Photo Blogging Challenge (September 2023): Simple

First, I realized midway through the month that I had put the wrong theme up!

Oooops!

Alas, it’s no biggie as the beauty is still in interpretation!

Personally, I’ve tried to simplify things in life. Enjoy the things that matter and go about life the best way I can. The thing is with “simple” — it will differ to people. Simple can be used in many ways and still, in a way, be complex.

That’s the beauty in so many things, no?

Our lives and our world are complex and far from simple. We work, work, work … don’t usually get enough down time, and then we have to deal with everything else. That can be issues to you, or the political spectrum, or illnesses, or finances, or … you name it.

Then add social media and technology to the picture and it amps it up that much more.

I still look back to being a kid. Where the best video game system was first and Atari, and then a Nintendo. The internet? Bah! We played outside all day, drinking out of creeks and hoses, and had fun.

Simple.

So where does your simple go? Some of us may wonder if it would be simple to us, or if it would be way more complex and crazy.

Let’s hear it. Here are my five for the month.

Anyway, onward. Here’s my five for the month!

1. Sunrise

One of my bucket list items has been to see a sunrise on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park (Maine). After Covid-19, our National Parks have become more and more busy. That’s good because they are being utilized. However, it also puts some restrictions on things. One thing is sunrise access to Cadillac Mountain. You now need a ticket, and during certain months, you can only get one per car per week. That means you have to roll the dice and hope for the best.

On my recent trip to Maine, we waited and watched the weather. We watched as a hurricane came up the coast and was a tropical storm by the time it hit here. I made a reservation for the day before we were leaving and hoped it worked out.

We weren’t disappointed.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me why, during my vacations, do I get up so early. And honestly, it’s because of things like this. We have a lot of simple pleasures in life. Something like this is totally worth waking up for. Even Harper soaked it in.

2. Sunset baseball

In what was my final baseball game of the year, we had a really nice sunset. This was in Portland, Maine. A bark in the park game where Harper got to walk around the field, and then this view. Perfect and simple!

3. Lighthouse

Maine’s trip was mainly in the Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park area. But we spent one night and one morning in Portland. Of course, we also hit up Portland Head Lighthouse, which is an amazing view. Though I took a bunch of photos, this one of Harper actually posing and enjoying it, was priceless.

4. Stop for a stick

If we all lived the way dogs do, life sure would be more simple, no? On our one daytime trip down Cadillac Mountain, we stopped at one of the pullouts and wandered around for some amazing views. Harper, of course, found a stick. So we sat there a bit … checking out the view … and letting Harper chomp on a stick for a while. It’s almost as if she was like … “Hey, this is where you simplify life!”

5. Pizza!

There’s not many more simple pleasures in life than good pizza!

There’s my five and let’s see what you came up with! If you took part in this month’s challenge, make sure to link up below.

And for those of you who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment (here, too!).

Let’s continue to grow this challenge and have a strong community. Come back and check out the others who link later on, too! NOTE: We have a Facebook group for those who participate in the challenge and are interested. I’ll post any announcements there and hopefully it can be a place where things are discussed and some interaction etc. You can access it here.

** CHALLENGE CHANGE **

From this point forward, I am going to do the next theme at the bottom of each linkup. Also, the posting date will now be the first of each month, thus giving you the entire month to take the photos etc.

That means it’s a one-stop shop! Hopefully this helps out with everybody.

So, below is the linkup for September. Make sure you drop your link there.

OK, so it’s time to keep on moving! It’s October’s turn! And our theme for the month? Experiences! How do you handle this theme? Remember to come back on (hopefully) November 1 to link up and check out the theme for that month!

Photo Blogging Challenge: September 2023 results

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook!