My Theme for this Year’s A – Z Blogging Challenge #a-zchallenge

So, it’s that time of year again. Well, yes, it IS Spring time again – I think: they’re talking about the possibility of snow again…sigh – but I was actually referring to the yearly A-Z blogging challenge that takes place every April. It consists of writing an article on subjects that go from A-Z, consecutively. They give us Sundays off for good behavior, so that we can regain our strength for the following week. This will be my fourth challenge and, truthfully, I’m really looking forward to it.  The first time I participated, I was gung-ho about the idea when I first heard about it. And then, I forgot. Naturally. But then, Russ reminded me and I asked Corinne Rodrigues if it was okay that I was a couple of days late. I wasn’t taking part in it officially, but I did pretty well.

Anyway, tomorrow will be the first day of the challenge, and I thought it might be an interesting idea to write about something near and dear to my heart. WAIT! She HAS my heart. Yes, I have decided to dedicate this year’s challenge to the…

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!

A-Z of Melody McDonald! Okay, so most of you are probably asking who is Melody McDonald? Melody McDonald is a not-so-fictitious rendition of myself, mostly in the Old McDonald had a Funny Farm series as my child self, but also in a more grownup stage, in a series of short stories.

Many people think that children are simple to understand; they’re young, they haven’t had many experiences, they haven’t got the foggiest idea what’s going on in the world, they are quick to forgive, they’re easily made happy, and so on and so forth. But really, children are way more complex than their parents have ever suspected. Old McDonald is a carefree, not so fictional look into the not so carefree and simple life of a child, interpreted by Melody McDonald (aka Mary McDowell) and her siblings: Jan, Mark, Kenny and newborn Chas. The fictional part consists of actual conversations and the Ferris wheel scene. The latter could actually have happened, it just wouldn’t have been Mark – it would have been Kenny, who turned out to be the mechanical genius in the family. And, although not precisely fictional, I downplayed most of the actual events. I figured that if parents read just how wild we really were they wouldn’t let their children read the book(s).

Children are complex people. They have their own likes, dislikes and views of how the world should be. They have their own fears, strengths and weaknesses, which parents may look on as silly or even without real meaning, but they are very real to a child.

I have been blessed with a very strong memory; I can remember things that happened (not everything, but a great deal) when I was still living across the street from my grandparents, on the Balboa Peninsula way back in the early-mid-fifties. This is not always such a great thing, believe me. However, it works out just fine while defining my alter-Ego, Melody McDonald. I hope you will enjoy her "simplicity" and her crazy idiosyncrasies.

And so, Onward and Upward to the A-Z of Melody McDonald! See you tomorrow!

P.S. If you look for my name on the List of Participants, at the time of this post, it was 723, but it might change. :D