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Scroll down for the most recent stories
The Life Of Our Barn






Patricia M. Snell



 
© Copyright 2020 by Patricia M. Snell



Photos by the author.
Alll photos by the author.

2020

Almost every week we spend hours in the barn cutting and stacking firewood. During those hours, my mind wanders and I think about the life of our barn. Here are my thoughts. . . .

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Cutie Pie, Won't You Be My Valentine?





Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker

Photo from the author.
 Photo courtesy of the author..

In elementary school, I was awkward and terribly shy and believed I was unpopular and anything but cute. So Valentine’s Day, the day of expressing friendship, admiration, and love, was a source of apprehension for me. But I loved being creative, and my ten-year old heart skipped a beat when Mrs. Cook, my fourth grade teacher announced, “It’s time to make your Valentine’s Day mailbox! Remember to bring an empty shoebox to school tomorrow. . . .”

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Lucy Maud Montgomery

An Island Of Her Own





Sara Hailstone

 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Hailstone
 


Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

An Island of her Own
"It is known that she suffered from depression, that she was isolated, sad and filled with worry and dread for much of her life, but our family has never spoken publicly about the extent of her illness," wrote Macdonald Butler. "What has never been revealed is that L.M. Montgomery took her own life... through a drug overdose."
 
-Kate Macdonald Butler, Granddaughter to Lucy Maud Montgomery . . . .

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A Certain Breed Of Men







Ewa Gerald Onyebuchi



 
© Copyright 2023 by Ewa Gerald Onyebuchi

 

Photo by Hu Chen on Unsplash
Photo by Hu Chen on Unsplash

If there is a miracle in the idea of life it is this: that we are able to exist for a time – in defiance of chaos

-Binyavanga Wainaina . . . .

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My Plate Is Full




Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker

Photo of Grammy.

Photo of Grammy.
Photo from the author.
 Photos courtesy of the author..

I recently discovered some of my grandmother’s personal belongings including two of her delicate China dessert plates. I stroked them with my fingers, suddenly filled with a rush of childhood memories of the many weekends I spent at Grammy’s house in Dallas, Texas. On Saturday mornings, she always woke me extremely early, 5:30 a.m., to be exact. . . .

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Confessions of a Saddle Tramp




Shannon King


 
© Copyright 2023 by Shannon King



Photo by Tom Drewry.  Courtesy of the author.
 Photo by Tom Drewry.  Courtesy of the author.                                 

This morning, when I went outside as I always do to greet the day and smell the desert, the full moon sat on the mesa perfectly balanced, just touching. Like a crystal sphere on a draped table waiting for its scryer. In a second it was gone and replaced by the sun. Gracing my day with her blue skies - celebrating – for today I ride in Mexico. . . .

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Jerusalem


Larry Schwandes



 
© Copyright 2023 by Larry Schwandes





Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash
Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash

Jerusalem is one of the most fascinating cities in the world. It is connected to three major world religions. It has a very spiritual atmosphere. . . . Over the years it has become the home to a fourth religion, the Baha’i Faith. . . .

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Covid-19, The Killer of Bodily and Sociopolitical Goodness

 






Pratheek V. Tangirala



 
© Copyright 2023 by 
Pratheek V. Tangirala 
Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash
Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash

. . . .The world has progressed immeasurably for the better of the condition of citizens. Far from the days of 1300s feudalism and the darkness of right and left-wing dictatorships in the mid-20th century, more people have lived in prosperity and liberty since the 1990s than at any point in history. This potential, however, is fast crumbling. . . .

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Ballooning, A Unique Experience




Dianne Honey


 
© Copyright 2023 by Dianne Honey



Photo courtesy of the author.
Photo courtesy of the author.

Sitting on the back veranda in the pale winter sunshine, I saw the swollen river burst its banks.

The new white streak which appeared amongst the brown and green of the land below me was the beginning of the flood waters. The flood water began to creep slowly and relentlessly over the land filling every drain, depression and crack in the dry earth. About four hours later, in the closing part of the afternoon the flood waters reached the lowest point of our property and began to meander towards our dam to fill and overwhelm it. . . .

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Age No Barrier - Forever Young




Beryl Trebble


 
© Copyright 2023 by Beryl Trebble




Photo courtesy of the author.
Photo by ahmad syahrir at Pexels.

I've just received an E-mail photo taken at a recent Kenya Regiment reunion in England. My friend of many years is in the picture, looking very regal – rather like the Queen. Her hair is an ash brown, her eyes are clear, and she doesn't look her age. Her diamond and blue sapphire engagement ring makes people say "Oh, you've got a Lady Di ring!" This miffs her off because she received hers when Diana wasn’t even in gym slips. . . .

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The Time of My Life






Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker

Photo from the author.
 Photos courtesy of the author..

In the 50s and 60s, middle school didn’t exist—only junior high and high school. Junior high included grades 7-9 while high school consisted of grades 10-12. This picture was taken of me at the end of my 9th grade year as I headed to Austin Junior High for its Spring Dance—a timeless, teenage rite of passage of sort, a dance heralding the beginning of our upcoming high school years. . . .

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Change





Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker

Photo from the author.
 Photos courtesy of the author..
        Photo from the author.    
          

I walk up the well-worn wooden steps of the little store on the corner of Fifth Street and Armstrong Drive. We call it Landers because that’s the name of the smiling man behind the counter who knows all the neighborhood kids in Chandler Heights by name. . . .

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Catching Lightning Bugs




Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker

        Photo of Granddad courtesy of the author..    
           Photo of Granddad courtesy of the author.
.

When I was a little girl, Granddad and I spent many summer evenings together sipping lemonade and swinging back and forth on his vintage metal porch glider. On one such evening, I sat with him; and we watched the sun sink lower in the Missouri sky. The trees became silhouettes against a newly silver sky. I sat with him silently watching their branches sway in the wind. Soon it grew dark, and the first sound of the nighttime creatures came—the chirping crickets and the buzzing mosquitoes.. . . .

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Put On Your Apron, It's Time For Home Ec Class!




Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker

        Photo of Sara on her Schwinn bike.            
            Photo of Sara in the kitchen wearing the first apron she ever made.

Before the Internet, fast food restaurants, and takeout, high school girls of my generation took Home Ec. Class. It was one of the few electives available to us girls in 1965. Boys didn’t take home economics. It just didn’t happen and by all counts may even have been illegal.  We girls didn’t take shop class. Doing so was unthinkable! . . .

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Everyone Has A Story To Tell




Beryl Trebble


 
© Copyright 2023 by Beryl Trebble




Photo by ahmad syahrir at Pexels.
Photo by ahmad syahrir at Pexels.

We were discussing Ben Fogle’s latest adventures living with people who lived in extreme and remote areas. The opinion was - couldn’t cope with that and why would you do it anyway? Looking round the room it struck me that several people had never even moved from the town of their birth. One lady had never been on a plane or a ship; it was years since she went on a train and had never been to London or a theatre. It made me sad because there is a big wide world out there and if you have never done anything exciting you have no wonderful memories to relive when you are old. I realized I have lived a life beyond the wildest imagination of many of my friends and when I am feeling blue can think back on so much to cheer myself up and even surprise myself. . . .

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Childless Mother of Nine



Abbie Creed



 
© Copyright 2023 by Abbie Creed



Photo courtesy of the author.
Photo courtesy of the author.

My mother died when I was not quite three years old, four days after giving birth to my baby sister Rosemary. My mother was well known at the hospital since this was her ninth delivery in 18 years. The baby was lovingly cared for by the good sisters who operated the hospital, for the next 8 months. . . .

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The Snake Downstairs



Nomyezo Mqhele




 
© Copyright 2023 by Nomyezo Mqhele



Image by JD from Pixabay
Image by JD from Pixabay

I had not been out of the apartment in a week. It might have been the shadow of the Mercury retrograde, or the upcoming solar eclipse, but my energy was at an all-time low and my anxiety was peaking. The dirty laundry was piling up and the clothes that needed drying sat in the laundry basket, funking up the place day by day. The heavy energy was tangible, and something needed to be done. Something had to change. . . .

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Jungle Book



Viveck Crishna



 
© Copyright 2023 by Viveck Crishna



Rhino in Kaziranga National Park - Photo courtesy of the author.
Rhino in Kaziranga National Park - Photo courtesy of the author.

My earliest memories revolve around the animals that shared our home as I grew up in India, and later the experience of many drives through thickly forested trails, of seeing deer, elephants even the occasional tiger, as well as the wide variety of bird life in their natural habitat. These outings bring back a flood of images which in turn translate into happiness in my mind. . . .

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Bald Eagle






H. E. Wheeler



 
© Copyright 2023 by H. E. Wheeler



Photo by Richard Lee on Unsplash
Photo by Richard Lee on Unsplash


Our cabin meets the end of a gravel lane in the backwoods of some property in the rural foothills of Mount Rainier. It has about a thousand square feet of livable walking space and a high ceiling that makes for ample flailing about areas you would have to see to believe. . . .

