Thursday Doors | The Showers of Blessings

Category Archives: Thursday Doors

TDWC – The Doors Behind the Doors

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Miriam Hurdle 42 comments

Dan Antion at No Facilities hosts the annual Thursday Doors Writing Challenge in May. It goes from May 1 to May 31. Bloggers were invited to submit door photos for the prompts. I submitted three door photos. It was my pleasure that Dan used one of my photos as his prompt to write Uncle Otto.

This is my first year participating in Dan’s Thursday Doors Writing Challenge. Kerf’s Zen Garden Entrance caught my eye and inspired me to write this flash fiction piece.

Zen Garden Entrance – photo prompt submitted by Kerf

“The door was there. I swear.” Jack frantically scanned left and right across the wall, unblinking. There was no trace.

He dashed toward the brilliant white wall, banging with both rigid fists. Despaired, dropping to the ground on his knees, arms raised, fingers glued to the wall, knocking with his forehead.

“Calm down. Panicking doesn’t help.” A soothing voice rippled through his head.

“Okay. I don’t have forever to find the door. Hurry.”

He inspected the area where the door appeared, traced up and down, side to side, with his fingertips inch by inch.

His left small finger came to a stop with the sensation of dipping into a dent. He carefully pressed the finger to ensure the position. Replaced the small finger with his right index finger, he tracked the invisible contour clockwise. A metal ring stopped his finger to go further. He hastened to put his fingers through the ring and yanked. The door opened slowly with resistance. He squeezed his left leg and then his body through before letting his fingers leave the ring.

The door closed behind him. It’s pitch black. The glare from the previous room played tricks on his sight. He blinked and blinked. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again.

“Come on. Show me the door. I don’t get all day.”

“Calm down. Panicking doesn’t help.” The soothing voice returned.

“Okay. I know.”

He stepped backward, cupping his head with both hands, sinking his body with his back against the wall until his bottom hit the floor.

His pupils opened slowly. He detected rainbow waves on the wall in a circular room. No sight of a door.

“Of course. Why would you make it easy for me? I’ll find you.”

Even though with no logic, he glides his ten fingers through the waves. Disappointed. His sense of compass direction told him he covered the entire circular ground.

Pressing his ear on the wall, he tapped the surface with his knuckles as he went around again slowly.

“Hollow… hollow… hollow. Wait, this sounds solid. Got to be a door.” He swept the immediate area up and down and around and felt nothing.

He tapped again to find the area between hollow and solid. Then he positioned the upper right body on the solid and thrust with all his might.

The door swung open. He dropped and flew to the other side of the room. He heard a bang.

“Sh**! My head. It hurts.”

“At least you found the door behind the door.” His inner partner justified.

“Now what? Two done, one more to go. Time is running out.”

“Calm down. Panicking doesn’t help. Remember?”

“What is this? What is the Disco Ball doing here? A dancing party?”

“Never mind. Find the last door.”

The reflections from the Disco Ball mirror spun on a wall. Jack could see a door spinning counterclockwise with colored reflections. He ran after the door. The spinning went faster and faster. He was just half a step behind from grabbing the door handle. With determination, he pushed and leaped on his right foot. He did it. His right hand is hooked onto the door handle. As soon as he touched the handle, the door dissipated into darkness. Revealed before his sight was a small rocky and low-ceiling cave.

“Clara! Clara!” His voice echoed.

“Here, Jack?”

“Where?”

“Follow the stream upward.”

“I’m coming.”

“Hurry.”

“Here I am.”

“Untie me.”

“Okay. We have 35 seconds. My watch synchs with the timer.”

“See the light? That’s the opening. Let’s run.”

“Can you run?”

“I can. Let’s go.”

“Ohh, it’s a cliff. The bomb will go off in 5 seconds. Can you jump down to the ocean?”

“We have no choice.”

“Jump away from the rock as far as possible.”

“Okay.”

~ ~ ~

“JACK, JACK.”

“What?”

“You screamed.”

“I did?”

“You fell asleep. You only got a few hours of sleep after your night shift. Thank you for coming to our yacht party for my mom’s birthday. Some guys went down to the boat and just flipped over for a dive. Do you care to join them?”

“I love you, Clara! I’ll give my life to save you.”

“What?”

“I love you so much. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.”

“You talk funny. I love you too. The server opened another bottle of Champaign. Let’s go celebrate.”

“Of course. To your mom and to us.”

~ ~ ~

If you are interested in joining the writing for the Third Annual Thursday Doors Writing Challenge, click the link, pick a door, and write a story, poem, novel, screenplay, musical score – anything at all. Post your writing on your blog and email your post to Dan.

