Reflections on the A-to-Z 2013 Challenge

April has ended, and with it, the A to Z 2013 Challenge!  What a rush!  What an outpouring of writing and talent!

Reflection time?  You betcha.

Introspection:

I approached this year differently.  I wrote two letters in a combined theme---A with B on April 1 & 2, etc.  I really enjoyed this as it was a challenge and mentally entertaining. 

Also challenging was keeping the posts short, two-hundred words or so.  The K-L posts were the longest, since those were stories.  Using less and more precise words strengthened the writing.

Playing with words and ideas—those are the joys of writing.

Overall Reflections:

What others’ blog postings did I consider successful? 

Topics which were universally interesting engaged me immediately.  I enjoyed reading and learning about people's lives, countries, cultures, etc.  Good writing is good writing, period.

What made some blog postings hard to read, thus shortening my interest?

Lengthy dense writing lost me.  

Long, over-written paragraphs with no space-breaks were difficult to follow and to maintain interest.

 

I have migraines and my eyes suffer as a result. On my own blog, the background is almost black, the print is white, and the font is “Bookman Old”.   This helps my eyes.  

As a teacher, I found that using a pale blue or green was easier for students to read; the glare was reduced and the words were ‘anchored’ on the paper.  Fonts and colors should be considered for readability, not for artistic value.

   

What made some blogs better than others?

Most people enjoy visuals, photos, cartoons, YouTube, etc.  A picture truly is worth a thousand words. 

The A to Z Team was awesome.  

An over-used word, “Awesome”, but it applies here.  I loved the daily suggestions and helpful hints found at different Team Members’ sites.  I appreciated how the two-thousand participants attached their genres next to their URL. 

Will I participate in the next A to Z?  You betcha.

Y-Z Posts: Yodeling, part 1

Music comes down from the tall Alpine mountain, echoing through the valleys, and into the villages that dot the valley floor.  Vigorous and melodic, the music continues for miles.

Yodeling is a form of singing that exists in countries worldwide.  It started as a forming of ‘yelling’ for lack of a better word.  The word ‘yodel’ came from a German Bavaria word jodeln, with the jo given the yo sound. 

per Wikipedia

It was a way of communicating through long distances in the Alpine valleys, since the high-low-high-low sound bounces around and off the rocks.  Think of riding in a school bus, and you can see how the yodel would travel through the valley.

The letter Y is for “yodeling”.  Can you think what Z will bring?

W-X Posts: Wyvern and "X", part 1

The letter “W” whirls around my brain like a washer on heavy duty spin.  All my great ideas, the ones I took rigorous notes and scribbles about back in March, now smell as bad as a tri-color pasta salad left too long in the trunk.
 

No, I am just teasing.  I decided to go with a monster theme here, naming one with "W" and the other with "X".

So here it is: 

Wyvern: n.  (heraldry) a two-legged dragon with outspread wings and a barbed tail [M.E. wyver fr. O.F. wyvre, var. of vivre, serpent]  

It makes me wonder how this creature (mythical, I hope) was created.  It took some creative minds and some frightened peasants to come up with such an extreme creature.  Two legs!  Wings!  A dragon!  Barbed tail!  Nothing in God's animal kingdom existed like this Wyvern.  Extremely creative.  Extremely frightening!

From Wikipedia (God bless it!) 

This Wyvern relief carving is in Italy!  

A Wyvern, which is apparently well-known to all except me

 I bet you think I will drop the ball with "X".  Check it out tomorrow!

U-V Posts: Underworld Switzerland, part 2

Ah!  You have returned!  Very wise!  Welcome to the underground city of….

Festung Vitznau

Or

Vitznau Stronghold

It has long been rumored that 25% of Switzerland is underground.  How silly, right?  But there is actually some validity here.

The Fortress

A secret artillery fortress lies deep inside the Vitznau Mountain.  

It was built during World War II with tunnels that seem endless.  Three hundred thirty-seven men occupied these tunnels in 1943, manning cannons, monitoring German troop movements and preparing for any potential invasion.   

Bombs? What bombs? No cannon here...Move on...

This fortress was opened to the public for tours in 1998, and is available to this day from May to October on Fridays.  Even more amazing is that this immense underworld is available for a variety of special events including appetizers and meals, even sleepovers in comfortably heated rooms, with breakfast in the morning. 

Go to this LINK

Go to the listed LINK above.

Set for a large banquet.  See LINK above.

A cannon, one of many.  See LINK above.

I would do this, definitely.

 Moment of humor from Bish Denham  who responded to an earlier post about blowing up a snowman head in Switzerland:

 That's hysterical! What a great way to end winter. My step-grandfather was Swiss. He used to tell this story about German and Swiss higher-ups viewing Swiss troops. The German says to the Swiss, "You know, our army is twice as large as yours." To which the Swiss says, "Then we will have to issue two bullets to our men."

