Truth and Dare: Word Counters

 

Counting my words again. 

Today my fellow Word Counters and I are sharing our monthly group post. Each month one group member picks a number between 12 and 74. All participating bloggers are then challenged to write something (or a few somethings, as the case may be) using that exact number of words. Today we all share what we came up with.

The December number is 33. 

 It was chosen by Me.

As I've been doing in these Word Counters posts, I've chosen a theme and am using my word count multiple times in keeping with the theme. This month I've settled on the theme Truth and Dare.

~ This month was a first as far as choosing a theme goes. I chose, then I adjusted. Originally this post was called Truth or Dare. I've decided to call it Truth and Dare.

 

~ We're rounding the corner towards a new year, the finish line for this one in in sight, but when it comes to hoping for a better, happier, healthier year ahead, do I dare?

 

~ The truth is that the alternative, taking that big, fairly (well, completely) permanent sleep isn't an option, of course. And not something to joke about in the reality of this age of Coronavirus.

 

~ Another truth is that this past year has gone by mostly in a daze, almost feeling like a long sleep. Well, nightmare anyway. Actually, the last four years, but this past one especially.

 

~ I'm now seeing a prolonged period of the denigration of norms, of the reality of a society unwilling to protect each other, as a form of sensory deprivation. This has been our truth.

~ I choose to dare. I acknowledge that to hope for change has to begin with an active continuation of those things I'd considered my normal. I still write, still share what I bake.

Pina Colada Bread

~ Truth is, we're going to need to find a balance. Continuation of the norm can only be achieved in part. Some things are gone forever, acceptance of this, adjustments for this, are critical.

 

~ The song (maybe because it's almost New Year's Eve) "make new friends, but keep the old" is my current earworm. We all need to hold onto what we can while embracing the new.

 

~ For success, dare must be collective. Whatever it takes, we all must find the ability to hope, the determination to see the coming year as a beacon of light after a long darkness.

 

~ I wish for you what I hope for myself, a new year full of new opportunities, time spent with love ones, the ability to safely rejoin our communities, travel, health, happiness, and peace.

Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:

Messymimi’s Meanderings 
On the Border 

Pina Colada Bread        
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 TBSP baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup toasted coconut

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

3 TBSP grenadine

3 TBSP milk

6 TBSP Malibu rum

8 oz can crushed pineapple with juice

2 TBSP untoasted coconut

6 maraschino cherries

 

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 5 loaf pan.

*In a large bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and toasted coconut. 

*In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, grenadine, milk, and rum. Add these liquid ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients, along with the crushed pineapple with its juice. Mix until just incorporated.

*Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and top with the untoasted coconut and the cherries. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the center springs back to the touch.

*Cool in pan for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges to remove.