Special Thanks Thursday – #ThursdayDoors

If you’ve come for the doors, you should know two things, 1) Norm is taking the day off, but 2) of course there will be doors. But first, I want to take a few moments to thank two special people in the universe that is WordPress – Norm Frampton, and Linda G. Hill.

Norm, of course, brings us the weekly blogfest that is Thursday Doors. I think it goes without saying that I enjoy Thursday Doors. In fact, I haven’t looked at buildings the same way since I published my first door (yes, singular) post back in 2015.

I also have some experience managing a blogfest (Cherished Blogfest) and I’ve had the pleasure or filling in for Norm on a couple of occasions, so I know how much work is involved in running a blogfest. Scheduling the start and end time, marketing, visiting the individual contributions, commenting on those posts and sharing them in social media, all require time. Every time we click on the little blue frog, it works because Norm has ‘made it so’ (to quote another favorite leader of mine).

Bracketing Thursday Doors on No Facilities are two challenge prompts that have become very important to me. “One-Liner Wednesday” and “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” were once periodic endeavors and are now fixtures on this blog. Before I elaborate, let me add that both of these challenges are managed by author, editor, and all-around-good-girl Linda G. Hill, and both require a similar amount of planning and effort that I described above.

I started participating in One-Liner Wednesday almost exactly three years ago. Believe it or not, that first one-liner consisted of 38 words. From there, my one-liners grew to 42, 94 and 156 words before I completely lost the one-line concept. What can I say, I believe in the importance of the backstory. Another thing to remember about my one-liners is that they are not edited. So, if you notice typos or violations of the rules of grammar, they are my fault, not The Editor’s.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is the most curious bit of writing on No Facilities. I started with #SoCS in October 2014. I continued, but not consistently. I enjoyed the challenge of stream of consciousness writing, but I often had already done more than the “minimal planning” that Linda suggests should be completed. I also enjoyed another series on this blog, “If We Were Having a Beer.” Apparently, I’ve been visiting the bar longer than any of these prompts – that sounds like me. My first post from the bar was in January of 2015, but like #SoCS, bar posts were a periodic thing. It wasn’t until 2017 that I attempted to merge the two categories.

I credit Linda with driving that merger. Her prompts were always interesting, often made compelling with the addition of bonus points. The merger was complete sometime in the fall of 2017. Since then, I have attempted to write dialog from the bar while addressing the #SoCS prompt. It doesn’t always work. Sometimes I fix it (and acknowledge that I failed by having to edit) and sometimes, the dialog wanders and we don’t know who’s speaking.

While thanking Linda for encouraging me to think faster on my feet, as it were, I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank two others. At some point in the summer of 2015, John W. Howell suggested that I should attempt to lose the introductory paragraphs and focus on tagless dialog. The idea scared me, but I tried. In many ways, I am still trying, but I do thank him for his encouragement, because I enjoy this style of writing very much. I apologize when I lose you in the conversation, I guess sometimes, you have to be there.

Speaking of being there, I also want to thank our bartender, Cheryl K. Pennington. Cheryl stepped behind the bar one Saturday in 2015 and decided to keep the job. She has only missed a few days, when I wanted to tell a story where the bartender was a problem – Brad, a.k.a. Skippy fills in for her on those days. Cheryl is a good sport, and she’s been quick to clarify some points where her opinion is important.

I’m almost done, just two more people to thank. Thanks to The Editor for reading three posts each week, sometimes twice, and for having paid attention in the classes I found boring. You know, the ones on spelling and grammar. Last, but most important, thank you! Thanks for reading. Thanks for your comments and a special thank you to those of you who have inspired posts at this place – you know who you are.

Today’s gallery features the favorite doors that didn’t make the cut last week.

Something tells me Verizon didn’t choose this door.

“Free Poetry” – My kind of free small library.

I love the two little doors.

A firehouse in the 1800’s. Still a beautiful building.

The door needs some work, but the sign is perfect.

Another central Pennsylvania farm. I love barns.

Exiting Grand Central

Good to know there’s still a fallout shelter near DC.

I know, it’s only a garage door, but I had to include that sign, and that window.

The Tudor arch has a “squashed” (symbolizing weight) appearance vs. the Pointed arch of the window.

Lots of lumber in here

I had to include this one – Joey will like those lamps.

This is a side entrance to the Post Office and Courthouse.

Powder Hollow Brewery

I do like letter-boxes, and since they al have a door, I can share them here. This was in my hotel.

The entrance to St. Joseph’s Church in San Antonio is inviting.

Side doors to the back of the sanctuary.