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The Beach, the Ballyhoo, the Barracuda and Me


Valerie Marcley


 
© Copyright 2018 by Valerie Marcley




Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Islands. Islands seduce. At least for me. I spent idyllic childhood summers barefoot on a little island. Oil lamps and candles, wild raspberries eaten off the bush; fresh well water pumped into jugs, hauled back to the cottage in a wheelbarrow; a surrounding frigid sea every plucky kid gleefully jumped into from the pier, from the beach, showing off to the shivering adults. The beloved seagulls' scolding caw. That’s where islands’ first serenaded me. . . .

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Joaquin



Megan Chisum



 
© Copyright 2023 by Megan Chisum



Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Look, boys,” I said to my two sons as we were stopped at the light waiting to turn into our neighborhood. It was dark out. We were on our way home from my older son’s baseball game. It had been a long day, and I was tired.

What is that bird doing? I’ve never seen a seagull walking down the sidewalk so politely. What a strange sight!”. . .

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Hummingbird on the Wind



Sarah Thomas


 


© Copyright 2023 by Sarah Thomas



Photo by Robert Thomas at Wikimedia Commons.
Photo by Robert Thomas at Wikimedia Commons.

In Texas, Spring is a brief and unpredictable time. Winds blow and rains come, or a drought comes, and sun bakes or northern breezes blow in and chill us for short return of winter. You wake up every day unaware of what may have occurred overnight; unless you stick close to the weather app on your phone or watch the weather channel. . . .

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Bear Witness



Henry Loe



 
© Copyright 2023 by Henry Loe




Image by keaton from Pixabay
Image by keaton from Pixabay

My wife, Shayla, and I sat quietly on the porch as we admired the blue tinted mountain range that encircled Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We were both exhausted from the non-stop activity during my family’s annual reunion and spent the last two days boating, swimming, and taking an all day trip to Dollywood. . . .

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Encounter With Animals



Sydney Dell



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sydney Dell



Image by Mohan Nannapaneni from Pixabay
Image by Mohan Nannapaneni from Pixabay

Massanutten Resort. A gorgeous place.

My family and I were surrounded by nature.

With beavers, birds, squirrels, insects, the world was alive and vibrant. . . .

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Contemplation of a Hornworm




Katherine Purvin


 
© Copyright 2023 by Katherine Purvin




Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

It is easy to overlook the smallest and most varied of creatures; insects, arachnids, and various other arthropods are a constant of daily life that we do not even think about their presence, save when it overlaps with our own. The wolf and recluse spiders that creep along our baseboards, the fruit flies and fungus gnats that spin about the kitchen and the potted plants; the crickets and cicadas that make up the symphony of summer nights. Yet an encounter with these creatures can be just as wondrous as with any greater beast. . . .

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One Horn, Two



Nancy McAtavey





 
© Copyright 2022 by Nancy McAtavey


Photo courtesy of the author.
Photo courtesy of the author..

Sabi Sands Game Reserve- South Africa-

The six of us silently file from the lodge to the parking lot where the three Land Rovers are lined up, their headlights cutting through the 5:30 a.m. darkness. . . .

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The Macaque Encounter
A Lesson in the Beauty and Fragility of the Natural World


M’barek Ismaili Alaoui


 
© Copyright 2023 by
M’barek Ismaili Alaoui


Image by Heike from Pixabay
Image by Heike from Pixabay

As a wildlife enthusiast, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit some places in Morocco, and experience the country's unique ecosystems and animal life. I had always been fascinated by the desert landscapes and the incredible adaptations of animals living in such harsh environments. . . .

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A Tale of a Serpent




Asma Janjua


 

© Copyright 2023 by Asma Janjua



Image by JD from Pixabay
Image by JD from Pixabay

The Human mind is a devious place. It is home to every perceived horror and evil, and can conjure up images to spook and haunt. Fear is an ignominy that can shackle your mind and lead you into the realms of unimaginable. My fears know no bounds. I am afraid of shadows, sounds, strong winds and water bodies. A cockroach can give me a heart attack. An innocuous moth can give me shudders. A snake can kill me by its mere presence. Ants, spiders, and bees have enough power to render me berserk. . . .

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Here They Come!
Encounters with Wild Boars in Bhauwala, Uttarakhand, India




Vijayluxmi Bose


 
© Copyright 2023 by Vijayluxmi Bose



Photo by the author.
Photo by the author.

Tails held high, snuffling and grunting, followed by yapping dogs, screaming children and shouts of villagers, they would come every day, at noon, running helter-skelter through the fields.

This descriptive essay demonstrates a socio-behavioural phenomenon of the villagers that I have observed in a small hamlet in Bhauwala in rural Dehradun, Uttarakhand in a forested area quite close to the famous Rajaji National Park. It also gives the reader a window into several issues of universal relevance, such as man-animal conflicts, conservation dilemmas and a glimpse into a corner of Uttarakhand that has a wild boar population. . . .

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Baby Blue



Charisma Everard


 
© Copyright 2023 by Charisma Everard



Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.
Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.

The first noise that you hear in the morning is either the best melody or the worst tune waking you for your day. Noises that can be utterly disturbing for example are the 20 alarms I set choosing the same infuriating chimes and dings that IOS provides you with or waking up to a lawn mower right outside your bedroom window. . . .

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Chasing The Bear While Almost Bare-Naked



Kurt Schmidt


 
© Copyright 2023 by Kurt Schmidt



Photo by the author.
Photo by the author.

At 6:30 A.M on a late July morning I chased a bear in my underwear. I sleep in Fruit-of-the-Loom boxers and had no time to get dressed. I’d opened the bedroom curtains and caught him staring at one of my bird feeders. I tapped on the window and shouted. He saw me but didn’t budge. In thirty seconds that feeder would be down. . . .

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My Octopus: A Love Story



Sue Proffitt



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sue Proffitt




Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash
Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

So when did I fall in love with the octopus? Like many people, when I saw the film ‘My Octopus Teacher’; it was such an extraordinary account of deep emotional connection between human and non-human and I saw the octopus for what it is: an immensely intelligent, emotionally aware, sentient animal. . . .

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Rabbit Stew



Lew Goddard


 


© Copyright 202 by Lew Goddard

      
            Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
            Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The little town was situated in the centre of at the western prairies. The population rarely changed and then only due to the deaths and births. Everyone knew every one in town and in the farm land around. . . .

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The Whispering Wings



Macjohn Ekwealor


 


© Copyright 2023 by Macjohn Ekwealor



Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash

It was a warm, sunny afternoon in the heart of Nigeria's rainy season. The air was thick with humidity, and the vibrant green foliage seemed to come alive with the sound of birdsong and the rustling of leaves. I had decided to take a break from the bustling city life of Onitsha and spend some time in the serene countryside, exploring the wonders of nature. . . .

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Rodent Right Of Way



Mason Sansonia



 
© Copyright 2023 by Mason Sansonia




Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

It happened when I was still pretty young, before I hit ten years old even, but after I was old enough to walk to school by myself. Growing up in Manhattan is different from growing up almost anywhere else in ways that I might not ever be able to fully comprehend, but one of the differences is getting to and from school. At a certain age it’s a matter of walking or taking public transit, and always alone. You get used to the streets and what’s on them, sometimes garbage, sometimes a weird scene, but mostly just people. . . .

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Meet Mr. Halyo
He's Likely In Your House Too!



Stephen Berberich


 
© Copyright 2023 by
Stephen Berberich

Image by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay
Image by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay

        This story is from the perspective of the animal. The story is true.   
        
        Now I am convinced. They all left. I am alone.

        I just flew through every room in the house. They are gone, except me, their captain. In November, I guided 30 of us into this house. I’m a smart and skilled squadron captain of our particular horde. . . .


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Bear Story



Eddy Daniel


 
© Copyright 2023 by Eddy Daniel




Photo by Andre Tan on Unsplash
Photo by Andre Tan on Unsplash

THIS IS THE STORY OF TWO DEER HUNTERS WHO  ENTERED THE WOODS IN THE NIGHT …”

Those are the first words of a framed poem hanging in my home study. The handwritten note on the back of the frame reads, “The result of a deer hunt with Jack Byrd at Kyle Norman’s cabin on November 16, 1964.” The framed poem was presented to my dad, Bob Daniel, at the Old Hickory Council of the Boy Scouts of America’s annual dinner later that month. , , ,

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Bucky



Gary Mulnix


 
© Copyright 2023 by Gary Mulnix



Photo courtesy of the author.
Photo courtesy of the author.

We were having an easy winter but everything changed February first. Temperatures dropped and it started snowing, every day. We didn’t see the sun for three weeks. The deer herd that lived in my back yard had a tough time finding enough to eat. They trimmed up my arborvitaes as high as they could reach and gobbled every ivy leaf that wasn’t covered with snow. They even ate my rose bush, thorns and all. . . .

