• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Baseball ’19
  • Day Zero 3
  • Earl
  • My list
  • Photo Blogging Challenge

A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

20 days of chill writing challenge

20 Days of Chill: Slim pickings (Day 9)

January 14, 2016

It had been a few years since I’ve seen Earl.

For those of you who don’t know, Earl is quite the character. There should be way more written about my old pal Earl, alas I just haven’t gotten around to sharing the stories. (if you want to read more about Earl, you can see previous posts by clicking here.)

Earl, you see, isn’t the easiest person to find. Between his quest to reach the PGA and his search of junk food, he’s a hard man to pin down.

Finally, I found him.

I was back in the old stomping grounds not too long ago and I went looking for Earl. It seems nobody had seen him. The main issue? The two donut shops he used to love had shut down.

Now, if you knew Earl, you’d realize that this is a travesty. Earl LOVES donuts. It doesn’t matter what kind of donuts (or how you spell it – donut or doughnut – all the same to Earl), as long as he has his donuts and a fresh cup o’ joe, he’s usually good to go.

So I wandered the town. What had happened to Earl? Where had he gone?

Then he appeared. He was sitting on a park bench staring out into the sky. Next to him was a cup of coffee and a small bag. I quickly approached and when we used to find Earl, he had a twinkle in his eye.

Not so much anymore.

“Earl!” I yelled as I approached. “Where the heck have you been? Nobody has seen you!”

He continued to stare ahead.

I sat down next to him to see if I could get a better feel of what was going on. I stared a little.

“You all right man?”

He let out a deep sigh.

Slowly, he reached next to him and grabbed the small bag. It looked like it had come from one of the local gas stations.

He reached in and pulled out what appeared to be a donut. He turned to me and looked, then looked down at the donut, which obviously was stale. He then crunched it into pieces and let it fall to the ground. This was unheard of with Earl and his love of donuts.

“You OK, Earl? You just massacred a donut”

He looked at me.

“That’s not a donut. That’s crap you find at gas stations.”

If I didn’t know better, I thought a single tear had rolled down his cheek as he looked away.

I was confused. But it turns out Earl’s love of donuts had taken a shot with the closing of the chain spots. He didn’t want boxed donuts. Or ones from gas stations. Heck, he didn’t want the ones from super markets and Walmart. He wanted his donuts.

I assured him he’d have to be able to find some donuts … somewhere, right?

“Not any more,” he said as he stood up. “It’s all slim pickings now.”

Earl then strolled off, his head bowed down toward the ground as he continued his search to find the glory of donuts once again.

This post is part of the 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! You can see the 2016 themes by clicking here. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge, blogging, challenges, Earl, My world, Writing Tagged With: 20 days of chill, 20 days of chill writing challenge, blog, blog challenge, bloggers, blogging, blogging challenge, challenges, earl, writing, writing challenge

8 Comments

20 Days of Chill: A dose of vitamin N (Day 8)

January 13, 2016

There’s something to be said about being outside.

The wonderful smell of trees or freshly mowed grass, or anything else like that. Going for a walk in the serenity of the woods. Seeing flowers start to bloom.

Ahh, vitamin N.

What, you’ve never heard of vitamin N? Me either.

Get outside and get some vitamin N.

Get outside and get some vitamin N.

Turns out vitamin N isn’t real vitamin after all. It’s thought by some to be vitamin Nature – so being outside and enjoying life, basically. Maybe getting out and doing some exercise etc.

I like it!

I probably don’t get enough Vitamin N in my life and I know I need to get more of it, whether it be a walk or just being outside. Maybe it’ll be searching for a geocache. Maybe it’s trying something new. But getting the chance to be outside and breathing in fresh air is a good thing.

Apparently there are pediatricians who actually write prescriptions for kids to be outside with nature. Seriously! Can you imagine?

I’m not sure how it was when you were a kid, but when I was a kid, there weren’t cell phones and the like. An iPad? Ha! Video game systems were an Atari 2600 and eventually the original Nintendo.

