some words to choose from; ranch, fence, boards, farm, birds, clay, cup, pen, paper, magnet, coaster, bike, book, bell, disk, plate.
Choose one of these word and write it at the top of the page/paper. Now do some word association and write every word that comes to mind down the center of the page. Try to go all the way down the page to the bottom.
Now pick on of the words you like and write a poem or a story that seems to go with the word. Let the stream of writing flow and do not edit! There might be some really bad stuff but there might be some very good stuff. See what happens. If you get something out of this send it to Laura, for Fresh Ink. If you don't get anything then just remember this when you feel blocked. It is a good exercise to get your writing muscle going.
Have a great weekend.
Keep writing!
Aleta