Alyice on March 11th, 2010

Echo Challenge Illuminate

“Clever people master life; the wise illuminate it.”
– Emile Nolde

It’s echo time! This time the prompt is “Illuminate”. Just reading the word “illuminate” conjures up all kinds of thoughts: to shine light on a situation, to brighten a dark path, to enlighten the mind, to give hope to the hurting.

There were so many directions I could’ve gone with this one word. So many things I could have said and images I could’ve shown. But ultimately, I was stuck on one event—one moment in time.

The day was July 4.
The time, my childhood.
The event, fireworks.

Every 4th of July as a child, growing up in the projects, was magical—and illuminating. While we often avoided going out after dark, we always managed to fill the streets on this one special day. The lights in our neighborhood were all but non-existent as one by one boxes of fireworks were opened and shared amongst the children.

My favorite piece of firework was the Sparkler. I could hold a Sparkler in my hand until the very last second.

I could still hear my mother’s voice reminding me not to drop it on the grass as “it could catch on fire” or reminding me not to wave it in the face of another child as the sparks could “put out an eye” or “catch someone’s hair on fire”—which actually did happen once, the hair on fire thing I mean.

It’s funny how childhood memories fade over time, and yet some remain as vivid and real as the day you experienced them.

Until next time…

P.S.
Please stop by my Echo partner’s post on Illuminate.

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One Comment

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Bren says:
LOL! I heard the SAME “rules” myself, then I passed the same rule onto my kids! Funny how that works. )
Posted at 4:20 pm March 11th, 2010

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I'm a freelance writer, mixed media artist, SMVA, and the owner of The Dabbling Mum.

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