The Pilgram’s First Thanksgiving (Short Story) - 12/8/2024 1:39:50 PM
A very well written account of the way that Thanksgiving became a holiday and why it was based on the Thanksgiving that the pilgrims gave with their Indian friends who saved them I gave them their first harvest.
You didn't mention the account of one of the residence of what was consumed. Turkey was not the main item on the menu. The Indians came with six deer according to that account I read somewhere else.
The only thing I spotted was the word, trail, instead of trial.
Ron
Origins of St. Patrick’s Day (Short Story) - 3/21/2021 11:09:51 AM
An interesting article on St. Pat and other Irish traditions that seem to have permeated the globe when celebrating St. Patrick's Day.
I never experienced it, but I understand that in Madison Wisconsin, law students march down State Street while engineers in the buildings above irritate them with green bombs.
Ron
The Giddings Jail (Short Story) - 1/25/2021 3:57:52 AM
I also got thrown for a loop by the repetition of the story. It's a darn good one, and I look forward to picking up where it left off.
The Giddings Jail (Short Story) - 1/19/2021 2:01:18 PM
The story is marred by being posted twice. If you could remove the second version that would help the readers.
That said, for a western story, this one was more like a universal story about the draw when we are born that follows us the rest of our lives. Not only is the story both a bit heartwarming and a bit sad, it begs for the reader to want to read "the rest of the story."
A good job worth reading.
Ron
The Giddings Jail (Short Story) - 1/18/2021 4:10:57 AM
difficult story for her to tell
The Brave Eighteen (Short Story) - 1/6/2019 10:55:35 AM
Brave indeed! Eradicating horse flies by attacking them. A novel idea, even for a horse I don't think that swatting with a horsetail is as effective as the palm of a human hand.
My experience with horse flies has been minimal and primarily went fishing. Deer flies are less obvious, sneaky, and therefore, more likely to strike. Unfortunately, they take so long to carve out their piece of flesh, they are easy to swat while engaging in bloodletting.
Entertaining and from an interesting point of view. Could've been a true story.
Ron
The Legend of Milt Famous (Short Story) - 12/12/2018 9:27:00 AM
That was a great play on words! The kind of story that I like and very original. Reminds me of the story of the Mexican baseball fan who won a trip to New York to see his favorite Yankees. Although they seated him behind a pillar so that he couldn't see much of the game unless he stood up and looked around the pillar either right or left, he was very pleased when everyone got up and recognized the fact when they sang for him, "José can you see…" But I didn't post the story because it's often repeated.
I'm not a baseball fan, so I looked up Milt Famous before I read the story and found that he didn't exist. I do remember Stan the Man of the St. Louis Cardinals and Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves. My father was a big baseball fan of the Braves and mourned when Aaron and the Braves went to Atlanta.
Years later, I attended a business symposium where the speaker was Billye Aaron, successful businesswoman. Her husband was in the audience and everyone got autographs except me. I see that he is still senior vice president of the Atlanta Braves at 84. Now, he really is famous.
Ron
Martha and Buttermilk (The Champions) (Short Story) - 3/22/2017 4:25:35 AM
Very well-written story of a remarkable recovery. Few people with such traumatic brain injury are able to come so far. I got a kick out of that last horse, Buttermilk, being only a carousel horse.
Ron
The Perfect Christmas Tree (Short Story) - 12/10/2016 9:47:25 AM
These "memory" stories are always a favorite for me. Life was so much sweeter and simpler then. The materialism and extreme technology today have spoiled the holiday experience for many. But, (sigh) we still have our memories of Christmases past. Thank you for sharing this gem.
The Perfect Christmas Tree (Short Story) - 12/10/2016 8:17:51 AM
Your story reminds me of my Christmases except that we didn't go out in the forest to get a tree. My father planted thousands of trees in the CCC, but preferred to go shopping in our small industrial town to find the best (and cheapest) tree that my mother would decorate, sometimes with our help, beautifully.
We always opened our gifts before Christmas. And then, on Christmas morning, there was always something under the tree although, from about five on we knew where those gifts were coming from and it wasn't Santa. One year, my twin brother and I didn't get a birthday present on 21 December. But under the tree that year was a world book encyclopedia!
I recall my younger twin brothers coming out one morning and finding nothing under the tree. I took them to the window and they saw the new snowmobile parked in the snow outside! They wanted to run out in their pajamas and start riding it!
I think that was kind of a dirty trick your parents played on you. But I guess they were afraid that you were growing up fast.
Ron
The Perfect Christmas Tree (Short Story) - 12/10/2016 2:35:11 AM
I enjoyed reading the story about your family's Christmas traditions. Gotta love those bubble lights!
Dark and Stormy Night! (Short Story) - 11/3/2016 2:07:49 AM
I enjoyed delving into the whirring thoughts inside Ed's mind shaped by the eeriness of darkness and the elements.
Dark and Stormy Night! (Short Story) - 11/2/2016 9:20:51 PM
Hey Ed, you are one of my favorite authors.
Dark and Stormy Night! (Short Story) - 11/1/2016 8:40:38 AM
I read for the entertainment value. You kept me wondering to the very end. Nice Job.
Dark and Stormy Night! (Short Story) - 11/1/2016 7:35:59 AM
I really like the psychology going through the storyteller's mind. The "tap, tap, tap" is reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe and his story, Telltale Heart. Of course if the movies had not come up with the character, Jason, those thoughts would not have compounded his psychological worry.
I'm trying to figure out where the tapping and scratching came from if the dog was trapped in a tree outside in a raging storm. But I was drifting off into a half sleep by the end, having been awakened in a sound sleep of dreamland several times last night--a normal occurrence for me--often making me a bit sleepy in the daytime.
Very well written except for one minor glitch… "I sy to say to myself." Easily corrected.
Ron
Dark and Stormy Night! (Short Story) - 11/1/2016 6:11:57 AM
Very entertaining. And yes, a heroic ending would have been well deserved, but, maybe, just the approach of a human being is what got the dog to finally get lose, who knows?
Thanks, B.
O! Christmas Tree (Short Story) - 11/21/2013 7:40:43 AM
Brought back memories of my youth. Although my father planted many trees when he was in CCC camps, and may have cut a tree from the forest a time or two, I only remember him coming home with a "bargain" tree that sometimes mom had to really work on to get looking good. We had a special star that topped off the tree. Mom was very frugal and would save all of the tinsel, strand by strand every year. We opened presents on Christmas Eve and there was always something there in the morning under the tree. However, I don't recall ever believing in Santa Claus from a very young age.
And yes, there was always deep snow in central Wisconsin and it was much colder than it is there today. How we made it with coal furnaces drying the air out and sleeping in wintertime with the window open, I don't know. Those were the days.
Ron
O! Christmas Tree (Short Story) - 11/21/2013 3:35:24 AM
fine memories written here
budd
I Climbed a Tree Today (Poetry) - 2/22/2021 11:51:52 AM
So many are not in good health and can no longer do the things they thought they would always be able to do as they lived lives burning the candle on both ends.
So it is delightful that you are able both to impress and to teach your grandchildren how to enjoy climbing into the height of the tree to get a better view all around. I so miss it, unable to climb at an early age as a result of paralysis and misspent health. I am still healthy and can imagine those times I climbed small trees to the top and then when they begin to sag, rode them all the way down to ground level, got off, and let them whip back in shape like a giant catapult.
Ron