We’d be out all day, riding bikes and playing ball or whatever. We explored. We got dirty.

I say all of this and then I am now writing a blog post about being outside …

A few years ago, I’d take a laptop with me and go write sitting in nature. It was actually pretty nice to do. I found I got more written because I’d just look around, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the beauty of being outside.

It was also one of the reasons I got into geocaching. I enjoyed the aspect of having a reason to go walking in the woods. And photography – need I say more?

I am sure most of us could use some additional time in nature. As I write this, I laugh a little as I’m not going to go wandering around too much when it’s cold. But when the warmer weather arrives, I need to start pushing myself more to be out more. Maybe it’s a bike ride after work. Maybe a walk. Maybe I should pick up running some.

Just getting outside is an important thing.

I know I need to start doing it more and pushing myself to be more active. As the weather turns this spring, I’m going to start exploring more and seeing what’s out there. Maybe I can find some new and interesting things. One thing I’d like to do is work on a couple of photo projects and that might help me spread the wings a little, so to speak.

So how about you? Do you get enough “vitamin N?” If so, what do you do? And if you don’t get enough, do you think you should change?

This post is part of the 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! You can see the 2016 themes by clicking here. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge, blogging, challenges, My world, Writing Tagged With: 20 days of chill, 20 days of chill writing challenge, blog, blog challenge, bloggers, blogging, blogging challenge, challenges, writing, writing challenge

10 Comments

20 Days of Chill: Summer rain (Day 7)

January 12, 2016

Rained out.

That seems like the worst call to get in the summer.

No game. Rained out.

That summer rain can end things in a hurry. We have a big game and it’s beautiful all day and then the rain comes at like 4 p.m.

No chance.

Summer rain takes out a game.

Summer rain takes out a game.

The worst thing about the summer rain is making up games. We might have to play on a Friday, or the season gets longer.

Why can’t is just rain a bit overnight and let us have beautiful summer weather?

Heck no. The rains come and down it goes. No game.

Two years ago, our season went on and on and on. I didn’t think it was ever going to end. This season, we didn’t get as many rainouts, though we got a little hosed in the playoffs.

The end result was, thankfully, the same – champs.

Still it would be nice to begin the season on time and end it on time, without any of those pesky rainouts.

The problem with summer rain is how heavy it can be, even when it’s a quick one. Though there have been times when those summer rain storms hit elsewhere in the area and not on the fields.

That’s always a bonus.

You can’t avoid the summer rain, though. It’s going to come and get you, that’s for sure. You just hope it doesn’t come when you want it the least.

This post is part of the 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! You can see the 2016 themes by clicking here. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge, blogging, challenges, My world, Writing Tagged With: 20 days of chill, 20 days of chill writing challenge, blog, blog challenge, bloggers, blogging, blogging challenge, challenges, writing, writing challenge

8 Comments

20 Days of Chill: Life’s turning point (Day 6)

January 11, 2016

When did life turn for you?

Was it when you graduated high school? Turned 21? Finished college? That first job? Bought your first house?

Something else?

In life, people will probably have several turning points in life — sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad. That’s life.

For me, I go back to two times — and it’s all put me where I am today.

February 11, 2011 — when I was let go from my job as an award-winning newspaper reporter because my position had been cut.

And November 2013, when I interviewed and was offered my current job.

So you may be saying … how are two times a turning point. To that, I say “they aren’t.”

It’s that time in between that served as a turning point in life.

You tend to figure out a lot of things when you are unemployed for two and a half years, that’s for sure.

I can’t say I was all happy-go-lucky for that time. It was hard, without a doubt. I don’t even know how many job applications I sent out and didn’t hear back. I had phone interviews and got nothing. I applied for things I was perfectly qualified for. I applied for things I wasn’t qualified for.

I also tried to get into jobs with big-box stores and all that.

About the only thing I didn’t try was to be a waiter or a server somewhere and that’s because I wouldn’t have lasted.

This also happened when we were in the midst of the really bad economic times.