TDWC – The Doors Behind the Doors

Thursday Doors – Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

Posted on May 18, 2023 by Miriam Hurdle 78 comments

The Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge at Dan Antion’s site No Facility for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post and then share a link to your post in the comments in Dan’s post.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day with your mothers in the family last Sunday. We wanted to have Mother’s Day brunch, but many restaurants didn’t accept reservations for Sunday. Just showing up and waiting for several hours wasn’t what we wanted to do. So, we had Mother’s Day dinner on Saturday. On Sunday, we spent the morning visiting Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. It was a delightful trip admiring the beautiful flowers and sceneries there.

I didn’t find any doors at Crystal Springs. So, I borrowed two photos from their neighbors, Reed College and Eastmoreland Golf Course, with doors.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden is a botanical garden located between Reed College and the Eastmoreland Golf course in southeastern Portland, Oregon in the US. The Garden covers 9.49 acres. The first rhododendron show was held in 1956. In 1964, the Garden was officially named Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, for the numerous springs within the Garden.

The original garden was designed by Ruth Hansen, a landscape architect, and a Portland Chapter member. The portion of the garden known as the Peninsula was designed by Wallace K. Huntington and was dedicated in 1977. The rocks used to build the waterfalls and other features were gathered from Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams.

Shortly after entering the Garden, we’re welcomed by an arched wooden bridge over a pond with waterfowl and water creatures. The garden is home to over 100 types of birds and other wildlife.

There are over 2,500 rhododendrons, azaleas, and companion plants in the garden. They are donated by volunteers and interested individuals or purchased with specially donated funds. Rhododendrons typically bloom from late February through July, and peak in late April to early May. The well-maintained Garden is a relaxing place to visit year-round.

Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Springs_Rhododendron_Garden

https://www.portland.gov/parks/crystal-springs-rhododendron-garden

I fell in love with the gorgeous rhododendrons and azaleas. I bought seven varieties and different colors of these beautiful flowers. So far, I planted two azaleas and one rhododendron in my front yard. I’ll plant the other four in the backyard soon.

Check out more Thursday Doors posts by clicking the following link.

Thursday Doors – Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

Thursday Doors – Tulip Festival

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Miriam Hurdle 93 comments

I have two doors in this post. One is the door of the windmill and the other is the door of the Berry-go-round in the kids’ area in the Tulip Farm. The rest of the photos are the tulips that I wanted to share with you.

We had a family outing to visit the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival on Sunday, April 23. This was my first time being there. I had been looking forward to this trip for quite a few years. I missed it one year because the weather was cold, and the flowers were not blooming.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm is 40 acres of land with over 100 varieties of tulips, a windmill, and a view of Mt. Hood on a clear day. The owners have been growing tulips since 1974. The farm has expanded beyond the beautiful tulips and added a gift shop, food, and family-friendly fun in the kids’ area, train rides, and pony rides. Visitors can purchase fresh-cut flowers and potted tulips, or tulip bulbs for fall planting.

Two days prior to the trip, my daughter checked the Daily Field Report. She reminded me to wear boots because the field was muddy. I was glad she thought of reminding me. Wearing my rain boots made me walk freely in the soft mud. We didn’t see Mt Hood because it was cloudy, but at least it wasn’t raining.

We spent almost two hours walking and taking photos of the tulips and admiring the stream trucks. After a light lunch, we took our granddaughters on rides in the kids’ area.

We all had a wonderful and fun day. I hope you liked my selection of the tulips I shared.

Thursday Doors – Tulip Festival

Thursday Doors – Beaverton City

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Miriam Hurdle 102 comments

When Hubby and I were house searching after summer in 2022, we wanted to find a home within twenty minutes of drive from my daughter’s house. Beaverton and Tigard cities had larger inventories in the housing market. Friends recommended Beaverton. Eventually, it was the city of my focus.

Even though we’ve moved into our new home for almost four months, other than going to my daughter’s house, I still like to use Google Maps. I’ve saved about thirty locations for our frequent visits.

I did a little “Getting to Know You” about Beaverton City. What I’ve learned is more than what’s included here. I may bring up other information later.

Beaverton is a city in Washington County in the Tualatin Valley, Oregon, U.S. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in the county and the seventh largest city in Oregon. Beaverton is an economic center for Washington County. It is home to the world headquarters of Nike, Inc. Incidentally, our previous owner was a Nike employee. He moved because he was relocated.

Beaverton covers a total area of 19.7 square miles (51 km²), all of it land except for small creeks, ponds, and lakes. The city is located along the eastern edge of the Tualatin Valley, just west of the Tualatin Mountain. It is bordered by Portland to the east, Hillsboro to the west, and Tigard to the south. Much of the remaining area surrounding Beaverton in the north and southwest constitutes unincorporated Washington County.

Beaverton City is divided into 13 neighborhoods: Central Beaverton, Denney Whitford, Raleigh West, Five Oaks, Triple Creek, Greenway, Highland, Neighbors Southwest, Sexton Mountain, South Beaverton, Vose, West Beaverton, and West Slope.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaverton,_Oregon

Tourist attractions

I’ll tell you some more after I visit these attractions. Several of them are close to my home.