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Excuse Me?  I'm An Animal Lover



Rachel Lutwick-Deaner


 
© Copyright 2023 by Rachel Lutwick-Deaner



Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Loving animals does not mean loving actual animals or the animal world. It can mean loving the idea of animals. It feels sometimes that we are in a post flesh-and-bones era, that the internet has ushered this in. However books allow a certain degree of this kind of a life. We can love to read about things that we would never love in real life, things that we would never try or touch. . . .

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Possums at the Cat Sanctuary





Priscilla King


 
© Copyright 2023 by Priscilla King



Photo by Skyler Ewing at Pexels.
Photo by Skyler Ewing at Pexels.

Get away! Leave my cats alone!” I screamed. The possum scrambled over the side of the porch.

The possum facing my half-grown cat had looked four or five times the cat’s size. In 1993 I was not accustomed to possums; locally, they’d been hunted almost to extinction in the days when everyone kept free-range chickens. I associated them with the Deep South and thought they were unbearably ugly. . . .

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Running Away From Home






Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
        Photo of Sara on her Schwinn bike.            
            Photo of Sara on her Schwinn bike..

North Texas summers are hot and dry and generally quite humid. And in the summer of 1959, the scorching sunlight and intense heat ignited one of the worst droughts on record. The sidewalks sizzled and roasted my bare feet, and the heat permeated the already parched ground in front of our home leaving huge cracks and crevices. The grassy lawns—yellow and burnt—smelled like bales of hay that had been sitting in the summer fields too long. . . .

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Pink Pearls of Wisdom






Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
        Photo of Sara'sGranny--Myrtl Etgen-Houchin.            
            Photo of Sara'sGranny--Myrtl Etgen-Houchin.

The luxurious, time-worn building located at Sixteen Eighteen Main Street was like a majestic Paramount Movies studio set. Mesmerized, I lingered at Neiman Marcus’ front doors and pretended that perhaps Gina Lollabrigida, Ann Margaret, or even Rock Hudson would emerge from the set onto the street where I stood. . . .

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The Coral Reef's Cry



Ana Maria Hernandez



 
© Copyright 2023 by Ana Marie Hernandez




Photo by Hiroko Yoshii on Unsplash
Photo by Hiroko Yoshii on Unsplash

I have always had a passion for snorkeling. Born and raised in Miami, FL I developed a respect for the ocean surrounding my city. The waves that calmed me throughout my childhood. I would look out at Brickell Bay and dream of being an explorer. . . .

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Traveling To The Past




Rene Volpi




 
© Copyright 2023 by Rene Volpi


The last senate of Julius Caesar by Raffaele Giannetti.Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The last senate of Julius Caesar by Raffaele Giannetti. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

How wonderful would it be to hop around to a different point in time from our past? I always wanted to visit the 6th C BCE, have a chance to meet the Buddha in person or....Rumi. . . .

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The Forest Was Quiet



Mark Bucaling


 
© Copyright 2023 by Mark Bucaling



Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The forest was quiet except for the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. I was on a hiking trip with my friends, and we had been walking for hours. The sun was setting, and the sky was turning pink and orange. Suddenly, we heard a loud rustling noise behind us. We all turned around to see a majestic moose staring at us. . . .

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Saving The Ducks



Sandra Fischer


 
© Copyright 2023 by Sandra Fischer





Image by Alexa from Pixabay
Image by Alexa from Pixabay

One spring morning I was pulling weeds in the flower bed while my husband  mowed the lawn. I inhaled the sweet smell of freshly cut grass and took pleasure in the daffodils making their appearance from the bulbs we had planted in the fall. They stood  at attention, their yellow-trumpeted blossoms announcing spring’s unmistakable arrival in Indiana. . . .

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Dusty Ashes 


Maureen Moynihan


 
© Copyright 2023 by Maureen Moynihan




Image by Carlos Lincoln from Pixabay
Image by Carlos Lincoln from Pixabay

With his name splattered big and bold on bright orange signs, their skinny wooden sticks stabbed in snowbanks, toothpicks in mashed potatoes, I used to think Frost Heaves was a person running for political office. Every year, following Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast, the ubiquitous signs canvassed town and I’d think, Man, that guy just doesn’t give up. . . .

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Little Orange People




Steven Stilwell



 
© Copyright 2020 by Steven Stilwell




 


Image by Herbert Aust from Pixabay
Image by Herbert Aust from Pixabay

Thirty feet is the perfect height. 

This one coherent thought raced through my brain between flashes of pure terror. I couldn’t even close my eyes. All I could do was stare at the hard firm dirt of the jungle floor below me from the spaces between the enclosure bars. Thirty feet. At that height you’ll either land on your head and death will be instant or break every bone in your body and live to regret it. . . .

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The White Brested Waterfowl




Chaitanyamoi Chetia


 
© Copyright 2023 by 
Chaitanyamoi Chetia


The waterfowl in the kitchen.  Photo by the author.
The waterfowl in the kitchen.  Photo by the author.

In the morning as I go out for a stroll in the grassy land I would see a few waterfowls roaming in the field; they would stealthily glide along the walls of our house and to everywhere, chirping as they passed by. Sometimes, they would accelerate their walking with their long legs and would conceal in the bushes; and would try to hide in a course of bricks placed next to one another near the boundary walls. . . .

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Lola - A Story of the West

    

 

Valerie Byron    

© Copyright 2023 by Valerie Byron  

  

Image by Ekaterina from Pixabay

IImage by Ekaterina from Pixabay

Lola? Of course not. Of course it wasn’t her real name. You don’t have to tell me anything about women, no sir! And if you want to know why it wasn’t her real name, I’ll tell you. Lola is a “type,” not a name, and it would be a mighty clever mother and a mighty disillusioned one who could picture the kid she was suckling grown up and twenty-one. But I’m not telling you about Lola. I’m telling you about June and Judy and Bill and me. . . .

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My Granny, A Jew Nonpareil





Ezra Azra


.
 
© Copyright 2023 by Ezra Azra


 
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Jane Goldstone, 1890-1973.

My Granny was born on the family farm in the town of Ifafa, in Zululand, in British Empire South Africa. She was the second of five children to William and Maria Goldstone. . . .

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Turning Pointe






Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
Photo of Ann..
Photo of Ann en pointe.
        Photo of Ann.            
            Aunt Ann.

Point your feet! Rotate! Don’t stick your butts out! Stay out of your heels.” I looked up from where I was sitting. There was no music—only the thump-thud sound of the dancers en pointe and the ballet master shouting. “Dance to the tips of your fingers and toes! Plié! Spot!”. . .

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Gone Fishin'






Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
        Photo of Sara's dad.            
            Photo of Sara's dad.

Early one Saturday morning when I was about ten, Dad gently nudged me from a deep slumber. “Time to go fishin,’ Sweetie.” Reluctantly I uncovered my face; blinked; closed my eyes; and blinked again. I sat up, stretched my arms above my head; and yawned, remembering how I’d pleaded with him the night before. . . .

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Bumper Crop






Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
        Photo of Sara's mom.            
            Photo of Sara's mom.

Spring washed in like the tide, advancing confidently with warmth and sunshine one day and retreating the next. Some days the pansies and daffodils in Mother’s garden were bathed in lukewarm air that gently encouraged them; on others, the wintry wind gusted fiercely demanding a return to the bitterness of the months before. But like the tide, spring wouldn’t be stopped. . . .

Moose Encounters of the Close Kind





Kass Wood



 
© Copyright 2023 by Kass Wood



Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I can’t truthfully say I’m an avid hiker. Not compared to my sister, Laurie, who will hike anything, anywhere at anytime there is anything resembling a trail. But I usually say yes to an invitation to hike with her or other friends who invite me. But for not being an avid hiker, as I review many of my vacations they were spent hiking the Tetons, Jasper, Pagosa Springs, Valley of Fire, Zions National Park, Banff, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and of course, my own backyard, the stunning Wasatch Mountains in Utah. . . .

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The Phoenix



Leah Rose




 
© Copyright 2023 by Leah Rose



Photo by RODNAE Productions at Pexels.
Photo by RODNAE Productions at Pexels.

        Thwack!        

      I feel the heel of my foot make contact with the wood, but it doesn’t give way. Urging myself to not get discouraged, I close my eyes, blow out a sigh, and return to a starting position, preparing to strike again. . . .

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Hum





Brooklyn Judd


 
© Copyright 2023 by Brooklyn Judd




Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons.

Waking up early felt like a sin, but taking a cold shower after all the other girls had beaten me to the warm water was easily the greater of two evils. When I’d spent the earlier few months saving up to go to summer camp, I hadn’t quite imagined how much sweat, dirt, and smoke would cling to my skin, or just how little hot water the camp showers had available. . . .

