Author Archives: cocowriter

  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 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 →

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 →

  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 →

As for the heron, it . . .went about searching for food in its slow, magisterial way. – Blue Heron/Avi                                                      Chapter Fifteen   Thanksgiving morning, I awoke to the smell of bacon frying and strong coffee brewing. Then … Continue reading →

How will I send my thoughts flying without no great birds to use for a guide? — Paul Boeth/ The Great Blue Heron by Robert W. Butler                                       Chapter Fourteen   I survived Conferences, but Mrs. Stankoski had me … Continue reading →

The heron suddenly stretched its neck straight up and, beak pointing skyward, kept it there as if listening. “Frahnk!” it suddenly cried, deep and harsh. “Frahnk!” – Blue Heron by Avi                                                   Chapter Thirteen   By the time … Continue reading →

When foraging in streams, they [great blue herons] usually stand or walk against the current . . . enabling the bird to approach from the rear. – Birds of Lake, Pond, and Marsh/John Eastman                                                         Chapter Twelve   … Continue reading →

 Every time one member of the couple [of great blue herons] arrives at the nest, he or she greets the partner by raising the neck and head feathers and emitting a special sequence of guttural cries. — The Great Book … Continue reading →

  Our ancestors revered herons and notice how high up they fly, ‘where they behold forever, the countenance of God,’ wrote Rabanus Maurus                                         — 100 Birds and How They Names by Diana Wells                                                                           Chapter Nine   … Continue reading →

                        “Often solitary . . .lone birds may be seen flapping slowly overhead, even miles from water. ”   —Birds of North America/Kaufman Focus Guides/Kenn Kaufman                                           Chapter Eight   It’s Sat. morning. Mama’s working. So I give … Continue reading →

Great blues spend much time preening and grooming, typically when perched on a tree branch or atop a muskrat lodge after feeding.                                                           –Birds of Lake, Pond, and Marsh/John Eastman           Chapter Seven        Thanks to Gabrielle, I … Continue reading →

As autumn approaches, herons begin to leave the eelgrass meadows . . . – The Great Blue Heron/ Robert Butler                                                Chapter Six            On library day, I returned my book The Blue Heron by Avi. … Continue reading →

As autumn approaches, herons begin to leave the eelgrass meadows . . . – The Great Blue Heron/ Robert Butler                                                Chapter Six  On library day, I returned my book The Blue Heron by Avi. I loved it! … Continue reading →

Chapter Five     Turns out Gabrielle’s mother & grandmother come in the Blue Heron Restaurant all the time for lunch and are now chummy with Mama. Best of all, Gabrielle and I were starting to be friends in Mrs.Stankoski’s … Continue reading →

Some species have learned to “fish” using floating bits of material, such as small twigs, to attract minnows. These birds [great blue herons] will deliberately drop their “bait” into the water and may retrieve it for re-use if it floats … Continue reading →

Chapter Two After school I took in the mail for Mama like I always done. But this wasn’t no ordinary day. In my quivering hands was a letter for Mama from my daddy. Of course, I was gonna read it … Continue reading →

Dear Diary,   Pine Lake, Indiana September, 2005   Muddy Blue Me   Sometimes I have nightmares, then wake up all sweaty, shaking, and remember I’m in Pine Lake, Indiana where the water’s blue and calm as a sailboat at … Continue reading →

Chapter One Fannie Mae promised to drive me to Alabama to find my daddy. Now it’s hopeless. I ain’t never gonna see him. She’s in heaven. Our trailer blew away. We evacuated to Pine Lake, Indiana. And Mama swears she’s … Continue reading →

My name is Sam. And I scam. Call the ladies, “Madame”. Then sell her “ham.” (which is really spam). I don’t really give a d____.   It’s all for a buck. Of course, she’s a sitting duck. Too bad she’s … Continue reading →

Katrina’s Sad Song  For ten years, it was me and Mama in Biloxi, Mississipi, listenin’ to big, black Fannie Mae belt out gospel, praising Jesus. Sometimes she was so soulful, rejoicing and clapping that her trailer rocked and shimmied, shaking … Continue reading →

Retirement   My wise-beyond-his-years, forty-seven year old son, told his “retired” parents that his retirement is in the next life. His belief is heaven (mine, too).However, when he chugs thru his 70’s, this ambition chemical engineer, father of five children, … Continue reading →

Worst Day   On most days teaching sixth graders was very rewarding, however, there were those days . . . I used to tell fellow teachers, “ You gotta love ‘em, because no one else does, not even their parents. … Continue reading →

You know the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for”. I swear to you it’s true. It happened to me. I quit teaching to write a children’s book (actually I wrote two of them). That was the fun and … Continue reading →

A quick thought flashed thru his 64 year old brain, “The cocky kid has a point”.” In one month he was going to turn 65 and retire anyway. “What’s one more kid that doesn’t want to be there? For what … Continue reading →

