Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare, weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 02/18/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Florida, Climate Change, and Extreme Life

Good morning! Welcome to #weekendcoffeeshare! I want to invite everyone in for coffee, tea, hot chocolate or the beverage of your choice. I am liking the Indian Spice Chai Tea because I don’t drink coffee. We have many different types of coffee and tea here for your drinking pleasure!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that my #weekendcoffeeshares have been odd the past few weeks because I’ve been traveling but I am back home and back to normal now. Traveling has really done a number on my writing. I’ve gotten a bit of writing done but have done absolutely nothing on my novel. I have to get back to work on it as soon as possible. Traveling does, I think, enrich your writing.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope all of you are doing well and that your writing muse is with you. I hope you’ll share your writing experiences with me in the comments and I look forward to reading your #weekendcoffeeshares.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that it is indeed interesting to now anticipate  living in the tropics six months each year. We are going to be living far enough south in Florida that it is certainly in a tropical zone. That is quite different from the temperate zone in which I live now. I do so love it there, however. But, I’m concerned. I don’t know about each of you, but I do believe in climate change and that the actions we take effect our climate. It seems that one of the key cabinet positions in the Trump Administration is now being run by an individual who does not believe in climate change and that does not bode well for keeping the regulations we have concerning the climate in place.

Florida is one of the states in the U.S. that will be first affected by rising sea levels. My new little home there is only one mile from the coast so I am concerned. Tides are getting higher. Real estate values, tourism, and Florida’s fresh water supply are already being affected. Florida is also getting hotter. When I was there this winter, it was above 80 almost every day in the Ft. Myers area. In late January and early February. I believe climate change is real and, living in Florida, you experience it first hand.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I have a lot of different interests. One of them is science and I read something this week I want to tell you about. Scientists have discovered a Mexican cave system that is incredibly beautiful but so hot that they call it both Fairyland and Hell. In that cave system are microbes that they think are at least 50,000 years old and have survived by living on minerals such as manganese and iron. They are called “extreme life” but they are not the oldest extreme life. To illustrate how extreme they are, they are very far from their nearest relative — as far as humans are from mushrooms. Just a science tidbit I thought you’d find interesting!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope to have some new writing to tell you next week, such as the fact that I’m making progress on my novel!

I have to go now and finish our unpacking from a month-long RV trip. A huge job. I’ve enjoyed being back with you!

 

Posted in Fiction

Gretta’s Dream

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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My name is Gretta. I don’t like to sleep. I dread going to sleep every night. You see, I have this dream. The same dream every night with minor variations. I remember my dream because it happens right before I wake up in the mornings. Each morning. Every morning. The dream isn’t bad. I should say it wasn’t bad in the past, but it was  a little disconcerting. Now, it’s bad. I still have the same dream even though, now, there is no reason I should have it. It makes me feel like I’ve been hypnotized.

Yes, I know this sounds confusing. I guess I should try to explain except I’m not sure I can. I think I probably was hypnotized, although that isn’t the right word. Brainwashed. That’s the right word. So I have this dream and it seems real. Sometimes for as much as ten or fifteen minutes after I wake up. I have dreams, just like everyone else, that I never remember afterwards. This dream is different.

I’m trying to delay telling you about the dream. I don’t like to talk about it. I’ve never told anyone about it except the other person who is in the dream, but he’s gone now. I think if I talk about it, maybe it will go away. Here goes.

Some background. There was a man in my life for awhile. That ended and it ended badly. Very badly for me compliments of him. But that’s another story. That man is in my dream. I had this dream while we were seeing each other and it has continued since. Probably because I was brainwashed.

It’s a simple dream. I dream that this man is lying beside me. We’re holding hands. His hand feels so real to me that I’m convinced he’s really there. It’s like living in an alternate reality. Then, I wake up. I still feel his hand grasping mine. I continue to lie there, sometimes for ten or fifteen minutes, actually wondering why I feel his hand in mine. I know it isn’t real, but why does it feel so real even when I am wide awake.