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A Night on the Bay



Mike Holland


 
© Copyright 2023 by Mike Holland


Image by 👀 Mabel Amber, who will one day from Pixabay
Image by 👀 Mabel Amber, who will one day from Pixabay


Back in 1970 I was renting a room from my old pal who had just gotten back from Vietnam. Drafted into the Army at the end of the sixties, Fred was determined to catch up on the fun he’d missed, as you’ll see. . . .

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Minature Magnificence




Cynthia Todd


 
© Copyright 2023 by




Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons.

I’ve done that. I’ve held a hummingbird in my hand. What a splendid creature he was, his luminous, emerald-green feathers accentuated by a necklace of magenta. It was an awesome and wondrous experience, but it didn’t feel like one at first. Oh, the stress and struggles that were upfront payments. . . .

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Middle of Nowhere



Mike Holland



 
© Copyright 2023 by Mike Holland

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Last week at work I’m out in West Marin, on Nicasio Valley Road, near Point Reyes- Petaluma Road. Nice road, smooth, encourages fast travel. Sixty? Easy. More if the Highway Patrol wasn’t always around somewhere. One lane in each direction, they’re ten feet wide, plus a breakdown lane on each shoulder. At times you can walk out into the middle of the road and stand there, listening to the quiet.

So I’m out there because someone called and said there’s a dead deer on the side of the road. . . .

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My Search For Roger and the Door Left Open





Alan L. Brainard, Jr.


 
© Copyright 2023 by Alan L. Brainard, Jr



Photo furnished by the author.
Photo furnished by the author.

This story is about a journey for answers and the unwillingness to believe someone is dead and to carry that uncertainty for a lifetime. The lack of the grieving process can be debilitating. To constantly wonder, where they are; hospitalized or captured and unidentified? An unreported prisoner of war, killed or died on the way to a prison camp and not witnessed or reported? The detail of this story is about a certain kind of “stand-still” that surrounds one’s heart when there is no closure. . . .

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Transtibial Prosthesis? What Transtibial Prosthesis? 




Lily Finch


 
© Copyright 2023 by Lily Finch



Photo by Richard Loller, 2016.
Photo by Richard Loller, 2016.

My uncle unpacks his choppy-lake silver rod, reel, and five-weight line that holds a pattern when he casts: a Griffith's Gnat, dressed specifically to attract fish as it sinks into deep hollows cast from the boat. He heads to the gravel bar at his private hole. The change in depth allows the line to stretch out, letting the loops fall gently: It's not long before he feels a jolt, a snag with a run, and then the strike that bites back against his concentrated reeling. . . .

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Chocolates and an Ukulele

   

P. S. Gifford 


   
© Copyright 2023 by P. S. Gifford 

Photo by Paul Hanoka on Unsplash.

Photo by Paul Hanoka on Unsplash.

 It is rarely dull driving and there have been shifts that have been doozies. They might sound fictional, but I assure you they are true.

 Last night was rather eventful to say the least. . . .

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Of Christmases Past






Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
Dave amd Sara at tje Christmas tree.
                                           Dave amd Sara at tje Christmas tree.

It gradually turned chilly between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although Frosty the Snowman rarely visited our part of Texas, his pal, Jack Frost, surely did. He wafted his way through the drafty house, chased by welcome bursts of heat from the floor furnace—a square metal floor grate that funneled heat from the living room to the rest of the house. . . .

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The Cherokee Cut       








Tom Bush




© Copyright 2023 by Tom Bush

 

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

December 1860  
Chapter 1
 
     "Billy, go get Tom. Just tell him I need him," Billy's father said.
 
    Billy Ward was almost eighteen and lived with his parents, three brothers, and six sisters in Davidson County just outside Nashville, TN. His family had a comfortable but busy life in a small but growing community. . . .

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This Old House
The Place We Called Home





Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
1230 N. Rogers Street, Springfield, Missouri.
                           1230 N. Rogers Street, Springfield, Missouri.

The old house, built in 1895, was the best of weathered antiques having hugged North Rogers Street from days of horses, to days of horse-powered engines, and now to electric cars. As the story goes, Grandad purchased the old house shortly after returning from WWI by merely signing his name on a piece of paper. He added ‘indoor’ plumbing, a garage, a carport, remodeled the inside, and replaced the roof—a roof that protected the house and would do so for many-a-year to come.

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Big Man Tiger!





Warren Blake




© Copyright 2023 by Warren Blake


Photo by Vignesh at Pexels.
Photo by Vignesh at Pexels.

Tigers of the Tropic Rain Forest are very elusive beasts. A rare sighting sends a tingle down the backbone.  This particular encounter did not involve an actual sighting, but it was literally hair-raising. . . .

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Things of the Heart







Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
Photo property of Sara.
                           Photo property of  Sara.

People sometimes tell me the heirlooms given to me hold no value over how my heart feels, but these things have memories, stories of where they've come from that tug at my heart. They’re scattered about my home, adorning it as subtle nostalgic strings upon which travel the finest emotions of bygone days. . . .

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My Undergraduate Encounter With Animals




Ekoja Solomon

 
© Copyright 2021 by Ekoja Solomon





Photo by the author.

Right from my childhood days, I have longed to study medicine. Although I came from an agricultural region where more than 70% of the population engaged in agriculture, I buried my head conducting procedures on countless lizards within my neighbourhood. . . .

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The Road Trip Of Our Lives



Yessenia Gutierrez



 
© Copyright 2023 by Yessenia Gutierrez


Photo by Rick Han at Pexels.
Photo by Rick Han at Pexels..

My love and I decided to go on a road trip during the worst time of the year, May. The month of May is characterized by raining a lot. He had prepared so many fun things for us to do. We were heading to Orlando, Walt Disney World. Where dreams come true. Where the magic happens. . . .

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I've Had A Hard Life




Mort Morford

 


© Copyright 2023 by Mort Morford




Photo by Luna Lovegood at Pexels.
 Photo by Luna Lovegood at Pexels.


There’s a simple principle about understanding human beings; when someone tells you about themselves – believe them. . . .

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Visit From Grandma




Mort Morford

 


© Copyright 2023 by Mort Morford




Photo by Brian Wangenheim on Unsplash

It was in the early 1970s, when such things made sense. Or, even if experiences like this didn’t, or even couldn’t make sense, they happened anyway.

I had forgotten about it, or perhaps, not really forgotten, but, like many life changing moments, this one got blurred into others and was largely swallowed up by necessity and survival. And in my case, being in my twenties, in the moment and continually in motion.

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Six Months After Covid







Laura Rokowski-Cole



 
© Copyright 2023 by Laura Rakowski-Cole

 

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich at Pexels.
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich at Pexels.

The polished glass betrays me. I peer dejectedly at that matriarch mocking any remaining vanity I can feign. My scalp jauntily ousts my silky tresses while crevices on my lips form painful ulcers. . . .

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Where Is Justice?




Mort Morford

 


© Copyright 2023 by Mort Morford




Photo by Kindel Media at Pexels.
 Photo by Kindel Media at Pexels.

Several years ago I was on a jury.

The case was straight forward; a registered sex-offender had failed to register his change of address. . . .

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My Life Doesn't Look Like The Pictures On The Box




Mort Morford

 


© Copyright 2023 by Mort Morford




Photo by Pixabay.
 Photo by Pixabay.

My life doesn’t look like the picture on the box

For some reason, when our lives reach the number of years that end in zeroes, many, if not most of us have the ever-increasing sense that our lives are not turning out the way we thought they would. . . .

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Deporting My Valentine







Karene Horst



 
© Copyright 2023 by Karene Horst

 

Photo by Manny NB on Unsplash
Photo by Manny NB on Unsplash

February 13, 2017- Single yet again for another Valentine’s Day, my thoughts turn as usual to chocolate. No one sends me flowers. Cards kill trees unnecessarily. Instead, I’m baking myself and my co-workers a sugary concoction of chocolate, melted caramel, cream cheese frosting and more chocolate. . . .

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Haunted Happenings  
The Ghost of His Father and Paranormal Experiences



Kelly Maida



 
© Copyright 2023 by Kelly Maida


Photo by Emily MacDonald at Pexe;ls.
Photo by Emily MacDonald at Pexe;ls.

I had a series of paranormal experiences that have happened to me this year. But it all happened almost a year ago. That is when this guy came back into my life. The odd thing is the minute we started talking again, we noticed all these similarities that we had. . . .

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My Fear of Dogs



Abram Gabriel


 
© Copyright 2023 by Abram Gabriel



Image by Alexa from Pixabay
Image by Alexa from Pixabay 

WHEN I WAS IN 1ST THROUH 3RD GRADE, I PASSED BY A SLAUGHTERHOUSE ON MY WAY TO AND FROM SCHOOL.  NOW I'M AN OLD MAN, BUT I CAN STILL SMELL THE BARRELS OF SCRAPS.  THESE CANS ATTRACTED FERAL DOGS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND BEYOND. . . .

