Tag: #amwriting

Posted in Flash Fiction

Friends

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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John decided to warm up while Carl and Scotty bought their train tickets. The train ran much later tonight, but they had to get their seats. They wanted to entertain the crowd and maybe make a little money while they waited. They had hours to play some of their music – classic British rock.

Carl’s fiancee was waiting on him at his Mum’s home in Scotland. The wedding was this weekend. John and Scotty were standing up with him. Carl was so excited he could hardly hold his guitar. A big party was planned after the wedding and John and Scotty were going to be the band.

Carl and Scotty came running out of the terminal.

“John,” they cried, “There are no tickets left for the train to Scotland. We’re on the waiting list.”

“Start playing,” John said. “We’ll make enough money to hire a car if we have to. Nothing will stop your wedding, Carl!”

 

Photo credit to Sunayana MoiPensieve

Posted in Non-fiction

Label

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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When I saw the prompt from the daily post today, I just had to write a short post about it because it is the word label. That word, in certain contexts, has always bothered me. Allow me to explain.

When children are growing up, they are often labeled. There are the cool kids. The poor kids. The rich kids. The label that other children attach to each other determines the way children are treated by other children. We all experience that in our first twelve years of school. Sometimes, those labels are painful and make for a hurtful experience for children in school. Labels may cause children to be bullied. In reality, these children may simply be introverts or extroverts. They may have problems at home. We, as parents, should teach our children not to label other children.

Attaching labels to people doesn’t stop when we grow up. For example, I’m told that I am eccentric, reserved, cool, conceited, a snob, and a few other labels. In reality, I’m just shy. An introvert who is probably a bit eccentric. The other labels that people have attached to me are hurtful and untrue. An introverted, shy person like myself is mistaken for an arrogant, conceited snob when only a few people really know me. Is that fair? I don’t think so.

Instead of attaching labels to people we don’t really know, we, in my opinion, should make an effort to get to know them. Then, there would be no need for labeling. We should teach our children to do the same. The world would be a kinder place.

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 03/18/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Stages in our Lives

Good morning and welcome to the #weekendcoffeeshare! It’s been cold this week, especially cold for mid-March. I have both Arabica and Robusta coffee for you today! Also decaf, of course. I have some special black tea, a flavored black currant tea and a darjeeling tea. So pour a cup of whatever you want and join me in my writing room!

I have something on my mind that I’ve been thinking a lot about. I’ve been thinking about the stages of our lives and how we pass those different stages. I’m thinking about this as I think I’ve entered a different stage in my life over the last few months. Have any of you ever been aware of entering a completely different stage in your life?

I’m not sure I know exactly what’s caused this…..what can I call it…..revelation to occur, but something has. I find myself wanting to change my life. Not completely change it. I will still be a writer. I will still value my friends. I will still, essentially, be me. But I don’t much like the current version of “me.” I’m tense, stressed, and under constant strain. I don’t have the life I want to have.

As many of you know, I’m going to be moving to Florida on a half-time basis and that is the only thing happening in my life that feels right to me. I feel the need to make a radical change in my life. Florida feels right. I don’t like the commercialized, touristy parts of Florida, but where I am going, it’s “old Florida.” What I want to do is sell my house in Kentucky, and soon, and move to Florida full time. I don’t want to waste any time doing it. The money from the house will be put in the bank. It will not be used to buy a comparable house.

Not only that, but I want to drastically downside. I’m not interested in “stuff” anymore. Almost out of the blue. By stuff, I mean the trappings of prosperity such as furniture, household goods, clothes, and such. Also housing arrangements. I want to live in something very small. I can’t take care of a large place anymore and just don’t want to. I have no interest in anything large. I want a small home, very small, with little in it. I want to be able to walk out my door and to the beach in the morning and not worry about my house or anything in it. I want to buy it with a very little bit of cash.