I get out of bed. For a time afterward, it haunts me. Not so much the dream, but the feeling. Why do I keep having the dream and more importantly, why do I keep having the feeling of his hand grasping mine?

Do you see why I don’t like to sleep?

Any feelings associated with the dream have long since gone. They are dead, buried by the ashes of my relationship with the man in the dream. I don’t even like the feeling of his hand grasping mine any more. He showed himself to be a mentally ill psychopath. Even at that, it took some time for me to get over my own feelings for this man. Once I found out what he had done, it was a relatively quick process. Within a few months, I was over the relationship or as over a relationship as you can ever get when someone sets out to systematically gain your love and trust and then, on purpose, figures out and acts on a plan to crush you.

Why did he do this rather than just tell me the relationship wasn’t working for him? You’d have to ask him. I suspose because he is, indeed, a psychopath.

I’m left with this dream that wants to pass for reality. Every day, I tell myself it is not reality and will never be reality again because I will never allow that to happen. The dream does not go away. Can a situation, a relationship, damage your subconscious to the point where you can’t shake it from your subconscious?

I guess I need help with this. You don’t get over brainwashing easily. I would do just about anything if I could wake up just one morning without having had this damn dream. I would love to like to sleep again. Peacefully.

 

Posted in Blog Series

#23: Adventures in RV Travel – February 16, 2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The End of the Road

Hello everyone! Tonight, I’m writing you from our home in Kentucky. It’s exciting that now we have two homes, one in Kentucky and one in South Florida! I do love both places. The pictures above are of each place — Kentucky on the left, then South Florida. Both beautiful places to live for very different reasons.

Our RV trip to South Florida, then to the Florida panhandle, couldn’t have been more wonderful! In South Florida, we got to have a wonderful, month’s long, vacation. But, even more important than that, we got to buy a small place of our own on an island that we’ve loved for almost ten years. We love the island, the people, the environment  there. It’s a true “Jimmy Buffett” lifestyle. I feel like I’m living in Margaritaville when I’m there!

Then we got to visit the Florida panhandle for the first time. The panhandle may have the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen this side of the Caribbean. Nothing can top the beaches of the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands, but the Florida Panhandle comes close. Of course, our viist to the Panhandle was largely to see our friends, Marty and Phil, and we enjoyed that so much.

We did have one mechanical problem with the RV. For me, RV’s are like boats! It’s always something. Some small problem and there was one trip, one time (to New England in the RV) when there were several BIG mechanical problems. This time, for those of you who are RVer’s, it was the donut gaskets and my traveling companion replaced them within a couple of hours.

One WARNING to all of you RVer’s. Before you schedule a stay at a RV park, ask them if they allow you to make small on-site repairs if need be. The RV park at Carrabelle Beach on the Florida panhandle did not allow such small repairs. The RV park at Pine Island on the Florida peninsula did. It makes a world of difference if you have a problem. We had to find a parking lot as we left the panhandle and an owner who would let us stay for a while in order to make our repairs.

It was sort of a long, hard trip home. We spent a lot of time on two-lane roads, leaving the Panhandle and getting back to the Interstate where we needed to be. A good bit of that time was at night. There are very few services, these days, on two-lane roads since most services are found around the interstate highway system. We had to drive long distances to find places to stay. We were grateful when we had made our way to the interstate. Since we started our trip home late one night, we spent that night on the road and then another night, fairly close to home. We got home in the middle of the day today.

All of you RVer’s know what it’s like to unload an RV after a month long trip! It is not for the faint of heart! We have not nearly finished but we have stopped for the night. I’m going to have to get accustomed to the cold again before I can be out at night in what passes for a Kentucky winter this year. It’s 38 degrees here tonight.

I will look back on this RV trip as a huge highlight in my life! Part of the fun has been writing these blog posts almost every night for all of you. I’ve enjoyed knowing you experienced it with me. We will be traveling more and I will always include you in my travels!

Posted in Flash Fiction

Dolly

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Caroline, you have disobeyed me,” her mother said, slurring her words, as she stepped toward her daughter. “Give me that doll you have behind your back.”