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Mom and Pop




Doug M. Dawson


 
© Copyright 2023 by Doug M. Dawson



Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

It was a long time ago - I’ll give you the exact date in a minute. I had moved into this town from somewhere else and didn’t know anybody. I was looking to make some new friends and this kid just seemed to pop up from nowhere. He walked up and introduced himself and we started up a friendship, right then and there. . . .

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My Dolce Vita




Katarzyna Knas

 
© Copyright 2023 by Katarzyna Knas




Photo by cottonbro studio at Pexels.
Photo by cottonbro studio at Pexels.

Buongiorno and principessa were the only Italian words I knew, when I embarked on my ambitious year-long project to study Italian in Rome in the summer of 2005. These two words wouldn’t get me very far, but I wasn’t worried. I was excited and ready for extensive studies and wonderful intercultural encounters. I was abroad for the first time in my life. . . .

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In Sasquatch We Trust




Mort Morford

 


© Copyright 2023 by Mort Morford




Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash
                                                 Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash

I live in the Pacific Northwest. If you picture a map of the USA, I live in the extreme northwest corner of that map.
And as you look at that map of the USA, notice that the upper left corner has a little notch in it. That is Puget Sound. . . .

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Life Lessons in the Wilderness


James Osborne


 

© Copyright 2023 by James Osborne





Photo by Steve at Pexels.
Photo by Steve: https://www.pexels.com/photo/gray-deer-eating-grass-397850/Photo by Steve at Pexels.
Photo by Steve: https://www.pexels.com/photo/gray-deer-eating-grass-397850/

It was a joy watching wild deer drink at a stream just a few yards from where I sat almost every day that summer. Some of them were does with fawns whose tiny cinnamon-colored backs bore galaxies of white camouflage dots.  . . .

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My Quiet Hiding Place and other Selected Poems





Dante A Cinelli


 
© Copyright 2023 by Dante A. Cinelli

 
Image by David Schwarzenberg from Pixabay
Image by David Schwarzenberg from Pixabay

I have. a secret hiding place as I know do you. . . .

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Nature's Beautiful Way





Roger Barbee


 
© Copyright 2022 by Roger Barbee


Photo by Patrice Bouchard on Unsplash.

The blue jays, sentinels of the garden, have been busy today. Early this morning as I was walking the hound, I heard the first commotion—an alarm not like any other in the animal world. Looking up I saw two jays in hot pursuit of a large red-tailed hawk that was fleeing so low that it had to rise in order to clear the peaked roof of the workshop before disappearing into the safety of the canopy of the woods. But it had just begun. . . .

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The Poison That Cures



Salam Syagha



 
© Copyright 2023 by Salam Syagha


Image by Storme22k from Pixabay
Image by Storme22k from Pixabay .

It was a hot summer day. The sun was throwing its golden locks softly hitting the fig, and grapes trees to rise and ripen in the vast brown fields that are spread on our village’s skirts. I was anxious to meet my grandfather who had invited me the previous night to accompany him in an adventure. . . .

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The Fearsomeness of Rats




Martha Patterson

 
© Copyright 2023 by Martha Patterson



 
Photo by Denitsa Kireva at Pexels.
Photo by Denitsa Kireva at Pexels.

Just as a point of interest, one of my worst nightmares is a rat jumping onto my lap while I’m reading Jane Austen. This actually happened to me. . . .

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Being Quiet in the Woods






Pat Mann

 
© Copyright 2023 by Pat Mann

 

Photo by radek-kozak on Unsplash
Photo by radek-kozak on Unsplash

I was in Terry Terlips waiting room, one time. . . .

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It Could Only Happen In Africa




Beryl Trebble


 
© Copyright 2023 by Beryl Trebble




Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I love animal stories and the stranger the better, especially if they are related to people I know, and of course having lived in Africa, most of them have a twist in the “tail.”. . .

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The Giving Light



Abbie Creed


 
© Copyright 2023 by Abbie Creed




Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Some very special lightening bugs took an incredible journey on a spaceship. Many years ago, when five of my six children were attending elementary school, my oldest son had a particularly good friend who had a business catching lightening bugs for money. . . .

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Snake Encounter




Robert Flournoy



 
© Copyright 2023 by Robert Flournoy   
 

Photo by Worldspectrum at Pexels.
Photo by Worldspectrum at Pexels.

We were in Cambodia, but not by any stretch of the imagination were we supposed to be there since it was off limits at the time. The North Vietnamese army was there, but restrictive rules of engagement prevented us from taking it to them. We were recon, trying to determine strength and position. . . .

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One Old Man and One Old Kangaroo






Beata Stasak

 
© Copyright 2023 by Beata Stasak


Photo by Mateusz Feliksik at Pexels.
Photo by Mateusz Feliksik at Pexels..

Once upon time, when my kids were small and we'd just moved to our farm, we found an abandoned joey. In a desperate attempt to save him, his mum had ousted him from her pouch after she'd been hit by a car. . . .

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I Spend My Time on This Earth Doing My Bit. That's All I Can Do




Beata Stasak

 
© Copyright 2023 by Beata Stasak


Photo by Hiếu Hoàng at Pexels.
Photo by Hiếu Hoàng at Pexels.

Let me tell you a story...

My godfather was taught beekeeping by his father. He takes his commitment to nature and bees very seriously. . . .

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The Neighborhood Celebrity



Abbie Creed


 
© Copyright 2023 by Abbie Creed



Photo by Jacques Le Henaff on Unsplash.
Photo by Jacques Le Henaff on Unsplash.

   Written for all the children in my life.
     It was the last day of school when my son, Kelly, was ready to graduate from the 8th grade and I was a bit delayed getting home from school teaching job, that I was met with a bit of excitement. I walked into my bedroom to find a glob of something right in the center of my bed. There was no way to tell what it was, but it was breathing. . . .

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It Was The Summer of 1980





Mort Morford

 
© Copyright 2023 by Mort Morford





Photo by John Moeses Bauan on Unsplash
                                                 Photo by John Moeses Bauan on Unsplash

It was the summer of 1980. Mt. St. Helens had just erupted in May. In the Pacific Northwest, earthquakes, tremors, and now volcanoes, had become yet another surging undercurrent of the landscape.

The Pacific Northwest is perhaps most famous for its weather – a chill, damp, and often piercing wind is almost always present.

In short, it’s a place with weather – and other – conditions, one needed to be prepared for. . . .

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Skinny White Girl 


Maureen Moynihan


 
© Copyright 2023 by Maureen Moynihan




Image by Kiều Trường from Pixabay
Image by Kiều Trường from Pixabay

When I open the envelope, a $5,400 insurance bill screams at my face, as if its flap were on fire. The temptation to strike a match to the scrawny paper is overwhelming, but since my cancer diagnosis, medical bills have burrowed in my mailbox, inspired to procreate. . . .

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Goosed





James L. Cowles





  
© Copyright 2023 by James L. Cowles

 
Image by 🌼Christel🌼 from Pixabay
Image by Christel from Pixabay

Like many of our friends, my wife and I love animals, and we realize that every time we humans take up space to build our human habitats, we are bumping critters aside, and taking up a little more of their space. . . .

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Carpe Diem





Roger Barbee


 
© Copyright 2022 by Roger Barbee


Photo of Roger's mother.

The above Latin phrase, made famous by the American movie Dead Poet’s Society, was first used by the poet Horace. Its use by Horace is most accurately translated as “Pluck the day,” and after the movie it became popular in American culture and before long it was printed on tee shirts, caps, and mugs. However, the word “pluck”, for whatever reason, proved too much for American sensibilities and the phrase became translated as “Seize the day.” (Such a refinement). . . .

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Oh, Deer!




Christin Kaiser



 
© Copyright 2023 by Christin Kaiser


 

Oh, Deer!

Photo by Anthony Roberts on Unsplash

                    


Oh, Deer!

I grew up in a small New England Village, one steeped in farming, fishing, and hunting traditions. It was accepted and even expected in certain circles that “you filled your tag limit.” That venison made a big difference for many families. . . .

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What Will Be







Pamela Scott



 
© Copyright 2023 by Pamela Scott

 

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.

After Paul's funeral, I thought about the old woman.

She lived at the end of the street where I grew up in one of the told tenement buildings. She stood at her living room window and spied on her neighbours. She creeped out me and my friend and we’d pull faces up at her window. She'd lean out to yell down at us and we'd run off. . . .

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Lutful






Giles Ryan

 
© Copyright 2023 by Giles Ryan



Photo by Nivedh P on Unsplash
Photo by Nivedh P on Unsplash

I’ve taken long walks in a few risky places and one such place was Bangladesh.  