Have any of you ever felt like this? Am I losing my mind? 🙂

I’m going to accomplish this by first buying something a little larger than we already own in Florida. Not large. Still very small. Maybe under 800 square feet. I want minimalist furniture and little of it. This means selling almost everything I have, which is fine with me. I’ve lost any emotional attachment I had to it. I’ll have to have an antique dealer help me. Until I sell everything, it will be put in storage and sold from there.

I want to be free of the trappings of success and prosperity. I want to be just me, with my family and dog and cat and very little else. I love to write and will write my novel….and another after that….and another after that. I’ll keep up with my blog and write magazine articles. I”ll spend a lot of time enjoying myself on my island in Florida, hopefully entertaining friends occasionally.

Maybe the stress, strain, and worries…..and nightmares……will cease. I hope so.

So come with me on my journey to change my life. It should be interesting and will start very soon.

Thanks for coming to my #weekendcoffeeshare!

 

Posted in Challenges

The Trauma

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Liz is over it now. The breakup of her relationship with the man who meant so much to her. She goes on with her life and is happy most days. She doesn’t even think of him. She thinks of the life she has ahead of her and all she has to look forward to. He flashes through her mind occasionally, but that doesn’t bother her much. He’s a stranger. A stranger in a tragedy that seems like it never happened. Often, she feels that must have just happened in her imagination. Until night time comes.

Liz has had other traumas in her life. She doesn’t remember them. She has no idea what they were except for one incident, but her doctor thinks there was more than the one incident. That something happened way back, maybe in her childhood that she has buried deeply. She hasn’t been able to sleep for a long time, not without medication. If she falls asleep without medication, the night terrors arrive.

After the breakup with this man, the night terrors got worse. A man became front and center in them. She isn’t sure if it is the man who hurt her so badly. She thinks it is.  Their breakup is not what hurt her. It was the way he let her go that was so painful. This trauma on top of the other traumas has caused the sleep medication not to work. She supposes she is going to have to revisit the doctor as she is once again going without sleep and remembering the terrible night terrors.

Sleep deprivation, along with the PTSD that Liza suffers from due to repeated trauma, can cause all kinds of problems. Even though Liz feels like she is over her breakup and over the other trauma in her life, she probably isn’t. She realizes that. Liz always laughs and says she is the queen of repression. That she can repress almost any memory and it does seem to be true. She tells her friends she has taken these painful memories and locked them in a little box she stores in her heart and head. Once they are put away, she goes on with her life. Don’t we all do that? Liz isn’t sure.

Recently, Liz has started to feel strain in other areas of her life and she isn’t coping with stress very well. She has found herself wondering if the memories she is repressing, and can’t remember if she tries, could be bothering her. The details of her most recent trauma, the relationship and breakup with the man, are even leaving her. How could she possibly forget that? But she is. But, the night terrors remain. Sleep is elusive. During the day, her coping mechanisms are failing.

What now?

 

 

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Moonshiners

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Barney, be quiet, for God’s sake. Don’t alert the whole county that we’re out here,” Lester whispered.

“I’m trying, Lester, but the leaves and limbs on this forest floor make noise when you walk on them.”

“The moonshine still is right over here, Barney. Behind the old car. Just stand right there.”

Lester grabs the something that turns out to be a camouflage tarp and pulls it loose. A moonshine still was under it. Barney got the supplies for the mash to make the ‘shine out of the truck and they went to work. A combination of water, cracked corn, sugar, and yeast. Lester told Barney to go on home.

Lester was serving as the guard of the still that night. Before Barney left, he got Lester’s guns out of the truck. A pistol and an automatic rifle, an AR-15. That should take care of snoops and lawmen.

Posted in Challenges

#SoCS -3/11/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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A lot on my mind today, though I won’t write about all of it. Too much. Still getting ready for our move to the Southwest Gulf Coast of Florida. We’ll live there six months of the year and at our home in Kentucky the other six months. I’d rather be in Florida! It’s hard to live in two places and harder still to pack up about one-third of my house to make this move in late March. Time is short. I only have about two weeks until it’s time to leave.

