Category: April A to Z Alphabet Challenge

Writing More Personal Stories

While it was time consuming, I loved doing the April Alphabet Challenge A to Z. It got me writing new stories, released memories I had forgotten and expanded my writing skills. Going forward with my Blog, I will intersperse more personal tales. 

This is a timely decision since nurses are getting greater attention being on the forefront of the pandemic. Look what nurses do, shout the headlines. Plus, nurses are writing their own stories in essays, news media and books in greater numbers. This is just fantastic. I feel more comfortable cutting a back bit on my emphasis to show how nurses make a difference. 

Also, there seems to be a national movement to grant nurse practitioners the legal authority to practice independently. That is, to practice without physician oversight. While I was busy constructing a daily post for the month of April, a friend emailed me an article about nurse practitioners titled: We trusted nurse practitioners to handle a pandemic. Why not regular care? (Lusine Poghosyan, The Niskanen Center Newsletter, March 9, 2021). Before COVID-19, only 22 states allowed NPs to practice independently. Since then, governors of 23 states have signed executive orders to permit NPs to practice without physician agreements. 

Sadly, it took a pandemic to unearth the truth that nurses and NPs do improve patient care and make a difference in the health care system. 

Alphabet Challenge: K

I’ve signed onto The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge 2021.

The challenge is to blog the whole alphabet in April and write at least 100 words on a topic that corresponds to the letter of the day. 

Every day, excluding Sundays, I’m blogging about Places I Have Been. The last post will be on Friday, April 30 when I finally focus on the letter Z. 

K: Kayak

In 1995, I sat in the front seat of a tandem kayak with my feet on the pedals. My friend, Carol Ann, sitting in back, took charge of the rudder. We were on a Holland American cruise of the Alaskan inside passage taking advantage of an optional activity. This was the first time either of us rode in a kayak.

Carol Ann and I muted our normal disjointed, rambling, loud conversations in reverence to the quiet around us. I kept an eye out for polar bears.

The name of the body of water escapes me. What doesn’t escape me is the memory of the  moment: the sound of the oars as they sliced into the still water; the cold air stroking my exposed face and the feeling of wonder as we glided smoothly in the kayak past the ice floats scattered about us—the kayak delivering us to this new adventure. 

Alphabet Challenge: C

I’ve signed onto The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge 2021.

The challenge is to blog the whole alphabet in April and write at least 100 words on a topic that corresponds to the letter of the day. 

Every day, excluding Sundays, I’m blogging about Places I Have Been. The last post will be on Friday, April 30 when I finally focus on the letter Z. 

C: Coney Island

Last year, I had planned on taking my grandsons to New York City with a side trip to Brooklyn to scour the neighborhoods and check out the restaurants and, especially, to see Coney Island. The COVID-19 Pandemic interrupted my plans. 

Truth be told, I really wanted to go to Coney Island. I haven’t been there since the 50’s. My high school friend, Gloria, and I would take a couple of trains from Jersey City to Brooklyn at least once a week during summer vacations. Besides slathering baby oil on our bodies and roasting in the sun, we also went on the rides: 

Cyclone

Steeplechase horse ride

Parachute Jump 

I’ve read that the Parachute Jump still stands since it has been designated a city landmark but Coney Island as I knew it is gone. No matter, when I return the beach and ocean will greet me.  

Alphabet Challenge

I’ve signed onto The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge 2021.

Starting Thursday, April 1, I’ll begin to blog about Places I Have Been and every day going forward, except on Sundays, I’ll write a new post using a consecutive letter of the alphabet. I’ll end on Friday, April 30 when I finally focus on the letter Z. 

The challenge is to blog the whole alphabet in April and write at least 100 words on a topic that corresponds to the letter of the day. For A, I’ll write about Aunt Anna’s Apartment. 

It sounds like a fun challenge. I hope you’ll follow my efforts during the month of April.

For more information on the challenge, click here.