Seven

 Written by M. K. Waller (and others)

23:59 hours.

That’s how late I am in getting this post online.

That’s how late I am in writing this post I’m late in getting online.

Instead of belaboring the point, I’m going to do something I should do more often–remind you of some fine posts I didn’t write that deserve another look.

Here are seven–click on the title links to read. And there are more where these came from:

 

OBSESSING ON ELF EARS…

by Mike Staton

Please forgive me. I’m so embarrassed. I just don’t know if I can actually write this post. I’ll do my very best. You see I have this peculiar fascination with ears – not with any old ears. Elf ears… the long pointed ones that project out from the heads of lady elves.

My admission is not something that makes me proud. I’d rather have a fascination with ice fishing or deep-sea diving. Spending way too much time looking at paintings of elven princesses sporting ears that nearly reach to the top of trees is an obsession that has nearly ruined my life….

KEEP ON WRITING

by Neva Bodin

Tuesday I was invited to go to the Willow Creek Ranch where a writer’s retreat was hosting Craig Johnson for supper. Craig is the successful author of the Longmire series in book form, then on TV and now on Netflix. He is also a very nice Wyoming rancher.

It’s about 70 miles from our house. The first 40 miles was great. We’d received almost an inch of rain in the 12 hours right before we left. But as many WY roads do, pavement turned to dirt—meaning clay, which is probably full of bentonite.

Bentonite is a material mined in this area for many commercial purposes. It has colloidal properties that cause it to swell to several times its original size when wet. It is used in cat litter, as a lubricant, purifier and clarifier in producing iron ore pellets, building materials and edible oils. It’s used in cosmetics, animal food, paper making, dyes, detergents and more.

It also takes control of your four-wheel drive wheels, is slippery and tries to be in charge any time you work with it. It shift buildings, causing cracks etc. And if you get stuck in it with a four-wheel drive, you are stuck….

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3 SHORT, FUN, WRITING EXERCISES

by Cole Smith

CHARACTER ANIMALS

Do you remember the game, “If You Were An Animal You’d Be…?” (Well, if you never played it, you’ve missed the opportunity to feel bent out of shape when someone suggests you’d be a chipmunk. It still stings!) This exercise is a little like that game….

 

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BECAUSE I SAID SO! BY CHER’LEY

by Cher’ley Grogg

As many of you know, I am now in charge of my great-grandchildren, for how long I don’t know, but my grandson is on a solitary journey of being in the military and caring for a 2 1/2 and a 1-year-old. So far I have not said, “Because I said so.” But I may resort to that. It’s been 4o some years since I have had to care for babies, and I am going on 66….

 

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WHAT’S YOUR COMFORT ZONE?

by Keri DeDeo

It’s been over a year since I quit my job, and although I’m much happier, I’m uncomfortable. It took some time to figure out why. It wasn’t until I stumbled onto a book as I unpacked a box. It’s called Do Big Small Things, and it’s a travel journal of sorts. I bought it back in 2016 when I was struggling with my life—finding it difficult to go to work and struggled with a kind of identity crisis. I hadn’t done much with the book, but a few weeks ago when I rediscovered it, I opened it and started completing some of the activities. It wasn’t until I got to the page that directed me to do something out of my comfort zone when I had a “eureka” moment.

Comfort zone!? I’m completely out of my comfort zone….

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WEDDING RECEPTIONS IN THE YOU-TUBE ERA

by Norine Cedeno

What’s going on with wedding receptions these days?

My husband and I were apparently married in a bygone era, the pre-YouTube era. Consequently, our bridesmaids and groomsmen did not choreograph dances, put on a ballet, or produce a Broadway musical during our reception for the entertainment of our guests. I would never have asked them to do so. And, it wouldn’t have occurred to them.

Now, the newly engaged search YouTube for what’s “traditional” at wedding receptions. Because if it’s “traditional,” it must be on YouTube, right?

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DREAM 

by Abbie Johnson Taylor

I woke up in a hospital room. In the next bed, a friend of mine, with whom I attend water exercise classes at the YMCA, was talking, apparently, to someone visiting her. It wasn’t clear how I got here, but I had a vague recollection of being sick at home and another friend stopping by and taking me to the emergency room, where I was admitted after a battery of tests.

How had my friend gotten into my house? As sick as I was, it would probably never have occurred to me to unlock the doors so someone could get in, let alone call for help. I’d given my friend a key once so she could stay in my house while I was out of town, but she’d long since returned it to me…

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