We have a very small place in Florida. Really it is just a base camp until we find a house to live in. It’s enough for now. It has virtually no storage and very little closet space so I’m going crazy figuring out what to take with us. Anything we take, we leave as we will go back in the winter for our first six month stay. We won’t start looking for a house immediately. We want to spend several six month time periods there to see how we like it on a long term basis and through several seasons.

I’ve been under so much strain that I’ve been grinding my teeth in my sleep and have developed TMJ! M;y dentist is making me a mouth guard that I have to wear when I’m sleeping. Isn’t that crazy!? If we can ever get moved and get settled, it will be wonderful to live on our island on Florida’s Creative Coast.

I am managing to get in some writing. I probably shouldn’t be writing as much as I am. Writing soothes me and I do some of my best writing when under stress. Sometimes, when I’m writing, I’m thinking of how I should be packing boxes. I should write something about packing boxes! As I’m sure most of you know, moving is a huge job.

I guess we will sell our RV. We won’t need it now that we have a place to live in Southwest Florida. I am glad we’re going to sell it. I am not much of an RVer!

Something great has happened recently. I’ve been able to hook up with a good friend that I had lost touch with over the past couple of years. Wendy and I have been good friends for years now. We drifted apart for awhile, but she is back in my life and I couldn’t be happier. She is smart and funny and she makes me laugh. I’m so happy that she is back in my life and I hope she will now always be in my life!

Have a wonderful week!

#SoCS

 

Posted in Challenges

Hazardous Waste

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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He walked when he needed to think. He walked wherever his feet took him. He had to decide what to do about her. He found himself outside the military depot. Inside they kept hazardous waste. Maybe their relationship was just that. Hazardous waste.

 

 

 

Posted in Blog Series

#1: Musings of a Baby Boomer

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The Stranger in the Mirror

I got up this morning, and after having my requisite two cups of tea, I took a shower and went to my vanity to put on my makeup. I looked into the mirror and my first thought was, “Who the hell is standing behind me looking in my mirror!?”

That was me! That stranger in the mirror! There was no one standing behind me! How could I look like that? That couldn’t possibly be me! I wasn’t OLD! That person in the mirror is OLD! I put down my makeup and walked away, trying to get a grip on the fact that there was an old person in the mirror who MUST be me.

OK, so I put on my makeup and then I had to get dressed. Which means taking off my robe and actually looking at the rest of me in the mirror. Can I do this? I just discovered the older me, at least my face. Can I discover my older body? Why is it I’m just now becoming aware that my 35 year old mind is attached to this older exterior? Sheesh. Well, here goes.

You see, by the time baby boomers get to be my age, we may – just MAY – have lost and gained weight a time or two (or three). Or not. So, we have some….uh….bulges here and there and I’m surely not immune. Not only is my face unfamiliar, but so is my body. This is really ridiculous. I still wear almost the same size in clothes I wore at 35 years old but they fit me a little teeny bit differently. CRAP.

I get dressed, pulling on my jeans over my only slightly larger belly (yeah right). At least I don’t have to lie down on the bed to get them on. One small victory! I recently lost some weight and where did I lose it? Did I lose it in my tummy where I needed to? OF COURSE NOT!!! I lost it in my arms and legs, which were already skinny. And my face, which just makes any wrinkles I have look worse. Let me tell you. After 50, there is no way to win.

Speaking of no way to win, by the time you are my age, you may be fighting or living with some kind of chronic condition. In my case, it’s insulin-dependent diabetes. It makes exercise difficult because exercise causes low blood sugar in my case. Why? Because I can’t eat many carbohydrates and keep my blood sugar under control. What I need is to work out with weights to improve muscle tone in my arms and legs. I also need cardio to protect my heart and reduce my belly. All this, and I am at or below an optimal weight for my height. Life is not fair for the aging baby boomer!

I can possibly manage the weight training without dropping dead from low blood sugar. 🙂 Cardio is a whole other matter. I would have to carb load big time to even consider that and my blood sugar would shoot up to 500 before cardio and down to 60 afterwards. That is not a good thing and my doctor has no solution. Perhaps I can start out slow. Like a turtle. A very slow turtle.

