Another Mashup, Jill Meets Sam–Sort of

Where have I been? Another story, another time. Back now–on a more regular basis. Let’s get colorful. We will do more mashups as often as we can. This time it’s Waiting for Westmoreland (WFW) and The Vacation of My Life. The tenth anniversary edition of WFW, a memoir of a 20th century Candide, came out […]

#40th Anniversary

A Toast to Ourselves–4o years this month. We had a very special trip planned.  Three countries separated by the North Atlantic. Then the pandemic came. As it happens, we weren’t in our 20s when we married, so we’re retired. For that reason, COVID-19 didn’t hit us as hard as others—for whom we have much sympathy. We […]

Mashup # 1

Something different—excerpts from Waiting for Westmoreland (WFW) mashed up with blog posts from here. Or, in this case, from an  unpublished story. Why, you may ask? It came to me in exercising on a treadmill one day—in the water. It’s an experiment–please tell me what you think. Explore the shift in consciousness/perspective from 2007, when […]

The Leap–a Short Piece

The memory and the imagination–tools in a writer’s bin. A story of devolution that began with a travel piece on Views from Eagle Peak. Modified a bit–with more fiction and less fact. Some remains. Writing from life some call it.  I looked down at the dull gray boulders, thirty-feet below the clear water of Lake […]

Muffins and Maple–Will it Lead to More?

We unanimously agreed at our local writers group that the prompts of the day were not only incomprehensible but insipid. Nonetheless, one about the start of a romance between the two poets, whose prompts we had read, stimulated this response. Perhaps I can use it in a story. One has to develop characters through appropriate means.  […]

The Dinner

She called unexpectedly one day. “Hi, it’s Sherry. We Met at Drew’s party. I’m a friend of Alice.” “Uh, sure. I’ve seen you a few other times as well, haven’t I,” Bill said. “Maybe at some group meetings?” “Yes, but I’m not a member. I belong to another one.” Bill fiddled with the phone cord […]

Lost Dreams

Once again he awakened with the juicy part of a dream playing in his mind’s monitor. Alas, as often happens, the finale escaped observation. Perhaps I need a dreamcatcher. It’s as bad as recording a movie on the DVR only to find out after watching it for two hours that the last several minutes were cut off, leaving […]

The Dog Star’s Bark

I gazed in rapt wonder at the dark night sky, nearly asleep in the deck’s recliner. Then came the sound. I swear, I did hear the Dogstar barking at me. She wouldn’t believe me of course, when I told her. Any more than when I told her of the squirrel who returned my wave with an uplifted […]

High Beams, Cold Beer and Church

High beams flashed like lightning in the night, blinding aging eyes. Into the ditch he drove and out again, sliding over leaves piled deep by the wind. “Whew, that was close!” He said. “Yes dear, but thrilling wasn’t it?” Said Hilda. “Perhaps you could call it that. Easy enough for you to say, you weren’t […]

The Farting Frog

The last night they spent together passed into morning. The moon still shone faintly in the pre-dawn sky as a rising sun colored clouds pink. The night could scarcely be called romantic, recounting the experiences of Northern Ireland during its boom years. They had the IT world by the tail. Launching new websites connected to robust servers, passing financial data […]