Author: R.M. Carlson

Freelance writer, blogger, aspiring novelist. Former career as a college prof in finance. Encore career as freelance writer for a number of financial websites.
Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare, Horse Racing, Recipes, Uncategorized

#weekendcoffeeshare 164 – May 24, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Hello and welcome to my #weekendcoffeeshare! I’m so glad you could all join me this morning. We have several kinds of coffee and tea, so grab a cup and let’s go catch up!

One highlight of my week was, once again, horse racing! I wrote about racing in a previous #weekendcoffeeshare; in fact, the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby is just the first jewel in the races known as the Triple Crown. The second jewel is the Preakness Stakes, ran at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, USA. The Preakness started off this week for me.

The Preakness is a shorter race than the Derby. It is one mile and 3/16. The Derby is a mile and a quarter. Horse that fade at the end in the Derby often run in the Preakness. This year, just like in the Derby, a long shot won the day. A gray horse, Seize the Grey, came in first. There will be no Triple Crown winner this year.

The last race in the Triple Crown is the Belmont Stakes which happens a few weeks from now. It’s my time of year to enjoy horse racing as it is for many in the U.S. and specifically in Kentucky.

My flower garden. Gardening is disappointing this year. There has been so much rain, daily almost, that my flower blooms have been ruined. It is so disappointing. The weather people have said that my area is going to have the hottest summer on record. The thunderstorms and rain are going to have to stop before that can happen!

The only other thing I’ve been doing is some writing and some reading. Also a little cooking. Fresh produce is starting to arrive at the markets and I love it, so I cook fairly frequently. Sometime, I’ll have to fill you in on U.S. southern cooking. It’s different! If you’re interested in that sort of thing (or in eating!), you might want to take a peek at some of the recipes I’ve posted, particularly this one.

See you next weekend!

Thanks to Natalie the Explorer for hosting #weekendcoffeeshare!

Posted in #unicornchallenge, Challenges, Flash Fiction

Two Faces – #unicornchallenge – May 24, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

She sat on a bench across the street from the museum, studying the sculpture in front.  It was a man, seemingly sculpted from wood, reading. He reminded her of a book she once read, “A Man of Two Faces.”

If you looked closely at the man, you could see his skeletal-like face. Above it, between his forehead and the crown of his head, another face appeared to her. You could distinguish two eyes and a nose that would be looking skyward if the sculpture could have looked up. He captured her imagination particularly given the times she was living in.

The outward looking face of the man was bowed, reading a book. The book he was reading, she imagined, was a book on American culture in these unsettled current times. There were bitter political rivalries, hundreds of conspiracy theories, religious involvement, misinformation and disinformation. Neighbors turned against neighbors and family against family. Long-time friendships were forever destroyed. The American dream to her seemed to be gone and she had no understanding of half the American population and its thinking.

She looked at the other face of the sculpture. That face wasn’t as clear, the expression was more off-kilter, perhaps confused, and a little dreamy. Maybe that face was dreaming of what could be, but wasn’t, in America. The American Dream, but this time an inclusive American Dream that was available to everyone. Was it now lost forever? Destroyed by greed and the lust for power? The sculpture had no answers.

Thanks to Ayr/Gray for hosting the #unicornchallengeT.

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Pie and the Festival – #FridayFictioneers – May 24, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson
Photo Prompt @ Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Mollie scurried around her kitchen, cooking for the festival in her town. Food from the southern US is often prepared differently than food from anywhere else.

Mollie couldn’t decide between entering her stack cake or a cushaw pie in the competition. Her neighbor was going to enter cushaw pie, but Mollie’s pie was her specialty dish.

The day of the competition came and Mollie’s pie won the blue ribbon. Her neighbor was angry and threw Mollie’s pie to the ground screaming.

Mollie learned that real friendship is hard to find and should be cherished and nurtured.

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Note: Cushaw pie is not common outside the southern U.S. A cushaw is a gourd and the filling is used to make pie. Many think it is tastier than pumpkin pie.

