Let’s Make A Call – A Click A Day

October 25, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha18 Comments

Times have changed so much that telephone booths are almost becoming relics now that everyone uses a mobile phone.

I remember years back at home in Nigeria when the phone booths were far and few in-between and the queue as long as half a mile – maybe I exaggerate on the length, but you get the idea – and everyone waited patiently to take their turn to make that phone call.

Friendships were struck on these lines, quarrels picked and fights were fought when someone appropriated the phone for too long. All in all, it was an interesting time.

Nowadays, everyone is bent over their piece of gadget and hardly say hello again.

The Daily Post

Bittersweet Nostalgia…

October 1, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha29 Comments

Our memories are woven into the essence of who we are just like our DNA. Some memories are fleeting, while some stick and go with you wherever you may journey to. Even when you are far away from the source of such memory, little things bring thoughts of them flooding you with bittersweet nostalgia. Image result for images of memories quotes

I’ve found myself easily moved to tears in the past few weeks and coincidentally, I’ve been running into things that quickly transport me to my carefree days of childhood when I was under the loving protection of my parents and didn’t have to worry about finances, World politics and if the World’s going on a one-way ticket to hell in a handbasket.

Here a few of the things I’ve seen in recent weeks that transport me back to my growing up years in the close-knit campus community of The University of Nigeria Nsukka.

Nostalgia – The Daily Post Challenge

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

I saw this Tortoise at a nature garden that I visited recently and that brought back different memories of folktales of The Wise Tortoise that my Grandma told us on balmy evenings as we peeled cassava or shredded our harvest of corn. In my hometown, the Tortoise is respected and roams free. It wasn’t strange to see them trudge along the bush path, stopping to nibble at foliage as they went about their business.

I saw this shaker in a musical store and couldn’t resist taking a photo and shaking it a bit. It reminds me of days of traditional, energetic dancing with my childhood friends and shaking these musical gourd in rhythm with the drums and other homegrown instruments. We call it ‘ishaka’ and practically every mama owned one. Sometimes, especially during festive season, our dancing efforts were rewarded with pennies from appreciating adults.

Interestingly, I wrote a post just last week when I came across this mask. https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/2016/09/22/the-mask-a-click-a-day/

Abundant blooms of Bougainvillea brings back thoughts of my childhood home. The perimeters of our compound was trimmed with Bougainvillea and The Queen of the Night flower that emitted its signature, beautiful, musky fragrance that hung in the nights’ air.

Ha! I chuckled when I saw this grandma telephone. My parents had a cream one and my dear dad kept it locked so that we wouldn’t run up bills for him. Back then to own a telephone was expensive, novelty and for a select few. We (my siblings and I) outwitted my poor dad (sorry daddy) by learning a trick on how to tap the numbers on the phone to call our friends. Now, I wonder if my dad ever knew.

P.S. Are you coming to the party? It’s LIVE right now and you can join the fun through this link. See you 🙂

Everyday People

Please Look!…Every day beautiful people # 66

June 14, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha17 Comments

*Photo deliberately blurred for privacy*

Yesterday, I had to get some bloodwork done at the hospital and despite not feeling my usual stellar self, my sense of observation did not leave me.

I watched the men in the photo walk past me, both scrolling through their phones and paying a little less attention to where they were headed.

Like a poorly written script, they missed the bold caution sign on the floor outlining the step down leading outside and the wheeled in chap took a bad tumble.

I presume he must have twisted something because his friend had to help him up, then got a wheelchair and brought him back inside.

The phone fascination is becoming a worrying trend.

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

I absolutely love this book of poems. My favorites are “Love Rations” (for those who love to give the silent treatment) and “Beggars Supper” (which definitely pulls at the heart strings). Two thumbs up!!

Life · Photographs

Finding Solitude…

March 11, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha14 Comments

Finding solitude in this bee-hive of a city, is literally akin to finding a needle in a haystack or seeing a camel trying to squeeze it’s hoof through the eye of the needle.

Well, that was my thought initially, until I started looking through thousands of photos and luckily found a few pictures that depicted solitude for today’s Photo 101 theme ‘solitude.’

I wasn’t sure that I would catch any solitary looking people today, especially with the particularly gray looking weather that we have, so I dug into my photos and found some reasonable offering.

Solitude is also not when one is all by himself, but equally a state of the mind.

A person can be in a crowd and yet feel all alone.