Monthly Archives: August 2018

Herons take flight when alarmed . . . and resort to cryptic camouflage when in danger. – Living Birds of the World by E. Thomas Gilliard     Chapter Seventeen   “Emma June Johnson  where have you been?” Mama asked … Continue reading →

Zhang Wei is known as a tinkerer, inventor, and dreamer. He really has no business in General Meng Tian’s great army, but King Qin Shi Huang dreams of unifying China and Zhang wants to be part of it. Besides, the … Continue reading →

      NUMBER 10076   Carl Kiteberg, a distinguished, graying, fifty-year-old, married to his high school sweetheart for twenty-five years, was the Chief Financial Officer of a multi-national corporation: The Amalgamated Caregivers of America. His salary and associated corporate … Continue reading →

So far this year, it has been like no other.  We began at the Pelican Preserve with the minor ailments that accompany aging thinking aloud, from time to time, how tough we have to be to get older.  “It’s not … Continue reading →

Ulaanbaatar Mongolia, stimulating city, traffic undisciplined yet no fender benders but at least a million close calls. No road rage despite everyone cutting off everyone else at every opportunity. Constant unrelenting lane changing making two lanes into three? Four? Yes! … Continue reading →

THE PARK   It was our first date: a ratty, old blanket, spread on the grass near the lake, some deli sandwiches and soda and a lost kite trapped in the branches of a nearby tree. I wanted to date … Continue reading →

Oogh peered at the ominous black sky from the relative safety of his cave, watching the brilliant sky snakes arcing across the heavens. A blinding flash and deafening crack forced him to instinctively retreat rapidly as several sky snakes shattered … Continue reading →

Casually I lifted the pistol from my lap and fired a single round over the head of my partner sitting opposite me. My partner calmly announced “Alert” in a quiet tone. Our opponents were apparently unaware of this new convention. … Continue reading →

  STAIRWAY TO HELL   Angelina Maria Courdaban, the daughter of Don Jose Courdaban and a black woman, named Eliza, were taken by a raiding party to be sold at auction in America. They were purchased at a slave auction … Continue reading →

( A prequel to “Just a few steps to go …” by Teresa Kaye)  Angelina was the oldest of twelve children. The family lived in a four room apartment just outside of Managua, Nicaragua. To say life was hard was … Continue reading →

Phyllis adjusted the bra strap on her bathing suit, reached for her pina colada and took a sip, an involuntary giggle escaping her lips as she sat on her lounge in the sun on the beach in ‘Cabo.  She couldn’t … Continue reading →

Charlie had had all he could take.  He’d made up his mind that he was leaving Phyllis!  Her constant bitching about his lack of initiative and the poor money he made had finally gotten to him.  He didn’t understand why … Continue reading →

                         Life and Death in the Stairwell   As I survey the narrow, steep stairway, I console myself with the thought that it’s better than living in the street.   Close inspection of these ancient stairs reveals their troubled life. … Continue reading →

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN   Geraldo Rivera gave me the address of this house in New York’s lower east side in a rapidly decaying, unsafe neighborhood. He didn’t want to take a chance on another Al Capone’s safe disaster. He assured … Continue reading →

  Visitors to the great blue heron rookery should wear hard hats . . . one never knows when frog bones, chunks of rotted fish, and some other unsavory tidbits may come tumbling down when these birds feed their young. … Continue reading →

My name is Jack McDougal, the great, great, great, (maybe one more great) nephew of Phineas McDougal, one of the country’s first robber barons. Unlike the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Melons, Uncle Phineas outlived most of his money. At the time … Continue reading →