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Thanks to Rochelle for hosting the #FridayFictioneers challenge.

Posted in #unicornchallenge, Challenges, Flash Fiction

Bad Dog Bark

Posted on by R.M. Carlson
Photo Prompt Ayr/Gray

I awakened with a start. What had I heard? Oh, it was only Sophie, my German Shepherd dog who sleeps beside my bed. Wait! Sophie! Why was she whining? I leaped out of bed realizing my clock said 6:45 a.m. I usually took her for a walk on the beach by 5 a.m.

We walked outside. She pushed open the garden gate and started for the beach. I followed trying to stop her. Since one of her strides is equal to three of mine, there was no hope of catching her.

I jumped in my car. What else could I do? My dog was taking herself for a walk to the beach.

I pulled up in a parking space watching Sophie run gleefully around on the beach. As soon as I stepped on the beach calling her, a police car pulled up beside me. Sophie immediately ran to me, fearing I was in danger.

Ma’am, get your dog off the beach.”

Sophie barked at the officer. Her bad dog bark.

“Get off the beach with that dog,” he said in a loud, aggressive voice.

“Officer, if you would just give me a………”

What happened next wasn’t very pleasant. Sophie and I ended up looking through the bars of the backseat of a police car.

I was unhappy. The officer was unhappy. But Sophie? She had gotten to defend me from the bad police officer. Now if she can only figure out how to charm us out of jail.

 

Sophie and her squeaky toy
Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Violinist – #FridayFictioneers – May 17, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

The old lady trudged up the street to the church she had attended for more than 60 years. The light from the steeple caused the white church to glow. She climbed the stairs up to the steeple.

The violin was lying on the table. She opened a window for some cool air. 

The old woman started to play. She played Horner’s “My Heart Will Go On.” A crowd gathered on the street. They waited for her to come out to praise and thank her.

The steeple went dark. She didn’t appear. They looked for her, but she had vanished.

Thank you to Rochelle for hosting #FridayFictioneers!

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare, Non-fiction

#weekendcoffeeshare162

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Hello everyone! So nice to see you. Please join me for my #weekendcoffeeshare 162. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and let’s sit down and visit.

The highlight of the week for me was the Kentucky Derby. For those of you unfamiliar with the Kentucky Derby, it is known as the most exciting two minutes in sports. The Derby is a race for 3 year old colts held at Churchill Downs race track in Louisville, Kentucky. It draws not only Kentuckians but people from around the world. This year, horses were entered not just from Kentucky and the United States, but Japan and the United Arab Emirates.

Many of my friends, family and I, and all Kentuckians, are into horse racing. I didn’t go to the Derby, but I studied it in advance, and its horses, and thought I had a pretty good idea who would win. WRONG! Mystick Dan, a 18-1 long shot won the race, which is the first leg of the Triple Crown. He is a bay three-year old colt with a fine pedigree. Derby winners and other great horses are in his ancestry including Affirmed, Northern Dancer, Seattle Slew, and Mr. Prospector. It was an exciting three-horse photo finish.

Mystick Dan is the horse nearest to the rail in the above photo.

We love the Kentucky Derby in this part of the world. I’ve visited American Pharoach (2015 Derby winner), a gorgeous, gentle thoroughbred. I also talk about my connection to the 2016 Derby winner. I have even written a piece about the downsides of horse racing (and there are many).

Here is a picture of this year’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs!

Do you enjoy horse racing? I’d love to hear your comments!

Until next weekend…..

Rosemary

Thanks to Natalie the Explorer for hosting #weekendcoffeeshare!

Posted in #unicornchallenge, #unicornchallenge, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Locksmith – #UnicornChallenge – May 9, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Photo Promp @ Ayr/Gray

It was an old locksmith shop located in an ancient building in a small town. The windows were broken. The inside was filthy and filled with rats. Henri was determined to revitalize it. He was a locksmith by trade and felt like he could make a good living here.