In the fall of 1978 I was managing an NGO’s field office in Sylhet, up in the northeast shoulder of the country bordering the Indian state of Assam. I was supervising a group of field engineers whose main work was surveying the road embankment projects carried out in the district. . . .

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Nightwalker






Giles Ryan

 
© Copyright 2023 by Giles Ryan




Image by Hans Toom from Pixabay
Image by Hans Toom from Pixabay

I saw him before he saw me.

It was about five in the morning and I was on my way back after an hour or so walking the streets of Clyde Hill and Medina, some six or seven miles to start the day. The wind was blowing quite strong from the north – away from him and toward me – and the gusts were enough to sway the branches of the tall cedars, creating more noise than usual. . . .

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The Blind Cow and the Unbothered Owner







Amanya Aklam



 
© Copyright 2023 by Amanya Aklam

 

Photo by cottonbro studio at Pexels.
Photo by cottonbro studio at Pexels..

 Just like any other calf, Kahuuga was jolly, playful and beautiful. Kahuuga was a cross breed with white patches in its dark skin complexion. It was graced with a star sign colour brown in the forehead, an indicator that it was meant to be a cow of great significance to the herd. . . .

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Dragonflies and the Great Blue Heron


James Osborne



 

© Copyright 2021 by James Osborne




Image by Munruthel from Pixabay
Image by Munruthel from Pixabay

For more than a decade, Great Blue Herons had a special meaning for Judi and me.  I had no hint at the time that our affection for these graceful birds would one day come to have a far deeper significance, through tragedy and through joy....

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Songs





Fred Cheney


 
© Copyright 2022 by Fred Cheney


Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
Image by usuario322 from Pixabay                                    

Cutting brush when you own a 60-acre woodlot never seems to end. I cut brush when I’m swamping a new trail to some place I’ve visited often, and will visit again, often. I cut brush by the side of trails already swamped to expand the view, to give head room, to give shoulder room. . . .

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Our Filly Was A 'Night-Mare'





James Osborne




 
© Copyright 2021 by James Osborne


Photo by Mathias Reding on Unsplash
Photo by Mathias Reding on Unsplash

Some men cherish time in their workshops on weekends. It began just like that for me one Saturday afternoon but ended as a reluctant co-owner of a racehorse. . . .

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A Bush, Bumblebees, and a Butterfly





Roger Barbee


 
© Copyright 2022 by Roger Barbee


Image by Thanasis Papazacharias from Pixabay

Next to one side of our screen porch is an abelia bush. Now in early August, it is covered with small, white nectar producing blossoms, so each morning the hum of bumblebee wings bathes the summer air as they move from bloom to bloom for the bush’s sweet juice of life. . . .

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Murine Steps




Zary Fekete



 
© Copyright 2022 by Zary Fekete



Image by Robert Owen-Wahl from Pixabay
Image by Robert Owen-Wahl from Pixabay

6:32 A.M.

There is a mouse in my kitchen. For a few days, I have been hoping it might not be true. I heard scratching… I thought it might be the upstairs neighbour’s cat… but the little black droppings in the kitchen cabinets are unmistakable. I’ll need to get some traps. . . .

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Finding Elzada





Linda A. Dougherty


 
© Copyright 2023 by Linda A. Dougherty

Photo by Marco Chilese on Unsplash
Photo by Marco Chilese on Unsplash.
                    

In June 2020, I wrote a short story in this publication about my high school friend, Elzada and of my hopes to find her and close the spiral of my age-old regrets. This is the ending of that story that really began in 1969. . . .

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West Quincy Story




Valerie Forde-Galvin




 
© Copyright 2023 by Valerie Forde-Galvin


Drawing by the author.
Drawing by the author.

I came of age in the nineteen-fifties. It was a time of promise. Jobs were plentiful. The increasing number of highways enticed people out to the suburbs where they bought cookie-cutter ranch houses and raised their two and a half children. Father knew best and The Beaver's family was the ideal. . . .

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Walking Home From School





Naoma Moody


 
© Copyright 2023 by Naoma Moody



Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

My sister and I had just finished our day at White School located in the country near Durand, Michigan.

There was nothing that stood out for this normal one-room school day with one teacher for grades K-7. . . .

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Tea Set 



Chaitanyamoi Chetia


 
© Copyright 2023 by 
Chaitanyamoi Chetia



Photo by Angela Roma at Pexels.
Photo by Angela Roma at Pexels.

This is a soiled note, give me a new one,” I said to the cashier at a hotel with the sweets in my hand. The cashier opened the cash drawer, inserted the soiled note and gave me a different one. This time again a soiled note came at my hand that was torn in the middle. Again I returned it to him. . . .

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The Cookie Lady 
(Revised)

Maureen Moynihan


 
© Copyright 2023 by Maureen Moynihan




Photo by Vyshnavi Bisani on Unsplash
Photo by Vyshnavi Bisani on Unsplash
My mother calls, speaking in 20 point Impact Bold font, punctuating each statement with a fantastic sense of urgency:
Maureen!! This is ya Mutha! The lady who gave you birth! Backwards!” . . .

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The Secret

    

 

Valerie Byron    

© Copyright 2023 by Valerie Byron  

  

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay 

Ada Segal had a secret, one she shared with no-one except her best friend, my mother. . . .

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Seventeen Guides and a Lioness





Lesley Mukwacha




y


© Copyright 2023 by Lesley Mukwacha
Image by Henk from Pixabay
Image by Henk from Pixabay 

Being the head ranger at a fast-growing game reserve in Zimbabwe, I was assigned the duty to take seventeen young aspiring newly recruited guides and game scouts for a seven-day intense training program in the Victoria falls national park, something I enjoyed and was very good at. . . .

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Hello, Again


Maureen Moynihan


 
© Copyright 2023 by Maureen Moynihan




Photo by Alina Skazka at Pexels.
Photo by Alina Skazka at Pexels..

Three cycles into chemotherapy, my hair is falling out in clumps. Rising from bed, there’s enough hair on my pillow to coat a calico cat. The bus stop moms turn a polite eye, pretending not to notice my burgeoning bald spots, except for Caireann. . . .

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Man Of My Dreams

    

 

Valerie Byron    

© Copyright 2023 by Valerie Byron  

  


Photo by Alan Healy at Pexels.

Photo by Alan Healy at Pexels.

  I remember so clearly being 20 years old.  That was sixty years ago and yet it seems like only yesterday.  I have so many memories of my younger days, but specifically I recall writing poems and love lyrics about my future soul mate.  I had a very specific image of what he would look like. . . .

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When The Lions Visit





Lesley Mukwacha




y


© Copyright 2023 by Lesley Mukwacha
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

Having completed the first part of our two weeks training as recruits for one of the biggest tour companies in the world, we were ready to proceed to the next level, the practical side of Overland guiding. The whole first week had been consumed by mostly theory, stuff like learning company policies and accounts, meals, and trip planning, plus clients handling; not so exciting but very important and necessary. . . .

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The John


Maureen Moynihan


 
© Copyright 2023 by Maureen Moynihan




Photo by Wesley Pacífico on Unsplash
Photo by Wesley Pacífico on Unsplash.

It’s easier to get a turtle out of its shell than a husband out of the bathroom. I’ve found pounding on the door while hollering “Isn’t your ass cold?” is not an effective strategy. Sliding notes under the bathroom door also yields poor results:

Hello! I’m the trash. Please take me out!”
Hello! I’m your dog. Please take me out!” 
Hello! I’m your wife. Please take me out!”. . .

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Dinner With Mel





Erik Tillman Ferguson


 
© Copyright 2022 by Erik Tillman Ferguson



Photo of Mel Webber courtesy of UC Berkeley News.
Photo of Mel Webber courtesy of UC Berkeley News.

It was in the year of our Lord 2525, I mean 1990, in a little old country town called Austin, the venerable site of the annual ACSP conference, hosted by none other than Texas itself. While there, I attended several university alumni receptions, including one hosted by Berkeley. . . .

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Random Thoughts

Looking Back Along The Way



Robert Flournoy



 
© Copyright 2023 by Robert Flournoy   
 

Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash
                                        Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

I am thinking of an old man who lives alone in a cabin far back in the
Rocky Mountains, who on Valentine's Day, with some silver wire and pebbles from a brook, 
made beautiful ear rings with no one to give them to. . . .

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The Golden Ring and the Horseshoe 



Chaitanyamoi Chetia


 
© Copyright 2023 by 
Chaitanyamoi Chetia



Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I lost the golden ring I used to wear in my middle finger; I lost it accidentally; I used to get up from sleep in the middle of the night whenever the ring that I had lost come to my mind. The golden ring was a polished cat’s eye gemstone; it had a streak of light running lengthwise through it which gave it a real look as that of a cat’s eye. . . .

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Family Vacation and Fate




Robert Flournoy



 
© Copyright 2023 by Robert Flournoy   
 

Photo courtesy of the author.
                                       Photo courtesy of the author.

