Tag: Writing

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 01/08/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Hello, Jenn! Come in quickly! It’s so terribly cold!” Jenn is joining me today for our #weekendcoffeeshare. It’s only 6F degrees this morning and I can hardly believe anyone at all will get out and trek to my house for coffee and tea!

“My car doors were almost frozen shut,” Jenn said, “but I was able to get them open. I don’t think this kind of cold is supposed to last very long.”

Where Jenn and I live, in the Ohio Valley in Kentucky, this kind of cold in winter is not particularly common. We usually have some of it but not a lot.

Jenn and I went about the business of preparing a limited coffee bar as we didn’t expect many people this morning. We set up a couple of kinds of coffee and tea, including a wonderful Indian Chai tea I had happened to find, hot chocolate, and some fine apple cider I had heating on the stove. I was gratified that some people did come by and just hoped they weren’t frostbitten. We all convened in my writing studio with our hot beverages. Most seemed interested in the hot cider this cold morning.

One person spoke up about her heat going off during the night. She is staying elsewhere until the HVAC people show up and is terribly worried about her pipes freezing, with good reason. Another person said his car wouldn’t start and caught a ride with someone else. All the problems associated with bitterly cold weather. Some of the reasons I have such a fervent desire to move to a warmer climate. I truly dread leaving my friends and what little family I have left here, but the benefits of moving are starting to outweigh the costs for me.

I’m going to have at least two realtors take a look at my house and give me their opinion on a selling price as that will determine whether I can move or not. I hope I have time to accomplish that reasonably soon. I will also look at homes in my desired destination as, of course, real estate prices there play another role. If I can move, it will be almost 1000 miles away, so it is a big move and I have to be sure. It’s a move I feel I need to make if I can get it to financially make sense. Given the political situation in the U.S., things are changing, including interest rates, so many factors have to be considered. My house was renovated last year. That is another consideration. Lots to think about!

On top of the cold weather, we had a big snow yesterday and, on the mountain where I live, we got more snow than in the valley below. Several inches. I detest snow and cold which means for four months or so each year, I’m miserable. Not a good thing, particularly at this time in my life. I guess the good news is that I get a lot of writing done! Writers need experiences, however, and I would certainly have the opportunity for more experiences if I moved. I hope there are many novels to write in my future.

I hope all of you have recovered from your holiday celebrations and that you really enjoyed the holidays with your families and friends! Now I hope you’re getting back to the business of being normal without too much adjustment.

That’s about it for today’s #weekendcoffeeshare. I have to get busy here as I have lots to do. I appreciate your stopping by. See you next week!

 

 

Posted in Non-fiction

Can our Democracy Last?

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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John Adams, one of our founders feared that it could not when he said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Of course, that was a long time ago and they were just in the process of building America, our great shining city on the hill.

We are not a true democracy but a representational democracy. If we were a true or pure democracy, all laws would be made by direct, popular vote. Some of our laws are made like this. Most are not with a good example being the electoral college.

Our founders actually seemed to prefer a republic to a democracy. They are identical in every aspect except one. In a democracy, power is held by the group. In a republic, power is held by every individual. Most think the United States is a mixture of the two forms of government.

The ancient Greeks, in the 4th and 5th centuries BCE, formed an amazing democracy for a time. Ancient Athens gave its citizens equal political rights regardless of descent, social standing, wealth, and other factors, though women could not be involved. The democracy devolved into an oligarchy after a defeat in war. An oligarchy is a government ruled by a small group of people, sometimes private citizens, who exert an inordinate influence on the government. Sound familiar? Athens did influence forms of government for two millennia.

Athens is just one example of a democracy devolving into a more tyrannical type of government. The Roman Empire was a republic upon which the U.S. government was partially based. It, too, ended due to a number of factors. The Roman Empire found itself in a severe financial crisis. The causes were years of war and overspending and high taxes along with inflation caused a widening gap between the rich and poor. The economy started to decline. The Roman Empire lasted much longer than the average of 200 years.

Other examples of the failure of democracies and republics exist. The characteristics of the demise all seem to be similar. Greed, power, money, and a concentration of power at the top lead to the fall of such forms of government. What about the United States of America? Is it too late for us to reverse the course of history?

What do you think?

Posted in Flash Fiction

Time is a Wheel

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Harry, please don’t play underneath the house. It’s dangerous,” said Harry’s mother when she found her nine-year old son leaning on the old wheel under the house.

“But, Mom, said Harry, “I have to see what the wheel says.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry’s mom is distracted because she is studying for her final exam in her graduate program.

“Mom, that’s the Wheel of Time. It spins it in one direction and shows scenes from the past. The other, scenes of the future.” Harry’s mother thought he was playing make-believe.

Then she heard the wheel turn – by itself.

99 words

Photo Credit: Sandra Crook

Posted in Uncategorized

Betsy’s Seizure

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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A few days ago, some of you know that my little dog, Betsy, had a Grand Mal seizure. She is four years old. She had never had a seizure before. She had never been ill before. It was totally out of the blue. It lasted 6.5 minutes, which according to my vet, is not a good thing.

I rushed Betsy to the nearest vet. On the advice of the vet, she had complete blood work. Betsy, you see, is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They have some genetic issues. The vet was worried about her heart. She passed all her blood tests with flying colors. Nothing was wrong.

Right. Nothing was wrong. I saw Betsy have this seizure. SOMETHING was wrong.