The weather is getting warmer in Portland. In fact, Friday will be 86^oF, and Saturday will be 80^oF.

I took some photos of the doors when I was out and about. There are two sets of doors included. The first set has basically brown doors with different styles.

The second set has colorful doors.

This pink flower tree and its counterpart white flower tree are in bloom right now. I see them everywhere on the road.

Thursday Doors – Beaverton City

Thursday Doors: Toledo, Spain – Part 2

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 78 comments

I have uploaded the ePub file of my book The Winding Road: A Journey of Survival on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Yay! I’ll let it sit for a few days just in case. I’ll set up for the pre-order on August 1, and will have a short launch tour the first week of September. We’ll be gone most of August to spend time with the grandkids, and take a short vacation in Canada for our anniversary later in August. I don’t want to publish the book yet because I don’t want it to be unattended.

This is part 2 of my Toledo, Spain post.

We traveled to seven cities in Spain and spent one to two days in each. Typically, when we arrived in a city, the tour bus drove us around some major sightseeing sites. Some tours are included in the package, but some are excursions which required additional fees. I usually paid for all the excursions, so I don’t remember which ones are included in the basic package.

We arrived in Madrid and took a quick tour around town. The tour coach drove about 45 minutes from Madrid to Toledo. Toledo is about 89.6 square miles. It didn’t take long to go on foot to view some sights. After we did some sightseeing of the exterior of the buildings, we toured the interior of The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca. We also visited the Museum of Swords. I’m presenting the locations in the sequence of our itinerary.

The Church of San Román (Iglesia de San Román) was constructed with a Mudéjar design during the 13th century. It is one of the oldest in Toledo. Inside are stunning horseshoe arches characteristic of Islamic architecture. They are decorated with Romanesque and Arabic frescos painted with warm hues of orange and red. The structure is now the Museum of Visigothic Councils and Culture. The photo on the right is from Wikipedia.

The Primatial Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo (Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo), known as Toledo Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church. The cathedral of Toledo is one of the three 13th-century High Gothic cathedrals in Spain and is considered to be the magnum opus (a great work especially the greatest achievement of an artist or writer) of the Gothic style in Spain. It was begun in 1226 under the rule of Ferdinand III and the last Gothic contributions were made in the 15th century when, in 1493, the vaults of the central nave were finished during the time of the Catholic Monarchs.

The Museum of the Army (Museo del Ejército) is a national museum attached to the Ministry of Defense. The history of the museum began in 1803 when the royal military museum was established in a building in Madrid known as the Palacio de Monteleón. The building also served as a barracks for artillery units, and it was attacked and looted by the French when they suppressed the Dos de Mayo Uprising of 1808. The museum was reestablished, but in 1827 it was divided into two sections: the Museo de Artillery and the Museo de Ingenious. The collections were moved from Madrid to Toledo in 2010.

The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca (Sinagoga de Santa María La Blanca, which means ‘Synagogue of Saint Mary the White’) is a museum and former synagogue in Toledo. Erected in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, it is considered the oldest synagogue building in Europe still standing. The building was converted into a Catholic church in the early 15th century. The synagogue is located in the former Jewish quarter of the city. It is one of three preserved synagogues constructed by Jews in a Mudéjar or Moorish style.

We toured the interior of The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca. The columns are in white. I waited a long time to take a phot with no people in it.

The Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes (Monasterio de San Juan de Los Reyes) is in the heart of Toledo’s Jewish Quarter. The late-Gothic style monastery was built in the 15th century to commemorate the political victory of the Catholic Monarchs. The structure is beautifully decorated both on the inside and out. The interior features a combination of late Gothic-style detailing on the bottom floor and a Mudéjar design on the top floor.

Museum of Sword – Toledo steel, historically known for being unusually hard, has been a traditional sword-making, metal-working center since the Roman period, and came to the attention of Rome when used by Hannibal in the Punic Wars. It soon became a standard source of weaponry for Roman legions. Toledo produced all of the swords for the film trilogy and apparently some of the rings. This should explain the number of Lord of the Rings-themed shops that are around town selling swords and memorabilia.

We toured the forge of the Museum of Sword where a blacksmith demonstrated the process of forging a sword. This facility is for demonstration only. The current facility is moved to somewhere that produces large quantity of swords.

Lynton is checking out the Japanese samurai sword

Toledo Puente de Alcántara, a 13th Century Boorish Bridge, is a beautiful historic bridge situated below the medieval Castle of San Servando. It is an elegant arch-style bridge that stretches across the Tagus River which surrounds the historic center. The old Roman bridge used to be the only entry to the city for pilgrims. While the Puente de Alcantara originates from Roman times, the bridge we see today was rebuilt in the 10th century after it was damaged.