In 2010 my daughter was a senior in college, my son having graduated two years earlier.  To celebrate we booked a cruise for adults only out of Ft Lauderdale, with an itinerary that took us to various islands in the Eastern Caribbean.  I coughed up the extra money to get us balcony suites, side by side, my wife and I in one and my children next to us. . . .

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Blindsided By Love
 

    

 

Valerie Byron    

© Copyright 2023 by Valerie Byron  

  



Photo by Alan Healy at Pexels.

Photo by Alan Healy at Pexels.

On a morning like any other, Horace Green reluctantly dragged himself out of bed wondering what on earth the point was. 
 
Leaving behind the warmth of his snug cocoon, and the delightful dreams that made going to bed early so appealing, he padded across the carpeted floor to the bathroom. Turning on the shower, he arranged his shaving gear neatly around the sink, and only looked up as the steam from the shower formed a thick condensation on the mirror, blocking his view. . . .

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The Kiss

   

P. S. Gifford 

   
© Copyright 2023 by P. S. Gifford 

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

Eleanor Wiggins and Sam Fowler sat there admiring the glorious harbor vista in front of them, just like they had done every Tuesday afternoon between the hours of three and four for the last nine years. That was, you need to understand, the only time they got to spend with each other, and they preferred to share it right there at the very spot upon which they fatefully met all those years previously. . . .

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Inviting Trouble





Lesley Mukwacha




y


© Copyright 2023 by Lesley Mukwacha
Image by Brigitte JAUFFRINEAU from Pixabay
Image by Brigitte JAUFFRINEAU from Pixabay 

Dinner was served, a delicious cottage pie, green salad and roasted tin foiled banana with melted dark chocolate for desert; just the silence told you everyone was enjoying their meal. The big fire in the middle kept us all warm on this cold winter night. My clients were all happy, why shouldn't they be, I was doing a great job of guiding them through four Southern African countries they had only dreamt of. . . .

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Regina, The Strange Lion





Lesley Mukwacha




y


© Copyright 2023 by Lesley Mukwacha
Photo by Chris Rhoads on Unsplash
Photo by Chris Rhoads on Unsplash.

The smell of fried cabbage coming out of the small kitchen where my mom was preparing lunch will always be the one I blame for what happened four hours later that bright summer afternoon. Sadza,(stiff porridge) and fried cabbage, would be the meal of that day, no meat to accompany them, and it had been the same meal for the past three days. I had had just about enough of that. I wanted meat, I craved meat, I needed meat - even fish would do. . . .

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I Love Clock From My Childhood 



Chaitanyamoi Chetia




 
© Copyright 2023 by 
Chaitanyamoi Chetia



Image courtesy of Mun Bora on Facebook
Image courtesy of Mun Bora on Facebook

In the year 2014, a clock tower was installed at Dibrugarh: with the installation, the city gave a vintage look to the onlookers, and it became the first city in the state of Assam to get a clock tower. It was a 45 feet tower erected at Chowkidingee traffic point facing four sides of the road at the intersection. The clock was elegantly curved having graceful dials of 6 feet diameter each, facing the four sides of the road. . . .

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Believe Me






Lauren Barrett


 
© Copyright 2023 by Lauren Barrett



Photo of Lauren.
Photo of Lauren. 

I adjust the camera on my phone for what seems like the 100th time trying to find the perfect angle and lighting to capture my face. It isn’t working.

Sighing in defeat, I get ready to press the join button. No one will care what I look like in a chronic illness support group anyway. . . .

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White Envelope






Giles Ryan

 
© Copyright 2023 by Giles Ryan




Photo by Richard Loller.
Photo by Richard Loller.

It’s a delicate business, paying a bribe. Unlike other transactions, the amount you’re expected to pay may be unstated, no more than an estimate, but whatever you pay must be enough, and yet you certainly don’t want to pay too much, for that might spoil the market for others. And the thing must be done properly, so as to leave no ill feeling on either side. It takes a deft hand, and it’s not a situation that allows for gaucherie. . . .

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The Thornback and the Red-Headed Man







Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
Photo property of Sara.
                           Photo property of  Sara.

Granny called me a “thornback,” a derogatory term given to women of her time who weren’t married by the age of 30. Yes, I was a thornback—a single woman, approaching her 31st birthday. My biological clock was ticking; and I feared becoming a spinster whose only companion was a Siamese cat. But I would’ve preferred remaining a spinster rather than spend a lifetime with a boring man whom I didn’t love. . . .

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Portrait of a Young Woman - July 17, 1793






Giles Ryan

 
© Copyright 2023 by Giles Ryan




Painting of Charlotte Corday by Johan Jakob Hauer.. Public domain.
Painting of Charlotte Corday by Johan Jakob Hauer..

It is unique in the history of painted portraits. No other work of this genre has ever been created in similar circumstances, or ever will be again. The artist, Johan Jakob Hauer, is not well known but he was a competent portraitist, and we may assume this is a good likeness. But his most significant qualification was that he was available and could work quickly, for he had not a minute to spare. . . .

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Promise Me







Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
Photo property of Sara.
                           Photo property of  Sara.

Promise Me” is a memoir and a true, biographical account of my first summer job and the time I spent with my supervisor, Nancy—a ‘crusty’ woman who changed the trajectory of my life for the better. . . .

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La Profesora de Inglès







Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
Photo property of Sara.
                                                    Photo property of  Sara.

This is a memoir of my experience in moving across the state of Texas and teaching in a border community just outside of El Paso. It highlights my reasons for making such a drastic move and the unknown outcomes of taking such a risk. . . .

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The Witness Tree






Giles Ryan

 
© Copyright 2023 by Giles Ryan




Photo by Joy Deb at Pexels.
Photo by Joy Deb at Pexels.

I visited all the major towns of Bangladesh in those years, and in my memory they were much alike in this land of river deltas, although here and there a particularly elegant mosque would stand out from the general sameness. Depending on the time of year, going to these places might take several hours on a river boat, or some hours drive, perhaps longer during the monsoon when the rivers were high, with a longer wait at the ferry ghat. 

Sometime in 1979, when I had been in country about a year, my work required a visit to Mymensingh for an appearance in court. The details are now slightly dim in memory, something to do with an accounts clerk at our local office forging a check or absconding with the petty cash. . . .

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Life With The Butterfly Whisperer







Sara Etgen-Baker



 
© Copyright 2023 by Sara Etgen-Baker
Photo property of Sara.
                                                    Photo property of  Sara.

I entered Whispering Oaks and found the large French doors of the day room flung wide open. I walked through them towards the verandah and saw Pop sitting outdoors amongst some zinnias surrounded by a rabble of butterflies. . . .

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A Call in the Middle of the Night


Fredrick Hudgin




 
© Copyright 2023 by Fredrick Hudgin



Photo by Kirill Dratsevich at Pexels.
Photo by Kirill Dratsevich at Pexels.

I was sound asleep when the phone rang. The clock next to the bed said 3:32 AM. Cell phones hadn’t been invented yet. The phone hung on the kitchen wall of our mobile home. . . .

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Street Crime: Memories Of Life On 28th Street



Elliot Wilner




 
© Copyright 2022 by Elliot Wilner


Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.
Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

In the 1940’s, when I was a young boy, 28th Street Northwest was a nondescript street in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of the District of Columbia, located about a half-mile west of the National Zoo. Only two blocks in length, with just a single lane for traffic, it was certainly a nondescript street in a nondescript neighborhood, but for us children that street was our playground and the center of our world. . . .

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The Wolf Ate Grandma




Valerie Forde-Galvin




 
© Copyright 2023 by Valerie Forde-Galvin


Photo by Philipp Pilz on Unsplash
Photo by Philipp Pilz on Unsplash

In my childhood, parents read bedtime stories to their children. In theory, a child will fall asleep easily when listening to a familiar soothing voice. In reality, the story choice makes all the difference. So I have to ask why did parents chose fairy tales? What were they thinking? Nothing was held back in these stories; nobody seemed to realize that their content wasn't edited for children. Today, because of its violent themes, my little book of fairy tales would have been rated PG-13. At the time, I was six. I did not fall asleep easily after bedtime stories. . . .

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Pumpkin
 

    

 

Valerie Byron    

© Copyright 2023 by Valerie Byron  

  



Photo courtesy of the author.

Photo courtesy of the author.


Today started out pretty well for me. It's Sunday, December 23rd and for once I don't have to worry about preparing for Christmas. My daughter has offered to cook the meal in her new house, and my son, Nick, and his partner, Lee, will be joining us, as well as my husband, Bill. I didn't even bother putting up a tree this year. Didn't really seem worth the bother, especially since I had thrown away my artificial tree from last year in the trash by mistake. Of course, that's par for the course. . . .