So why was this a turning point? I realized there is still humanity.

I found out how important family was.

Friends were amazing during this time.

People helped in ways they never could know.

I could have easily gone into a state of depression. But I made myself push forward and be as upbeat as I could.

People helped.

I learned to go for walks in scenic places by myself. I learned who I was.

It was a massive turning point for me.

I’m still turning, to an extent. That was a long and dark period in my life and there are parts I am still trying to get over. But, I also know things continue to look up. I look back that time not with fondness, but knowing that it was an important part of my life that helped me shape myself to I am today.

This post is part of the 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! You can see the 2016 themes by clicking here. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge, blogging, challenges, My world, Writing Tagged With: 20 days of chill, 20 days of chill writing challenge, blog, blog challenge, bloggers, blogging, blogging challenge, challenges, writing, writing challenge

9 Comments

20 Days of Chill: A fading memory (Day 5)

January 8, 2016

The old saying is “Life is short.”

While in a true sense of time and the world and the universe and everything else, that’s totally true, the realization is life can be long in some parts.

Throughout life, we make many memories. Some are good. Some are bad. Some are a little of both. Life goes through phases, too. You are young and a child; a teenager; an adult; middle age; retirement etc.

And I’m not a scientist and I can’t say I truly understand how the human brain works, but the reality is most people aren’t going to be able to lock away years and years of memories without anything fading.

How many of you truly remember your childhood.

I have some memories, though they are spotty. I remember little things, like adventures and such. But there are many details I can’t recall. Others, I have pieces of what happened, but the rest has faded over time.

But what do you forget? What fades? It can be a mix, of course. In life we have to deal with loss and death. We get to experience joy with births and marriages and things like that. We get the times where we feel lost.

All of those aspects create memories.

Certain memories, when you don’t get to relive them often, start to fade.

For example, I still remember the smell of my grandmother’s house when she was cooking. She was an Italian lady and when she cooked – she cooked.

But other things – my father’s voice, for example, are harder to still hear, to remember. Fading memories is what they’ve become. I feel, at times, I can remember the sound of voices of people who have passed, but most of the time it’s distant and hard, thus a continually fading memory.

There are a lot of memories I wish would fade, but they stick with me. There are things in my childhood that make me have a hate or a severe dislike of certain times or people because of how they played part in making my life not so fun as a younger person. These memories can often be vivid and easily seen.

But friends and family who have passed on, sometimes those memories fade. The smiles, the advice, the sound of their voices – fading away.

It’s part of how life is.

It’s different now, though.

Technology helps us as a society have memories that may not fade. Digital photography, voice recorders, videos, etc. All of these items will allow people have memories from different parts of their lives. I’ve probably taken more photos of my godson/nephew in his two years on earth than were taken of me for most of my childhood.

It’s a different time.

Selfies and quick videos will allow people to document different things as well as keep records of what people looked like and sounded like.

Whether that’s good or bad is something that will likely be debated for many years. The human mind will continue to work as it does and there will be ways to trigger these fading memories.

It’s a different time now than when I grew up, that’s for sure.

Fading memories happen. It’s a way for the mind to be able to store more memories. In time, some memories fully fade away and that’s part of life. Embrace those memories of yours that don’t fade as they will hopefully allow you to smile and know that life is a wonderful place – most of the time!

This post is part of the 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! You can see the 2016 themes by clicking here. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge, blogging, challenges, My world, Writing Tagged With: 20 days of chill, 20 days of chill writing challenge, blog, blog challenge, bloggers, blogging, blogging challenge, challenges, writing, writing challenge

14 Comments

  • Newer Posts
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 23
  • Go to page 24
  • Go to page 25
  • Go to page 26
  • Go to page 27
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 31
  • Older Posts

Primary Sidebar

Welcome

Welcome to A 'lil HooHaa!

This is a personal website covering many topics! We host a monthly photo blogging challenge, and then every January hold a fun writing challenge.

Thank you for stopping by and hope this becomes a stop for you!