To find out what is wrong, or to possibly find out, Betsy will have to see a specialist, but it makes the most sense to try to track down any possible environment causes first. I live in the forest. My previous dog, Eliza, developed pancreatitis from eating parts of a dead bird that was in my large fenced in back yard. She, subsequently, had chronic pancreatitis the rest of her life. The first thing I thought of was that something was in the back yard that Betsy could have eaten. It made me feel like I was reliving a nightmare.

It is simply not possible to keep things out of a forested yard. Critters are in that yard every night. Birds are there. Insects are there. It is winter and nothing is growing, but birds drop berries, some of which could be poisonous. Betsy will eat anything! Taking inventory of all this made me feel helpless.

There was another possibility. Something could have bitten Betsy. There are virtually infinite possibilities. Another previous dog was bitten by something. I never knew what but it was a terrible bite. It could have been a snake, probably non-poisonous. It could have been a opossum. I live in the forest! There are other possibilities. He was sick a long time. But, Betsy had no visible bite marks.

But, insects may not leave visible bite marks, at least not on a heavily-coated dog. Then, it struck me. A spider! We have a number of poisonous spiders here like the brown recluse spider.

Sigh…..the bottom line is that we don’t know and may never know. Alternatively, there may be a veterinary neurologist in Betsy’s future. Keep your fingers crossed for her. She’s the sweetest dog and best companion in the world! #JusJoJan #amwriting #amblogging #writing #cavalierkingcharles

Posted in Challenges

#SoCS – Dec 31/16

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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First, it’s the last day of 2016 and I want to say to all of you how much I’ve enjoyed writing these stream of consciousness challenge posts and, most of all, reading your posts, in 2016. There are wonderfully talented writers in this group and I look forward to continuing right on into 2017.

Next, I want to thank you for reading my writings and ramblings since I started this challenge. I also want to thank Linda for being such a fine host! This is a great challenge that let’s my writing just flow out of my fingertips and also allows me to get things off my chest. A real service on both counts. Too many writers, myself included, sometimes suffer from writer’s block, and I think stream of consciousness writing helps clear the cobwebs and sweeps writer’s block away. At least, it has worked that way for me. Writer’s block has other causes. I get so caught up in writing that I don’t read enough. Writer’s need to read and when I am really in a heavy writing period, I neglect reading. That is always a mistake. Right now, I need to read more of the genre in which I’m writing a novel which is the psychological thriller. If any of you have suggestions, I’d love to hear them. I also need to blog more in that genre when I am blogging fictional stories or flash fiction challenges. That’s one of my goals for 2017.

Last, I just want to end this post by telling everyone Happy New Year! I think 2016 was a hard year for many of us individually and for big groups of us collectively. A writer I greatly admire, and who pulls no punches, thinks 2017 may be harder still on a global level. I hope he’s wrong. At least on a personal level, I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful 2017, filled with many writing, and other, successes. #amwriting #amblogging #writing #Challenges #SoCS

Posted in Fiction

Bachelor Buttons

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Barbara flings herself down on her couch in frustration. The damn muffler fell off her car again. This is only the third time. She had to call for a tow. Another expensive tow to the muffler shop. Can’t those people even put on a muffler? She knows her car is old but they still make mufflers for it. She should know. This will be the third one she has had to have the shop order and install. They never mention a problem with installation. She is so careful with her car.

Her nervousness makes her shaky and Barbara feels cold. She grabs the large throw from the back of her couch and snuggles up in it. She really can’t afford so many car repairs but what does she do? She has to have her vehicle to get to work and do all the other things a person has to do. She is fighting frustration and hopes she can just drift off to sleep for awhile.

After awhile, Barbara gives up on sleep. It’s not going to happen. She has way too much on her mind. She sits up, still snuggled in her warm throw, and notices the beautiful decorative treasure box sitting on her coffee table. She smiles. Looking at that treasure box helps calm her. Barbara’s mother gave her that engraved treasure box many years ago. Her mother has been gone for years now, but Barbara still keeps her most special things in it. She reaches for it.

The first item she sees when she opens the box is the ever-present pack of Monopoly money. If seeing that Monopoly money didn’t give her such good memories, it would increase her frustration because, after all, real money is what she needs to replace her muffler. That packet of Monopoly money is one of her treasures that reminds her of her Daddy. As Barbara was growing up, she and her Daddy loved Monopoly. Then, when he got sick, she helped keep him occupied by playing Monopoly until he got too sick to play. She will never forget all those wonderful times with her dad.

Under the packet of Monopoly money is the seed packet she recently picked up at the farm supply store. Barbara goes to the farm store to get corn for the deer that frequent her backyard. While she was there, she walked by the seeds and that’s when she saw the bachelor button seeds. Her mom always used to plant them in the fall in a planting box. By spring, they were coming up and then were planted in the flower garden. On an impulse, Barbara bought a packet of bachelor buttons.

Barbara jumped up, thinking her planting box was in her sunroom. She took the packet of seeds with her. Barbara got involved filling her planting box with dirt, planting the seeds, and watering and fertilizing them. She forgot all about the offending muffler.

Suddenly, the phone rang and it was the muffler repair shop. They were going to replace the muffler for free as they determined the previous muffler had been installed incorrectly. All that frustration for nothing. However, Barbara had already calmed down. She was much happier just standing in her sunroom planting her bachelor buttons. She would deal with her car later. #blogpropellant #amwriting #amblogging #writing #dailyprompt

TBP’s Objects in a Box 4-5