Caroline sobbed. Her favorite aunt gave her Dolly. Her aunt that was so nice to her. She would not give it to her mother.

“No,” she shouted. “I didn’t disobey.”

Her mother staggered toward her and grabbed Dolly from behind her back. She was drinking and she dropped Dolly on the hard floor. When Caroline looked, Dolly’s stuffing was all over the floor.

“You killed her,” she screamed at her mother. “My only doll.”

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Light Show

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Cyrus had worked all day. A convention was coming to Las Vegas. A convention of Harley-Davidson owners and bikers. The convention hotel was planning a light show for them on the Strip as they rolled into town tonight and a crew of technicians, including Cyrus, had been installing the equipment. It was finally done. Now to sit back in his room, overlooking the strip, and watch the fun.

There they came. Those beautiful bikes! Hundreds of them.They stopped at the barrier erected on the strip, before getting to Cyrus’s room.

The light show started. Lights coming from everywhere. They all sat still in awe. They didn’t expect the finale. A chorus of white angels in the sky before them.  Just a little touch thrown in. There were gasps in the crowd. All the bikers revved their bikes at once. Cyrus heard later it was a great hit!

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare, Uncategorized

#weekendcoffeeshare – 02/11/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Good morning! I hope everyone is doing well today! If we were having coffee today, I would tell you that I’m still in Florida but in a different place. We are now at Carrabelle, Florida, in the Florida Panhandle. It’s a different kind of RV park than the Pine Island RV Park. Much quieter, more laid back. It’s a very nice, clean park. We have the most awesome view of the Gulf of Mexico with the brilliant blue water and the sugary white sand beach which is very wide here. This RV Park is not particularly mine or my traveling companion’s taste. We prefer the parks more like Pine Island, but if you like peace and quiet, you would like Carabelle Beach RV Resort Park.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that, yesterday, we went to St. George Island, just across the bay, and Appalachicola. Early in the day, we were looking for restaurants for both us and to take our friends to when they arrived last night. Our friends, Marty and Phil, came down so we could spend some time together. We knew it would be late when they arrived as they had a very long drive from Tennessee. So we looked around St. George and Appalachicola for places to eat. We found a few, mostly in Appalachicola.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about our visit to the St. George Island lighthouse. It was rebuilt in 2008 after the original one, which was very old, fell. I had never been in a lighthouse before so it was really interesting. Later in the evening, Marty and Phil did arrive and we all went to Appalachicola to a restaurant called Up the Stairs.. It was an excellent dining experience! We loved our meals. If you ever find yourself in that quaint little town, I highly recommend it.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about our rather long drive from the Ft. Myers Florida area to the Carabelle Florida area and the fact that we are traveling with a sick puppy. My little dog, Betsy, has been battling what is apparently a little virus. I called my vet back home and have been treating her according to his instructions. She is getting better but is not completely well yet. We’ve been very worried about her.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that we will be spending most of the next week here exploring with Marty and Phil. I’m hoping to be home in Kentucky by no later than February 18th, so the next #weekendcoffeeshare will hopefully come to you from my home in Kentucky. I’ll have to admit to you I wish we were going home to our little place near Ft. Myers instead! But we will be going back there soon.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I have so missed hearing from all of you! Please tell me what you’ve been up to in the comments section and I’ll read all of your #weekendcoffee shares!!!

Posted in Blog Series, Uncategorized

#21: Adventures in RV Travel – February 10, 2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Carrabelle, St. George Island, and Appalachicola

Above are pictures of Carrabelle Beach on the panhandle of Florida. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Yes, we have been a lot of places today! We started out the day at Carrabelle Resort RV Park. Early on, we took a drive about 20 miles away, over the bridge, to St. George Island. It’s 14 miles from the RV Park to the bridge to St. George and it’s a four-mile drive across the bridge. A beautiful drive on a beautiful day across the Gulf. We drove around the island a bit and visited the lighthouse. Quite a lighthouse which has been rebuilt since the original one fell after a hurricane. It was very old. This one is very sturdy and built to withstand hurricanes.