The Swiss are truly amazing pragmatic people who prepare for contingencies.  Every apartment building, large store, government building, or house is equipped with a bomb shelter and owners are expected to maintain supplies for weeks of living in the shelter. Amazing, right?  Go to this site: Festung Vitznau

U-V Posts: Underworlds We Love

Stories of hidden cities have fascinated people throughout centuries.  New cities atop old cities atop caves and crypts—it is an adventurer’s dream to discover such.  A world beneath a world begs exploring.

Paris boasts a sewer system AND catacombs like no other.  Multi-tasking at its best.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Rome is perched over miles of catacombs.

Science-National Geographic Site

Edinburgh is built over vaults, built to accommodate tradesmen, cobblers, and storage.  Poor also lived there until about 1820, when it became unlivable.  

Wikipedia

These are ancient cities, where only ruins remain.

BUT, what if?  What if one could travel to an underworld city where visitors could actually have a sleepover, warm meals, full accommodations?    Would you go?

Return tomorrow and discover this hidden underworld fortress, which has electricity and flush toilets!

S-T Post: Shrine of Time

It is hard to beat an exploding-snowman-head in a follow-up post.

European countries with such a long history have, by sheer time, amassed incredible buildings, structures, monuments, and fountains that shout to the visitor:  “I have been here a long time!” 

A first time visitor to Switzerland suffers from camera overload:  so many photo opportunities, that it is overwhelming to pick and choose. 

As a returning tourist, I visited Switzerland by myself in July 2012 to see a newborn grandson.  My photos naturally focused on him and his parents.  Each day, I rode a bus through the city of Bern and viewed the city differently every time.

My second post on S-T is this:  A Shrine of Time

These are stone watering troughs from old farmlands, gathered together  for artistic appreciation.

An old English telephone booth without its glass, in which a plant had grown

A trail marker along the Aure River

A tree along the Aure River, and it is hanging on with its roots until the next snow-melt flood

 Sometimes the smaller Shrines of Time speak the loudest.

E-F Post: Exclusive Fiefdom, part 2

A novel premise swept through the medieval towns throughout King Rufred’s kingdom.  Shock rattled through the populations.

Rufred had declared that a model fiefdom was being established in a portion of his kingdom. “An ideal time to see what can be created…” had been the King’s words.

source

Let it be known to all healthy persons dwelling in the Kingdom that applications may be made to the King to be relocated in a new Fiefdom. 

Needed are assortments of:  

Tradesmen, herdsmen, farmers, master builders, master weavers, master bakers, master butchers, master farriers, master iron smiths, and any other ‘masters’ as well as any such apprentices desiring to be trained in same.  

Must be married to strong healthy women capable of bearing children.

Females who are talented seamstresses and cooks are welcome, as are females who are willing to do just about anything to survive. 

ONLY HEALTHY YOUNG INDIVIDUALS need apply.

Post Script:  

Also required are trained knights and squires, as well as masons.
  

A wall will be constructed around the community and guarded by said knights.

This will ensure that any un-desirables will be kept out, and the desirables will be kept in.
  

Thank you very much.

Have a nice day.  

It became known as the first Exclusive Fiefdom, the first gated-community in medieval times. 

Source

E-F Post: Exclusive Fiefdom, part 1

Per Wikipedia, "Black plague"

The years following the plague had been rough.  Too rough. 

Populations had been decimated by the plague, and there had been scrambles to keep the rioting and panic down.

Damn them!  King Rufred scowled out across the land from his keep.  How dare those peasants die and leave no one to continue the work of providing me with food and wealth.

Oh, sure.  The peasants were regrouping and starting over.  But there were so many gaps in the chain of command.  Some of his most stalwart lords and knights had been taken out by the plague as well.  

What to do about the lands that now lay under his watch, without the man power to protect them??

Rufred had imported some Norman knights, given them some land.  

But that still did not answer his growing concern:  How can prosperity and healthy populations forever exist in this current desperate time?

Fiefdom, layers of society, per Wikipedia

Exclusive Fiefdom will continue in tomorrow’s post.  What WILL King Rufred do??  

Almost here! Almost here!

Five….four…three…NOW PUSH!  BREATHE! 

No, it’s not giving birth, although it may sometimes feel like such. 

No, this is the final weekday before the A-to-Z Challenge 2013!  On Monday, April 1^st, over 1400 bloggers will be posting blogs that focus on the letter “A”. 

My theme this year is in line with my way of thinking: 

taking an idea, shaking it, turning it upside down, and connecting with something totally/almost/maybe unrelated or not. 

The difference is this:  Each letter will connect to the theme of its partner letter.  A few titles are as follows.

April 1 & 2= letters A+B  Apostolic Barbarian

          April 3 & 4= letter C+D  Canines=Dogs

April 5 & 6= letters E+F  Exclusive Fiefdom

Each pair of days will follow the thoughts or theme of its partner. Rather than have 26 different topics, there will be 13 connected topics that cover the 26 days. 

Golly, I sure hope this works. 

While thinking about the A-to-Z, we all need to acknowledge and praise the team that put this all together!  Go to their sites and give them the praise they deserve:

A TO Z TEAM FOR 2013

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Perhaps the biggest HUZZAH! should go to Arlee Bird, who started this idea way-back-when!