There are creatures in my woods. I know they are there and I'm not afraid. The deer come at night to dig in the snow in my backyard. They like to eat my perennials, the plants that are not found in the woods. I respect them, they travel in the dark to stay safe. It …
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The Story
Once upon a time there was an old woman who believed in the magic of books. In the days of folk and fairy tales, she would have been called a crone, a character type in literature that was rarely included in the epics of the male heroes and adventurers. A crone was a female long …
Who’s a Witch?
She was lying on the cold metal. All her sisters were gone. She was damaged, threads dangling from her clothes, the broomstick ripped from her hand. She was a dollar store discard, worth 100 pennies but because of the shaky world economy she now costs $1.25. She was alone on the bottom level near the …
“SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!”
I'm easily distracted. I guess I'm the human personification of the popular cliche about the dog who loses all focus with the shouting of the word "squirrel!" I am interested in everything, gleefully having a love affair with the world. I like sociology and art and talking to people and nature and cities and rocks …
The Damn Funk and Wagnall
I think they were maroon colored, upright soldiers standing at attention in a uniform line on one of the lower shelves of the bookcase my father had built for our living room. Looking back, they were a bit of democracy, readily available for all if the inclination was there. Everyone in my community had a …
Insanity, The Best Money Can Buy
I wish I hadn't found the two old books Their stories upset me and took me to a dark place I really didn't want to go. "Civilization is a hopeless race to discover remedies for the evils it produces."--Jean Jacques Rousseau I have become a scavenger constantly looking through the shelves of old shops and …
Mining for My Soul and Discovering the Souls of Others
I had a hole in my heart. I could feel it. The world was getting back to normal but on a personal level I didn't know what that meant for me. Was I suffering a form of PTS? I felt numb, aimless. I had great ideas for my blog but after many attempts to write …
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Dark Bar Rooms and Rainbows, A Fish Story
When I was newly divorced and my kids were off to college I used to go to a place with a band every Friday evening with my single female friends. Heads up and stomachs sucked in, we pretended to be aloof. Neon beer signs, the tiny red dots on the sound equipment, and a street …
Snowy Rural America-Why Do I Stay?
Being involved with the rural North Country is like being in a bad love affair. The summer woos me with warm breezes off one of The Great Lakes and the river. It offers me lush greens and sunlit days. It entices me with a multitude of lavish experiences: picnics under the trees, quiet moments on …
Free the Bonsai, Free Me
One day when I was 46, I decided to hike all 46 of The High Peaks of the Adirondacks. I tend to live out my life in headlines, always proclaiming a new interest with passion and bursts of wild enthusiasm. So 46 at 46! The coincidence had a certain mystical quality to it and I …
The Autonomous Traveler 