After long crummy-cold winters in Ohio, May was always a miracle to behold. Gloomy- grey skies suddenly slipped into a beautiful blue. Brown twigs and brown grass sported new green coats. From blossom to birdsong rebirth was evident everywhere. I … Continue reading →

With Memorial Day around the corner, I ask you. “Would you leave your family and go off to a foreign land fighting for your country, knowing that you might not return”? If you have, I applaud you, bestowing upon you … Continue reading →

It was a dark and stormy day (not night), lightning bolting everywhere, rain drenching, one of Florida’s rainy season kind of days. Mr. Olando Ortega dashed out of his brand new Lexus SUV, popping his umbrella , careful not to … Continue reading →

Ryan was tired of everyone at Shell Point High School always making fun of him. Worse, he was tired of eating alone in the school cafeteria while everyone else joked around with their friends and made plans. Now he had … Continue reading →

Puffin Rock Island is a fictitious island that I created after “seducing the muse” in Maine. It is the setting in my middle grade novel. When doing research for the novel, my husband and I traveled to several areas in … Continue reading →

C’ est la vie!   When I was nine years old my parents surprised me with a brand new Estey piano. I’d had been away at summer camp and will never forget the thrill of walking in the front door, … Continue reading →

When we moved to Florida many of our special- meaning- items were distributed to my children and grandchildren under the disguise of “downsizing”. However there is one item that I would never part with and that is a rosary given … Continue reading →

Buy The Ticket   My dear children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren I heard a sermon last Sunday that prompted me to pass on to you my “pearls of wisdom”. It was about the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-28). … Continue reading →

“Death Changes Everything” One of my favorite opening lines in a book is, “Death Changes Everything” from Dorothy Allison’s book Cavedweller. Yes it does. If you are a Christian, you might think it’s the beginning. If you are not, you … Continue reading →

It was Labor Day Weekend 1999 and I had just stepped off a plane in Maui , Hawaii to attend the Maui Writer’s Conference. My first impression was , Wow I have really arrived! The brochure promised four days of … Continue reading →

Awe, what is paradise? To Pelican people it’s  a plethora of p’s: palm trees, pink & purple sunsets, pickleball, parties, programs, preserve walks, parades, etc. Then reality creeps in with problems, pain, and pills — the not so nice “p” words. A … Continue reading →

February flurries Elders escaping Bronzing-by-the-bay Umbrellas unused Armies arriving Rebellious Floridians You bet!    

Although President, I am a farm boy at heart. My cozy memories from time to time take me to back to Knob Creek in Kentucky. Even though I was just a young “whipper snapper”, no higher than corn on the fourth of … Continue reading →

Ecuador Oct. 2000 I awake to a savage- sounding, “whoo . . . whoo . . . whoo”, reverberating from the top of the rainforest canopy where I’m perched inside a thatched roof hut. Kind villagers have given me their … Continue reading →

The nightingale sings sweet, sorrowful, swampy sounds. A glorious voice!

What is love? Companionship? Petting? Lapping? Before you get the wrong idea, I am talking about a dog, specifically one named Ernie. Ernie’s owner was my brother, Jack who has Alzheimer’s. Jack had been living in the independent unit of … Continue reading →

While King Arthur and his wife, Guinevere, are frolicking around the castle, the chief knight, Sir Lancelot’s exploits of heroism are recounted as follows: “Germ’s are invading!”yells the guard standing up chivalrous and tall in a boat surrounding the castle moat. … Continue reading →

I never thought I’d be writing an ode to a node. But here I am after 5 chemo rounds, breast surgery, and headed to radiation thanking my lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are small bean-shaped organs that trap unwanted substances and … Continue reading →

Let me say at the outset that I hope not to offend any of my new Pelican Pen friends who have helped me thru this last difficult chemo. But in my opinion — and only my opinion– I have some … Continue reading →

So many nights, I’d sit in the bar, ready to beat the tar, So many fights  a itchin’ Til I’d go home to my kitchen. Alone. Ain’t no one on the phone.   Then you came along with  a song, … Continue reading →

Hair or No Hair— click to open

The Wedding by Linda Puffenberger   June 2004   I opened the wedding invitation without realizing a tear had slid down my cheek and my hands were trembling. Had it really been ten years, a decade, since Andy had been … Continue reading →

White Gardenias by Linda Puffenberger White gardenias were my mother’s favorite flower. It’s an old-fashioned aromatic flower with an intoxicating fragrance — one that Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, would be proud of. One could even go so far … Continue reading →

Regrets by Linda  Puffenberger “Death changes everything,” to quote Dorothy Allison from her book Cavedweller. My father died on May 17,1997. And it did indeed change my life. I had move this 89 year old WWII veteran from Indiana to … Continue reading →

Dear Joan, I miss you terribly since you passed away last November. We shared so much as sisters. So many fond memories, it’s hard to pick. But I’ll limit myself to three. Five years ago you invited my husband and I to … Continue reading →