Moments #26: Invasion of the Dolls

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

by Erin Nicole

I don’t know why some people think that dolls are creepy. These dolls, which were originally from my mother’s collection, have been sitting on the dining room curio cabinet for years and I’ve never seen them move once.

Except for the one with the blonde curls and the black dress.

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Moments #25: That Doll

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

by Erin Nicole

Our mom was a doll collector. Especially after she got divorced, she would spend her weekends hitting the estate sales and the thrift stores and searching for dolls. Eventually, she owned over a thousand dolls, many of which were very valuable.

I don’t know if this doll was valuable but I know it used to scare crap out of me whenever I would wake up to get a drink of water in the middle of the night and I would see it sitting in the kitchen. I think I was 13 when my mom found this doll and, even as she was buying it, I said, “Mom, that doll’s scary!”

No, my mom told me, this doll was beautiful.

Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder. All I know is that I always gave it the side eye whenever I was in the same room. I’m not superstitious. I know the doll wasn’t possessed but sometimes, it’s arms would be in a different position than they were the last time I had seen it and I would wonder why. Was the doll haunted? Or was my little sister just playing a trick on me?

A few years ago, I joined my sisters in going through mom’s doll collection. Mom not only kept the dolls in perfect shape but she also kept detailed records of where she had bought each doll, how old each doll was, and how much they were selling for on Ebay. When Lisa came across this doll, she announced that we were taking it home with us.

“No, we definitely are not,” I replied.

Lisa nodded and then said she wouldn’t bring the doll into our house. I made her promise. I should have noticed she had her hands behind her back when she did.

The next morning, I woke up and I walked into the kitchen and I screamed at the sight of that doll sitting at the kitchen table.

The doll is still in our house. It sits in one of the dining room chairs and it greets anyone who visits. As the years have passed, I’ve actually come to appreciate seeing the doll sitting there every day. It’s a link to my mom. Now, when I look at the doll, I think about how much my mom loved collecting and how happy she would be that her daughters have continued to take care of her collection. I collect cameras and baseball memorabilia. Lisa collects political campaign buttons and books. My mom collected haunted dolls. It’s a family tradition.

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Moments #24: A 4th of July Tradition: Blurry Firework Pictures!

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

Is there anything better than blurry pictures of fireworks on the 4th of July?

I don’t know but I do know that I always enjoy taking them. For me, they’re as much a part of the 4th as visiting with family and cooking out. In honor of the 4th, here are some of my favorite blurry fireworks pictures:

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Moments #22: That Ugly Old Swing

Posted on June 10, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

This backyard swing may not have looked like much.

The first night in my current house, I stood in the kitchen and looked out the window at the backyard and I said, “That swing has got to go.” The wood looked old. The chain was rusted. It was an ugly old swing, left behind by the house’s former owners. It was easy to dismiss but, the first time I sat in that swing and I let the wind gently rock me back and forth, I fell in love with it.

It was my place to go if I was feeling down or if I just needed some time to myself. If the world was getting too chaotic or if I came home hating my job or cursing biology, I would sit on that swing and the gentle rocking would take all of my troubles.

That swing went from being an eyesore to being home.

A little over a year ago, our town got hit by a violent storm. Throughout the night, rain pounded on the roof, the wind shook the windows, thunder made the house tremble, and the flashes of lightning were so bright and frequent that I barely noticed that the power can gone out. In the morning, when the rain had finally become a drizzle, my sister and I stepped outside. Our backyard was flooded and littered with debris. Our neighbor’s tree had collapsed, smashing his fence and then crashing into our yard.

Underneath the tree were the crushed remains of the swing.

I was upset, even though I knew it was just something that no one could have controlled. I didn’t blame my neighbor. I certainly didn’t blame the tree. I didn’t even blame the storm. There was no one to blame. I guess we were lucky. If the tree had fallen in a different direction, it would have hit our house. If the cats had been outside, it could have fallen on them. When we cleaned up the backyard, we didn’t find any dead squirrels, birds, or possums under the tree. It could have been so much worse.

The man who lived across the street helped us to move the remains of the swing out of our backyard. We put it on the curb so that the city could pick it up. Because of the storm, the debris left by the storm were not picked up for three weeks. But the swing only lasted a day on the curb before someone — I don’t know who — picked it up. I take some comfort that someone took it, rather than it being tossed in a garbage truck. The swing is serving a purpose somewhere.

One year later, I still miss that ugly old swing. I guess I always will.

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Moments #21: Exploring The Back Yard Of An Abandoned House

Posted on June 1, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

I simply can’t resist the opportunity to explore an abandoned house. Check out this backyard!

A few weeks after I took these pictures, the city sent down a landscaping crew who mowed the grass and tossed out all of the tables and the chairs that had been left in the backyard. It made me sad watching them do it. I don’t know who once lived in that house or why they left their gate open but I’ve always wondered if they ever came back looking for their plastic chairs. Watching it all get tossed in a dumpster felt like the end of an era.

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Moments #18: Downtown Richardson, In The Rain by Erin Nicole

Posted on February 3, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

I took these pictures of downtown Richardson, Texas on a rainy evening many years ago. I stood out in the rain and got soaked but I didn’t care because I had my camera and I was capturing the moment. The downtown might not look like much but there was a comforting familiarity to it that I loved. Sadly, many of these buildings are gone now. The downtown has been rebuilt and modernized but I’ll always think of it as being the way it was.

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Moments #16: Walking In The Fog

Posted on January 3, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

I woke up and saw that a thick fog had descended over the neighborhood. I know better than to let a good mist go to waste so I grabbed my camera and I went for a walk.

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Moments #14: Visitors

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Dazzling Erin

Living near a creek, we occasionally do get visitors. These fine ducks decided to take a break in our front yard on their way back home. They were enjoying the warm weather.

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Moments #13: Watchers and Followers

Posted on April 3, 2024 by Dazzling Erin

A few years ago, I was walking around the neighborhood when I realized that someone was watching me.

After saying goodbye to my new friend, I kept walking. A few blocks later, I realized that I was being followed.

As soon as I turned around and looked at him, he ran away.

It’s been years but I still think about the two of them whenever I go for a walk around the neighborhood, the proud cat and the curious dog. I’m glad that they both had a home and happy lives. I’m glad the cat enjoyed staring me down and I hope the dog enjoyed following behind me. Human don’t deserve animals but I’m glad they put up with us.

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Moments #12: The Halloween That Nearly Wasn’t

Posted on October 29, 2023 by Dazzling Erin

I stood out on the front porch and watched as the sky went from being blue to being dark and gray in a matter of minutes. That was the year that fall came early and almost all the leaves were gone by the end of October. But just as the leaves fell early, so did the storms arrive ahead of schedule. It rained hard during the afternoon and probably panicked everyone looking forward to spending the night collecting candy.

The rain stopped before evening came and that night, costumed searchers and their parents walked up and down the sidewalks, running up to houses and shouting, “Trick or Treat!” I was alone that Halloween so I dressed up like a cat and handed out candy. Everyone was extra grateful because they knew that if the storm had started just an hour later, there would have been no Halloween that year.

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