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The Things I Did To Survive






Terry Mulcahy



 
© Copyright 2023 by Terry Mulcahy


Photo by Eduardo Soares at Pexels.
Photo by Eduardo Soares at Pexels.

In 1973 I got arrested for losing control of a vehicle on Interstate-10 in Louisiana. The vehicle belonged to a carny who managed a big ride, but he owned a kiddie ride - a small metal setup that allowed some ponies to be hitched up and walk around in a circle. It was very popular with tiny fair goers. Before I get into that, I should explain how I ended up there, as I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. . . .

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Nice Day for a Ride


Fredrick Hudgin



 
© Copyright 2023 by Fredrick Hudgin



Photo by Javier Aguilera at Pexels.
Photo by Javier Aguilera at Pexels.

All right, get out of here! You’ve been moping and whining around the backyard all goddamned day. I know you wanna go for a ride. So GO!” My wife turned on her heel and stalked back into the house, slamming the screen door loudly for effect. Josh, Beethoven, and I looked at the door where she had disappeared, then down at the garden where we had hoed, tilled, and planted since breakfast. I looked up at the sky to see where the sun was—still a couple, three hours till dark. A slow smile spread across my face—a ride! . . .

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Rescue From Machu Picchu



Elliot Wilner





 
© Copyright 2022 by Elliot Wilner


Image by Elias from Pixabay
Image by Elias from Pixabay 

In late January of 2010, while on an escorted tour in Peru, my wife and I and twenty-six other members of our tour group became marooned near Machu Picchu due to flooding from the Urubamba River. More than three thousand other tourists became marooned with us. . . .

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South Valley Sweat






Terry Mulcahy



 
© Copyright 2023 by Terry Mulcahy


Photo courtesy of the author.
Terry working on Mark's house in 1983.  Photo courtesy of the author.

It started out as a hole in the ground - a mud pit. Mark used it to mix mud for his adobes. It was about two feet deep and five feet across. Next to it was a pile of lumber scraps. For nearly two years, Mark had been building his house, mostly on weekends, and now was the final push to finish it. . . .

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Pages From A Political Activist's Diary





Karen Radford Treanor 

 

© Copyright 2023  by Karen Radford Treanor

Karen and Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia.  Photo by Douglas Sutherland-Bruce.
Karen and Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia.
 Photo by Douglas Sutherland-Bruce.

In the early days of this century (heavens to Murgatroyd, doesn’t that sound strange?) I worked for a state Member of Parliament in Western Australia. She was a progressive young woman who had knocked off the conservative incumbent against all odds, to the bookies’ delight. . . .

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Plutarch's Prejudice









Ezra Azra


.
 
© Copyright 2023 by Ezra Azra
 
Theda Bara as Cleopatra and Fritz Leiber as Caesar in the lost film Cleopatra (1917). Source, public domain at Wikimedia.
Theda Bara as Cleopatra and Fritz Leiber as Caesar
 in the lost film 
Cleopatra (1917)..Public  domain.
Plutarch (46 anno domini - 119 anno domini) was a Greek man who lived seventy-three years in the Roman Empire. He was, by every standard in his time and in ours here in the twenty-first century, a highly educated person. A highest formally educated person nowadays is not especially noteworthy because of the millions of others equally educated. . . .

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Best Time in our Ghetto








Ezra Azra


.
 
© Copyright 2023 by Ezra Azra
 
Photo by Oxfam East Africa via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by Oxfam East Africa via Wikimedia Commons

Loud vocal sounds, day and night, were not unusual in our ghetto of Clairwood. At night, most of the time, we slept through them. When we paid attention to them, day and night, it was for the first few seconds in order to determine if the situation involved us. From an early age we became experts in those few seconds' determinations. If we assessed we were not involved, we could not care less; by the natural laws of self-preservation; water off a duck's back; Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

In the dim light of dawn on a day in the 1940s, for the first time ever, the loud shouts and screams were alerting everybody to an imminent danger. In our home, the first shared instinct was that it was a trap to lure us out of the home. . . .

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The Farm on the Red Hill








Ezra Azra


.
 
© Copyright 2023 by Ezra Azra
 
Photo by Petr Ganaj at Pexels
Photo by Petr Ganaj at Pexels

The farm on the red hill was a most dangerous thirty-acre place, and, paradoxically, because of the danger, it was farmed reasonably safely and profitably.

The farm was in a part of sub-tropical Africa where one of the natural and everlasting dangers forever is and will forever be, poisonous snakes. . . .

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When Fear Turned Into Fun








Ezra Azra


.
 
© Copyright 2023 by Ezra Azra
 
Photo by Radu Vladislav on Unsplash
Photo by Radu Vladislav on Unsplash

I was running for my life. My pursuer was almost twice my size, and so I was not about to stand and fight. Mind you, if he caught me, he would not have had it all his way. Both of us were Clairwood ghetto gang members. . . .

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Somewhere in Ukraine








Ezra Azra


.
 
© Copyright 2023 by Ezra Azra
 
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

On a farm in Ukraine, somewhere between the Carpathian Mountains and the borders with Slovenia and Hungary, along the Dnister River. The time was about three o'clock in the morning. It was raining. . . .

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A Quaker Summer

Reminiscences of  Gini Waters



Gini Waters 

 

© Copyright 2023  by Karen Radford Treanor

Photo furnished by Karen Treanor.
Photo of Barbara, Virginia (Gini),and Florence Bullock--furnished by Karen Treanor

I was clearing out old computer files and ran across the attached short, short story which I thought might interest you.  I found the picture, which dates from the same era and location in a box of Mother’s things.  The writer—my mother-- died in 2008, aged 92.  (She’s the fishergirl in the middle of the photo.) . . .

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George Orwell, 1903 - 1950








Ezra Azra


.
 
© Copyright 2023 by Ezra Azra
 
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The famous English novelist, George Orwell, was the pseudonym used by Eric Arthur Blair.

Eric Arthur Blair was born in India in 1903. India was a country in the British Empire. His Father's name was Richard;
his Mother's, Ida. . . .

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How Does One Properly Inter A Coon?

Or, Tail of a Coon





Pat Mann


 
© Copyright 2023 by Pat Mann

 

Photo by Tim Umphreys on Unsplash
Photo by Tim Umphreys on Unsplash

I received this email yesterday from a coffee buddy that moved from sunny Florida back to Indiana with a peculiar request.

Pat,

Had a funeral today for a coon. I forgot, "do you bury them with their tail up or down?" . . .

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Sugar Babies






Terry Mulcahy



 
© Copyright 2022 by Terry Mulcahy


Photo courtesy of Atahan Demir at Pixels.
Photo courtesy of Atahan Demir at Pixels.


Frequently, hurricanes and tropical storms passed near Baltimore City where I grew up. There would be high winds, sometimes hitting 100 miles an hour along the Maryland coast. One such hurricane passed by in 1960 causing severe flooding. It was just before my parents moved from our house in downtown Baltimore to a location a bit higher in elevation. There was heavy rain in Baltimore, but we had our yellow raincoats and black galoshes - those rubber boots that buckled up from the toes halfway up our calves. . . .

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The Dutiful Nevada Wife

She Drove Him to the ER





Henry Lansing Woodward


 
© Copyright 2023 by Henry Lansing Woodward

Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash
Photo by Mikhail Nilov at Pexels.

We had just discharged our last patient, the man with the shotgun wound, and were still parked in the ambulance parking area in front of the double doors leading into the emergency room.  After each transport (not all dispatches result in a patient or a transport of a patient), there is always some cleaning and restocking.  The four things always needing to be done, besides re-stocking, were to wipe down the gurney, change the linens, wipe all surfaces and mop the floor.  Always. . . .

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The Elevator Game

The Story of Two Brothers at University





Henry Lansing Woodward


 
© Copyright 2023 by Henry Lansing Woodward

Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash
Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash 

It was a little past midnight when the alarm went off.  The call was at Juniper Hall on the campus of the University of Nevada in Reno.  We responded CODE THREE lights and sirens, and because we were close to the University, we arrived at the scene about four minutes after receiving the dispatch. . . .

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Ocean City Took My Breath Away






Terry Mulcahy



 
© Copyright 2022 by Terry Mulcahy


That's a photo of myself and my brother at a much younger age than the event in the story.
Photo courtesy of the author.


Stopped breathing. Just like that. The ocean had been cold. Much colder than I'd expected from a warm Spring day. It was early in the beach season. The winter had been harsh. Cold currents still flowed past the shore where my parents had dragged all of us kids. . . .

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Dead Dogs




Sam DeLeo



 
© Copyright 2021 by Sam DeLeo




Image by Jana from Pixabay
Image by Jana from Pixabay

When I was young, my first stepfather returned from a trip to the countryside with bad news. He was driving down a dirt road when our Siberian Husky jumped out of our GMC Jimmy and died under its wheels. He never learned what made the dog jump. . . .

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