Baby boomers, in 2017, are between 53 and 71 years old. That puts me firmly in the baby boom generation. So, why do I usually feel 35? Why do my baby boomer friends (I’ve only asked my girlfriends) feel the same? We all look in the mirror. But, inside, we feel 35. I don’t feel a bit different than when I was 35, just graduated from graduate school, starting my first job teaching in college.

Maybe I feel a little wiser about some things but not about all things. Maybe I feel a little stiffer in the morning but not all mornings. In fact, many days, I can accomplish more in a day than I could at 35. I may feel more self-confident than I did at 35 even though I see a stranger in the mirror.

Why does our generation feel young? I think one reason is that we’ve had access to the best health care of any generation, certainly better than our parents did.  We may have access to better health care than generations after us as we were generally covered with good health care at our jobs. We grew up with research and development into new anti-aging products. The millennial generation gets to start using these products now. We didn’t until we were 50. Not fair, is it? But, they have still helped us. We have facials, serums, lotions, creams, treatments, masques, and many other products to help our faces. There are just as many lotions and potions to help our bodies.

Then there are the dermatologists that offer dermabrasion, sculpting, peels, lasering, gels, creams, and much more. They went to medical school to treat kids’ acne while the baby boomers had to treat their own. They treat our acne scars.

We’ve learned how to take care of ourselves, something our parents knew little about. We’ve had better health care. We’ve reaped the benefits, as we got older, of research and development. There are other factors that are topics for other blog posts – exercise, nutrition, and many more. The fact remains that, for some reason, one characteristic of baby boomers is that they feel and act younger than their age and the question is WHY?

Is it because we grew up in the sex, drugs, and rock and roll era? We, in fact, invented the sex, drugs, and rock and roll era. So, to those behind us, don’t feel superior. We’ve already been there and done that! 🙂 Is it because we’ve had the benefit of new technology? Maybe it’s because we just have been determined to squeeze all the life out of life and all the fun out of life despite life kicking us down.

I think that the music of the baby boomer’s has helped our attitude toward life and assisted in keeping us young. Everyone will have their own favorite song. We’ve had John Lennon’s “Imagine,” The Rolling Stones “Wild Horses,” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” to keep us going along with thousands more. A friend of mine and I used to walk in our college classes singing, “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” by Huey Lewis and the News, every single day. I have girlfriends that still love “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” by Cyndi Lauper. The music of the baby boomer’s is another topic that deserves its own blog post, or several blog posts!

In truth, it was the magical time in which our generation grew up. The world was changing and, folks, we changed the world.

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Material Life

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The doctor didn’t know how he was going to get through the day. The same way he got through the other days, he supposed. He hated these people, these patients, that came in to see him. So needy. So many of them.

It was 8 a.m. and the doctor was already in his office, going over charts for today and filling prescription requests from yesterday. Too much was expected from doctors now. The money just wasn’t worth it.

A knock at his door. The Director of the Practice came in. He was fired! He told him to clear out his office. Patients had been complaining for months, he said. He didn’t examine them. Some were having complications. They got incorrect prescriptions.

He wouldn’t be able to support his life. His wife had left him. His children were grown and gone. He didn’t need the big life, the big house anyway. For the first time in his life, he could do what he wanted on the little bit of savings he had.

He went home, packed a things, and hit the road. He was free and the happiest he’d been in years. He would make it.

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Piano Girl

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Gracie loved her piano. She started taking piano lessons at four. She could play the classical musicians at seven. At ten, she was an accomplished pianist. She played when she was happy or hurt. She played four hours a day.

Gracie had a wonderful piano teacher when she got to college – Mrs. V. Mrs. V said she could help her get a partial scholarship to a big music school in the east. Only partial. Gracie’s family had no money for the rest. Gracie understood. She kept playing.

Until one day she didn’t. There was no time. She had to go to work and she studied for better jobs when she returned home. She closed her beloved piano for many years.

Years later, when Gracie didn’t have to work anymore, she started playing again. It took some time, but she remembered it all. It still brought her joy. Wasn’t that the point, after all?