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Follow

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 872 other subscribers

Instagram

hoohaa29

A great bark in the park day Sunday at the Bingham A great bark in the park day Sunday at the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Harper got her first foul ball (as you can see she enjoyed!) and we also had the chance to grab a couple others and give them to some other dogs. All in all, four dogs walked away with balls! 

@rumbleponiesbb #baseball @milb #dogsofinstagram #barkinthepark #dog #playball
One year ago today, I put a down payment on this g One year ago today, I put a down payment on this goof. Two weeks later, she came home … look at her now! 

#goldenretriever #dogsofinstagram #harperdublin
She’s a goof… but she’s my goof. #goldenre She’s a goof… but she’s my goof. 

#goldenretriever #dogsofinstagram #dog
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Twitter

P.J. Follow

Today is a great day to be amazing. Be happy, smile, and say hi to people. Blogger. Photographer. Explorer. #isles #ringthebell

softball29
softball29 P.J. @softball29 ·
24h

New blog post: Photo Blogging Challenge (June 2022): Water. #PBC #PhotoBloggingChallenge #Photography #Challenge https://hoohaa.com/?p=15668

Reply on Twitter 1543425608990035974 Retweet on Twitter 1543425608990035974 Like on Twitter 1543425608990035974 Twitter 1543425608990035974
softball29 P.J. @softball29 ·
30 Jun

Sharing a hot dog with Harper at bark in the park at @SyracuseMets ! #baseball #barkinthepark #dog #dogsoftwitter #hotdog

Reply on Twitter 1542300787715579907 Retweet on Twitter 1542300787715579907 Like on Twitter 1542300787715579907 1 Twitter 1542300787715579907
softball29 P.J. @softball29 ·
27 Jun

A great bark in the park day Sunday at the @RumblePoniesBB. Harper got her first foul ball (as you can see she enjoyed!) and we also had the chance to grab a couple others and give them to some other dogs. #baseball #dogsoftwitter @MiLB

4

Reply on Twitter 1541402082447589377 Retweet on Twitter 1541402082447589377 Like on Twitter 1541402082447589377 Twitter 1541402082447589377
Load More

YouTube

P.J. Harmer

P.J. Harmer
When these boxes come, there usually some excitement. But this one ... is the ultimate unboxing! 

#cielovideo52 #52weekchallenge #week5 #weeklychallenge

Music: Happy to be Happy (Dapun)

► My blog: http://www.hoohaa.com
► Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoohaa29/
► Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/softball29
► Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HooHaaBlog
Unboxing: 5/52
YouTube Video VVVaaDlySXg4aGFrRlJzWVVwZlNYcXNnLnhfZ3NXRWY3QTJF
I hate being in front of the camera, but also realize sometimes it's not the worst thing in the world. So, I'm getting better with it. Week 4's theme was all about us and having us in front of the camera, so I tried to come up with a creative way to do it. 

#cielovideo52 #52weekchallenge #week4 #weeklychallenge

Music: Infinite Wonder (Ben Fox)

► My blog: http://www.hoohaa.com
► Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoohaa29/
► Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/softball29
► Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HooHaaBlog
All about me: Week 4/52
YouTube Video VVVaaDlySXg4aGFrRlJzWVVwZlNYcXNnLmhGbjVMYURXWG9n
The theme for Week 3 of the 52-week video challenge was "Show your process of making something." Alas, I didn't get the time to do what I wanted to do, so I attacked something I filmed over the summer that I kept putting off. 

► My blog: http://www.hoohaa.com
► Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoohaa29/
► Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/softball29
► Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HooHaaBlog
Show your process: Week 3/52
YouTube Video VVVaaDlySXg4aGFrRlJzWVVwZlNYcXNnLmxRbDMyUjVhRzdN
Load More... Subscribe

Archives

Categories

Calendar

July 2022
S M T W T F S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  
« Jun    

Search The Site

Site Information

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

A 'lil HooHaa © 2022 · Created By Coded Creative

Copyright © 2022 · Ava Mae on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...