Hi all. Sorry I skipped last night. Here is why: Little Luna (age 3) and Nico (who turned 6 months yesterday!) came for an overnight visit. All went well during the evening, particularly since Auntie Rachael and Ariel came to visit, which made everybody happy. Nico even fell asleep in Auntie’s arms and was as…
Category: Writing as a Discipline
A Special Gift: To Serve in Brit and Mark’s Wedding
I had the privilege to serve today as subdeacon at the wedding of two of our beloved parishioners, Brit Bjurstrom and Mark Frazier, at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, Hollywood. This was my first time to perform my duties as subdeacon at a wedding and it meant that I served at the altar with…
Repost: A Lesson from the Past
This is a post that I wrote back in July of 2012. Somehow it speaks to me today. I hope it will speak to you as well. Len One of the toughest moments I have ever witnessed in my life is when many years ago a beloved priest of mine unexpectedly lost his daughter, Ruthie,…
Dallas Police Shootings Tonight
I have just come from watching the live coverage of the shooting of police officers in Dallas, which is part of my stomping ground since I grew up in North Central Texas. I know well those streets, the Crowne Plaza Hotel, and Parkland Hospital. Ironically, this all took place only blocks from “the grassy knoll”…
Prompt: When Do I Feel Most Free?
When do I feel most free? Ah, I know. When I write fiction. Nothing matches the sense of freedom I feel when I settle into a comfortable chair with either my laptop or notebook and pen, and write a random sentence or fragment of dialogue with no idea where it will take me. From there, the…
A Reading of Flash Fiction Story #2: Jacob’s Search
I am adding a second flash fiction story here, which is the one I put on my blog last week. Since several people said they liked these but prefer to see the text too, I am adding the text below the YouTube video. (I promise I won’t do this more than once a week!) I…
An Experiment: Reading a Story Aloud
Having just gotten back from seeing Garrison Keillor’s last show with A Prairie Home Companion and in the spirit of oral storytelling, I am launching an experiment tonight. I have included a link to me reading one of my flash fiction stories. This is only a little over three minutes long. I am doing it…
The Room Where I Write
The room I am sitting in has a red Persian rug, a brown leather couch, a green brocade wing back chair (plus ottoman), a green Morris chair (plus ottoman), a cane back rocking chair, an art deco blondish coffee table and a low oak table upon which rests our television set. The curtains (which are…
Coping with Troubles
The past few days have been filled with an unexpected batch of complications in several areas of my life, ranging from severe health problems for a couple of friends to very bad news about a couple of friends to very bad relations between a couple of friends. Also, there are stressors occurring in two unexpected…
Flash Fiction: My New Stepmother’s Tear
Dad gives me a wink, like we are pals or something. We’re sitting in our kitchen having eggs and waffles on a Sunday morning. I’m not sure why he winked; we haven’t said a nice word to each other for weeks, not since he married that witch that is now supposed to be my new…
20 Minutes a Day 