Thursday, February 2, 2017

A Woman's Place

The RetroWrite challenge over at http://www.warningthestars.com/  is to write a poem or story about this photo.  Here's my "take":  




         A WOMAN'S PLACE

Summer lay on the land in a suffocating blanket of humidity.  Leaves clung listlessly to their branches, scarcely moving in the dense air, and the sun shone relentlessly on lawns so thirsty they crunched underfoot.  Even the birds seemed unable to summon the energy to sing; and all was quiet on Maple Street, except for the hum of the laboring air conditioners.  In the tidy Cape Cod at 1423 Maple, Carolyn Adams tied on a fresh apron and looked out her kitchen window.  Joe would be home from work any time now.  She poured sweet tea over the tall glass of ice he expected when he arrived home from work.  For a moment she thought about the time before marriage when she was working, and the excitement of feeling useful and alive.  As she reminisced, she saw Joe’s car pulling into the driveway.  Sighing, she went to the door to greet him with a smile.  It was, after all, 1952, and a woman’s place was in the home. 

9 comments:

  1. so atmospheric and detailed! I feel for Carolyn, I hope eventually she was able to find a place at work as well as at home. We all deserve a hobby or vocation.

    This blog is lovely...what a great banner! Thank you for writing with me. :)

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  2. A brilliant piece, Bev. Loved the exciting build-up ending in a dose of reality 1952 style.

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  3. Positively ekphrastic. Today the image on TV might be a computer mouse. Eeek!

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  4. Your image is so clear here--Really visual write!

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  5. So-o-o "vintage" retro - wonderfully drawn - and that wowzer finish blows the last of any remaining 50's nostalgia clear off the page and out that Cape Cod window. Smiles! An awesome piece of writing.

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  6. Ah. That is how it was. I am so glad that times have changed; we have yet to go a long way to accomplish equal rights and opportunities in every sphere of life for everyone.
    I really liked the unwinding of tale, with the beautiful description of the setting in time. :-)

    -HA

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  7. I loved reading it.Hats off to your imagination and how beautifully you caputured the photograph in your mind

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  8. Aaah words from someone who lived it such a wonderful apt description.

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