North Pole ...continued...

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Chicken or Dare I have a history with chickens. Not a good history either. As a matter of fact, the appearance of a leg of chicken on my plate brings me flashbacks of a long ago visit to my great grandmother’s farm during one of our frequent trips to Smithville to visit. We called our great grandmother Ganny. Her real name was Zelma Lizzie Christine Franz Kunkel. My older cousin inspired the name Ganny since he was the oldest of our generation. There wasn’t anything magical abo ...continued...

Chapter 1: Sunday, January 7 Rick Players looked up from his snowmobile at the jagged peaks of the Rockies. A cold wind stung his cheeks, and he smiled at its bite. It was the last afternoon of his twin teenage sons’ winter break. For this day only, Rick had ignored his job as CEO of PlayLand, the toy company his family owned. Just one afternoon with his boys. That’s all he wanted. Well, if he were honest, he wanted out of the job altogether. He hadn’t realized when he took over from his father that leading PlayLand would cost him his freedo ...continued...

As dad reversed mom came flying down wit a bag of snacks for the road. She gave it to me; we said our goodbyes and the journey began. A journey started with fear uncertainty and indecision How rude of me I didn’t introduce myself I’m Yasmin recently turned eighteen and right now on my way to my probable school of higher lea ...continued...

THE VICKER’S YESTERDAYS His collar was turned up against the wind because it WAS a dark and stormy night. The gale pushed against his body and tore at his cape pulling at the only clasp till it gave way. Father Roy grabbed at the cover between his now chilled body and the fierce storm. “Why couldn’t the church find its way clear to pay the contractor to add another button or two on these things.” he muttered. Father Roy had been in his study enjoying his third toddy when Sister Olivia called. She n ...continued...

I think what I find quite amazing is that I can remember as far back as being no older than 2 to 3 years old. Some memories were good and some not so much. I was actually a pretty happy child, never really got into much trouble, unlike my older brother and my little sister. I can remember that the one word we did not say, was the word" shut up" to one another, if you did well you can pretty twell imagine what would happen. I had to find out the hard way one morning, let's just say yuck! I told my brother to shut up because he had said something to me that made me mad, unfor ...continued...

There are moments in your life, as you look back, you can say “That was it! That was a pivotal moment!” For me it was my fathers’ Green Box. My father was the patriarch of our family. A depression baby raised in rural Missouri, the city boy just could not adapt to the slow pace of grazing cows, plowing corn and balancing on the railroad tracks. The city called to him so deeply that at the age of 14 he ran away. Kansas City had all the draw a young country boy could possibly imagine. Yet his naivety wa ...continued...

Test - On my second camping trip in the Ozark Mountains we took my friend Iver along and he was chased down the river by a Cotton Mouth Water Mossican. So now i'm back and adding to the chapter. ...continued...

Today was brutal. The cold was so intense you had to think long and hard before you took off your gloves to decide if what needed doing was worth a period of intense pain. By far our coldest day yet. During the day I realized how many arctic visitors, like Scott's expedition, had met their fates. Don't get me wrong, Mike and I are in very capable hands and doing quite well, but today's intense cold, with the addition of a stiff breeze, made me understand how many of these explorers, who all embraced life, could simply give up and succumb to the cold. With no food or limited shel ...continued...

http://tinyurl.com/y8kakux7I'm writing this as encouragement for authors who get dumbed down reviews from mindless readers. Even though I have over (200) five star reviews on my novels Blue Hole and the sequel River's Edge I still get a few reviews like the following. One said, "I haven't stated to read the book yet and not sure i will so I'm giving it one star. Another said, "Not sure if I was able to follow the story I've been on pain medicine, one star. A third said, "I didn't like the book but my husband and our son did, one star." I le ...continued...

Happiness is not being pained in the body or troubled in the mind. There was a time not so long ago when I could barely walk or move easily at all. My livelihood was being taken from me and I was depressed and miserable. Doctors told me that my arthritis could be managed but that it wouldn't get any better. Well it DID GET BETTER. Because I did something about it. I educated myself, I learned to lap swim. I listened to my body and developed a bodyrolling technique. i experimented. I found myself out of necessity chasing arthritis relief nearly everyday. I also found that with out a doubt a ...continued...

My entire world changed, days before my eighth birthday. The years of pain and stress had taken its toll on my guardian angel. I awoke one morning to find her out of sorts. Something major was happening to her health. The last I remember of this time was trying to talk to her, but she had gone deaf. I watched her intently as she sat in front of her dressing table getting ready to go to the doctor. Little did I know that this would be the last time my guardian angel would be with me. My mother suffered a stroke, and was left paralysed the ...continued...

I always think about my past, and what my past brought me that woud trap me up inside, surround and remind me of fear, disappointments, and hopelessness. Once it would help me with struggles so many things I done. Like the song said to me, “There’s always tomorrow..,” but the past was monopolizing my present today. So what do I do with all that baggage inside of me? How did I sort it all out? I know that my troubles and lack of resolution with my past affects important relationships. The peopl ...continued...

I believe the answer to this question is “people” – human beings. People can often be at their funniest when they’re not trying to be funny at all. Most people believe they are unique. There’s some truth in that thought but others go much further and believe that they are the only sane person on the planet. “All the world is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer.” Robert Owen (Welsh philosopher and philanthropist 1771-1858) Some people think that the world revolves around only them. The British nation used to feel like that. Back then, in days gone by, th ...continued...