Monthly Archives: September 2018

    I was taking my usual morning walk, when I felt something stuck to the bottom of one of my sneakers. It was a small piece of paper. I started to discard it, when I realized something was written … Continue reading →

They had been lovers in college, 40 years ago, but those times didn’t allow their feelings for each other to be out in the open and their lives took different paths when Wilma couldn’t fly in the face of society’s … Continue reading →

  A CARRIAGE RIDE   Margaret Mary Pence and her sister, Emily Sue Grassley, nee’ Pence, had not seen each other for over twenty years. Emily Sue and her husband, Chuck, had spent those years in Asia, working for the … Continue reading →

Walter’s outgoing personality instantly puts everyone he meets in a relaxed, open state of mind. This is important because, as a carriage driver in New York City, his main function, besides controlling a rather docile horse, is to put all … Continue reading →

  THE DOOR   Why is there a plane, wooden, red door at the entrance to the magnificent gothic cathedral in the small French village of Bourges – a cathedral started in 1195 and completed in 1203? Inside the cathedral … Continue reading →

I’m finally going to ask the question. It was the usual time- 2:00 PM on Saturday. I knocked on the red door and counted down from 30. At exactly 30, the door slowly swung back. Mary smiled her usual greeting … Continue reading →

As night was falling and a storm approaching, I sat alone, pen in hand, contemplating the story that had been forming in my mind.  A warm fire, crackling on the hearthstone, relaxed me, despite the occasional flash of lightning, clap … Continue reading →

The Red Door Society held monthly meetings in the old decommissioned stone church on the second Friday of every month. The church was considered Williamstown’s centerpiece since being constructed in 1699. It’s defining feature, a bright red door. The old … Continue reading →

  Our ancestors revered and noticed how high up they fly, ‘where they behold forever, the countenance of God,’ wrote Rabanus Maurus Our.– 100 Birds and How They Got Their Names by Diana Wells Chapter Twenty Three       … Continue reading →

  The Clan existed in this remote valley for a thousand years. There was enough land to farm, game to hunt, and total isolation from the rest of the planet. Clan members resembled early pioneers in dress, housing, and way … Continue reading →

LIAM’S LAMENT   Liam came home to an empty house. He had just buried his older brother, Charles. He found no food and was totally panicked about what to do next. His mom and family would soon be home. He … Continue reading →

The immediate response of most fish when caught by a heron is to begin to wiggle. – The Great Blue Heron/Robert Butler                                                  Chapter Twenty One   Woody was in the woodshop, making saw dust when I caught … Continue reading →

Juveniles [blue heron chicks] teeter on nearby branches squawking, and flapping their wings . . . Their [parent blue herons] return starts a riot . . . snoozing siblings begin to hop about on the nest edge; pushing, shoving, and … Continue reading →

I’m puzzled. Are you talking to me? The woman is engaged in fairly loud chatter as she holds the cantaloupe gently in her hand. Her words are inaudible from this distance but there is a tone of seriousness. I decide … Continue reading →

Hi, my name is Harold and I am a kite.  Not your ordinary kite like the one some little boy flies, like Charlie Brown, that gets caught in a tree every time he flies it!  No, I have an extraordinary … Continue reading →

Dobbin would be 25 this year.  He stood 17 hands high, tall for a horse, gray muzzle, but dark head, neck, forelegs and withers with his body becoming more dappled and lighter over his rump and hind legs.  He was … Continue reading →

Clip… Clop… Clip… Clop… “Dad?” “Yes Son.” “Who made those stone walls, and why are there so many?” “Our ancestors made the walls when they first came to the island.” “Ant-sisters, that’s a funny name. Have I ever met one?” … Continue reading →

  ROAD TO BALLYBOFEY   Stiofan Doherty, descended from the fourth century King Niall of the Nine Hostages, resided on the Inishaven Peninsula in County Donegal in the town of Stranorlag. Dohertys are still plentiful in Donegal today. The name … Continue reading →