Henri had seen all the special, butnecessary, services drain away from the town. Occupations like clockmakers,shoe repair, and locksmiths were gone as young people wanted to work in themore exciting field of technology. He dreamed of a large town square wherethere was an abundance of such services. Henri had hope since, just down the street, another space would house a clockmaker. 

As the crews went to work on the locksmith shop, they found so much that had to be completely redone. Henri also found treasures. Equipment from over 75 years ago. He found antiques that, although he couldn’t use them, he could display them.

Henri’s friend, the clockmaker, also found treasures in his shop. As they talked, the thought of a small museum featuring the old treasures popped up.

One day, a young woman, happened along and spent some time talking with Henri. She was a painter and a former museum curator who was looking for a store front. She had the idea to share her space with the old treasures.

As time went on, Henri’s vision of a town square started to take shape. He and Anais, the painter, grew close and worked together on their projects, both for their work and their lives. Finding that old store front turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to Henri, Anais, the small town and even the clockmaker.

They found that dreams can come true with a lot of vision and a little luck.

Thanks to C.E. Ayr and Jennie Gray for hosting the Unicorn Challenge.

Posted in Challenges

Escape

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#FridayFictioneers – May 10, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Lisa Fox

She sat under the protective canopy of the tree reading on a summer afternoon. No one could see her sitting there, but she could see the going’s on outside.

As a small girl, she’d had a tree house. It was a rudimentary one that her dad built for her. That tree house just had a floor and stairs to the ground. 

She dreamed of a bigger tree house now, as an adult. The small deer stand was a start. She wanted four walls, a roof, and even heat for winter. 

She had to find a way to escape.

Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff for hosting #FridayFictioneers!

Posted in Musings

Monday Moments – Musings – May 6, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

The Garden

So much on my mind today that I would have to write a book to share it. Instead, I’m going to share a piece of it and that is my flower garden. Things are blooming and are beautiful! Not everything yet. Some perennials bloom later than others.

From left, top to bottom: Clematis, iris, peonies, rhododendron bush, iris

From left: Japanese painted fern, (not sure of variety of fern), hostas

More will bloom as May goes on!

The rhododendron is native to the area in which I live – the Daniel Boone National Forest in the U.S. The rest are perennials that I have added to my garden. The flower garden has a problem right now. It needs to be heavily fertilized with an organic fertilizer. It is raining so much here, almost daily, that I can’t use my fertilizer right now.

Later today, I am driving to an excellent vegetable market to pick up produce. I try to eat as healthy and natural as I can. That’s tough here in the winter, but spring has come and the vegetables are flooding into the local vegetable markets. Unfortunately, the closest market (25 miles) has not received their order yet. The next closest market is 50 miles away and we are making a trip there today. I try to buy fresh produce at least once a week. It’s a considerable drive regardless of what I’m shopping for.

If we make it to a local market today, I will take pictures of their wonderful offerings to share with all of you.

Posted in #unicornchallenge, Challenges

The Love Canal – #TheUnicornChallenge – May 3, 2024.

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Photo prompt by Ayr/Gray

Lily always took her morning walks along the banks of the canal. She loved to watch the graceful and elegant swans as they glided across the water glistening in the morning light.

Lily was nostalgic about her own life. She loved the old, dilapidated boat docked there and she could see its potential. The boatman who owned it seemed content to leave it as it was.

One morning, Lily was standing near the old boat on the canal dreaming of taking it to far away places. A big, white dog bounded up to her full of joy and love. She wondered where he belonged and when she looked up, she saw a man approaching, calling the dog. He was an older man and handsome in a distinguished sort of way.

She and John fell into a conversation about their mutual love for the canal. Over the next few hours, John regaled her with stories of the history of the canal and they set out to explore it together. Over the next few weeks, John filled her heart.

One morning, John told Lily that he had bought the old boat from the boatman. He then declared  his love for her, and she fell into his arms.

A few months later, they started off on a magical journey in the old boat. As they left, the swans danced in joy.

One year later, Lily thought back to that day. She was glad they hadn’t known what would happen during the coming year.

Thank you to CE Ayr and Jenne Gray for hosting #TheUnicornChallenge!