Then, we took off on the ten-mile trip to Apalachicola, again a gorgeous drive. It’s a quaint little town and we were looking for a good restaurant to take our friends, Marty and Phil, to tonight when they arrived from Tennessee. We found several. I also think we found some interesting shopping. Marty and I will make a return trip or two and check it out. I think I’ll like this interesting little town.

I’m still not crazy about Carrabelle Resort RV Park, but for those of you RVer’s who like a lot of peace and quiet and don’t mind doing most of your own cooking, you may like it. I’m a little more high maintenance, I guess. And I don’t particularly like a lot of peace and quiet! 🙂

Marty and Phil arrived tonight and we had dinner in a very good, rather frou-frou restaurant in Apalachicola. Everyone liked their meals very much. They had a very long day and after a rest, we will see each other tomorrow!

Below is the St. George Island Lighthouse.

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Posted in Blog Series

#20: Adventures in RV Travel – February 8 – 9, 2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Trip to Carrabelle RV Resort Park

Hello everyone from Carrabelle RV Resort Park in Carrabelle, FL. It was a reasonably long journey from an island off the coast of Ft. Myers, FL to this rather isolated spot right after you make the turn onto the Florida panhandle from the peninsula. Had I realized just how isolated, I might not have made reservations here. Maybe I should rephrase that. Had I realized that they warn you about BEARS here, I probably would NOT have made reservations here!! At Pine Island, I was accustomed to walking my dog, in the dark, at night, without worrying about tripping over a bear. Not so at Carrabelle. I am unhappy. I am also spoiled because I love Pine Island so much. 🙂

On the upside, there is quite possibly the most beautiful beach I have ever seen on the other side of the road from this park. I promise some pictures tomorrow. This afternoon, we had to get settled. The view of the Gulf of Mexico and the beach is phenomenal. It would have been better had it not been for the spectre of BEARS. I am looking forward to some time on the beach with my friend, Marty, after she and her husband, Phil, get here tomorrow evening. I can’t wait to take some pics to share with you of that beautiful beach.

We had no RV problems on our journey here, but my traveling companion can tell we will have one on the trip back home. An elbow gasket on the exhaust is giving him a problem. It will not be the first time it has been replaced. I’m hoping we can get home without replacing it. On a trip to New England in the Summer of 2015, replacing it became an emergency.

Back to Carrabelle. Be forewarned. The beach is beautiful. However, if you don’t like to cook much and prefer eating out, forget it about it in Carrabelle, FL. Unless you undertake a 40  mile roundtrip, you won’t be eating out. More about that after I do just that tomorrow night!

The RV Park is not quite what I had in mind. It is very nice, almost too nice. There isn’t the same friendliness that I’ve found at some other RV parks. Everyone stays very much to themselves. We will only be here for a few days, and we have Marty and Phil joining us, so it won’t bother us much. I’m glad I didn’t book a longer stay.

We will prevail! I’m going to go down to that beach tomorrow and find a place for the four of us to have dinner tomorrow night (the 40 mile trip). I’m planning on some beautiful pics to share. More “Adventures” then!

 

Posted in Flash Fiction

Guitar Man

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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She was only sixteen. Oh, all right. She wasn’t quite sixteen. Just fifteen and a half. She liked the way that boy looked when he played his guitar. He worked on her granddaddy’s farm. Just a field hand, working in the kitchen garden and in the corn. Sometimes working in the dairy with the milking machines. Her granddaddy said he’d make something of himself some day. All she knew was how much she liked to watch him play that guitar.

Jake would use his breaks from work to practice guitar playing. He was already good but she overheard him say he wanted to be better. That he wanted to be famous. She would hide and listen to his guitar playing. That boy could play that guitar and make her feel things she’d never felt before.

Then he was gone. They said he went to Nashville to find a band that needed someone like him. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t quite sixteen. She hopped on a bus with a suitcase and a few dollars, determined to find the boy. She thought she was in love. She went to find that guitar-playing boy that made her feel things she couldn’t forget.