2020

If We Were Having Coffee on the 13th of February, 2021

Hello and Welcome! Sit down and I’ll get you a nice steaming mug of super strong dark roast, a piping cuppa tea or some nice hot cocoa. What do you mean you are cold? It is up to 15 F/-9 C already! And the sun is out and there is no wind. It’s a heat wave! Where are we? Some may know the photo at the top as being from New Hampshire. I know, this is the longest stretch in NH without a weekend on Cape Cod in 8 years! Not just by a little, but by a lot.

As I said last week, we are in the heart of winter now. I’m sure everyone knows that the Polar Vortex has taken up residency in central Canada and has had effects over most of North America. Actually, looking at the forecast, we will be getting closer to normal temperatures this week, but not warm. (Two days ago it showed a deep freeze for the week ahead).

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Carrot Ranch Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic

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I’ve always been fascinated with ancient sites. When I visited the British Islands, I put things like Neolithic stone circles, Bronze Age tombs and Iron Age hillforts at the top of the itinerary. Sure, I visited Roman ruins, went into old churches (which are great), explored castles (the more ruinous the better!) and played tourist at places like the Anne Hathaway Cottage, but it was the ancient sites that held my attention.

When I started blogging, I soon discovered a blog that often posted about ancient sites in Britain. Yep, an immediate follow!! Of course, I discovered a whole lot else after following the blog for a while. There were personal posts and poems, stories and symbols. Even talk outside of Britain of my favorite city, Paris, but as part of the blogger’s personal history.

I also discovered the blog’s owner, Sue Vincent, the center of one of the largest chunks of the blogging community that I belong to and interact with. Her weekly writephoto challenge is one of the best out there. Some of my best fiction was inspired by Sue’s marvelous photos in this challenge.

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Deeper #writephoto

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It had been a hard day. I went straight to my room and flopped down on the bed. I didn’t even take off my jacket.

Deeper and deeper into the abyss.

I didn’t try to sleep, just stared at the ceiling seeing nothing.

Black, only black.

My cell rang.

Swirling water, a whirlpool, sucking me down.

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Galvin – The Old Mill

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Galvin is… Well, Galvin is Galvin. There is no better way to describe him than that. Some would say he is “a character” or “a bit of local color”. Others might shake their head and mumble “eccentric” or “oddball” while still others would say “every town has their Galvin.” Gill isn’t so sure – he has never met anybody quite like the strange, little old man.

Strange, of course, is a matter of opinion, but “little” fits to some extent. Galvin is small and wiry, perhaps 5 foot 6 and 115 pounds, maybe less, but surprisingly strong. In ways, “old” is more attitude than age. Galvin is in his mid-60s, but has always tried to put himself up as older and more experienced. And there is something about him that if you didn’t know, you might place him closer to 80 than 60. Yet he is active and agile, spry as a 22-year-old.

Galvin loves to tell tall tales and can spin quite a yarn. On the other hand, doing a little research you might find that some of his most outrageous claims about the town’s history are true.

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Escape?

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They are coming!

Shhhh. Close your eyes.

I can’t sleep with them out there!

This bit of woods is special, a fairy forest.

Their guns are real, not fantasy!

Shhh. They are fairies of light, of good. The magic is powerful, but you need to believe.

Believe? Now?

They have a trail in the trees, one our enemy can’t see, because they are rough and can’t believe. You need to believe.

I hear them!

Close your eyes and see. We can catch the rail, escape.

But…

Shhh. Close your eyes. Do you see?

Yes…

“Stop, or we’ll shoot!”

Let’s go.

***

Word count = 100

Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo © Alicia Jamtaas. Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “linky“.

Remember – You do have to believe, keep that hope alive, even if you’ve reached the end of the track….

Still and Moving Life #tanka

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Precise lines define
A casual arrangement
All relaxed yet snug
Between exact and sloppy
Sketch my day in shades of life

***

This was written for Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge. This week she gave us two words, Loose and Tight, and asked us to include synonyms of those words. I chose to write a tanka today.

A little over a week ago I went through some sketch pads and found a few old drawings. If you remember, I used a pastel of Notre Dame for my poem last week. This drawing is from a class I took many years ago. I’ve been trying to find an excuse to use it, and now I have one :)

The Old Mill – Released!

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A stench lies on Avebury, New Hampshire. It isn’t something that one can smell, it is more of a psychic soot polluting everybody’s mood. No one recalls when it arrived, but there does seem to be a connection with the Old Mill and its mysterious new owners.

Following the trail of the local legend, the ghost of Martha Goode, Gill Baxter is driven to discover the truth behind the events of 1821 and, hopefully, prevent another “time of dying.” That trail, though, leads directly to The Old Mill.

***

The Old Mill was released today! You can find it on Amazon with the links below:

Kindle
US
UK
France
Canada
Australia
India

Paperback

US
UK
Canada
France
Germany
Italy

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The Weekly Smile for February 8, 2021 #weeklysmile

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Winter has arrived in New Hampshire! Well, we had some frigid weather for a while, but the real snow arrived last week. It has snowed a few times and there is a thick covering over everything. It is very pretty.

I took several walks over the weekend in what can be described as a winter wonderland. At the edge of a our town there is a bare hillside. The backside is used as a sledding hill. It is called Carnival Hill because for decades back in the late 19th century, early 20th century, there was a huge winter festival there that drew people up from Boston. Part of it is the Three Town Toboggan Run, since it is on the corner of the three townships, and you can literally sled through parts of all three.

Anyway, Saturday evening, at sunset, it was gorgeous up there. The sky glowed pink and purple. There are places with wonderful views of the chain containing Temple Mountain, Pack Monadnock and North Pack. The snow glowed.

That is half of my smile.

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