Archives: Uncategorized

Good contest!

All of you make me smile. Last week I threw down a haiku challenge, and you stepped up to the plate. Kudos!

Oh, before I announce the results, here’s another announcement: I’ve been asked to add an email subscription option. Ta-da…It’s here, thanks again to the wonderful David. I’d be honored if you’d add your email to the list that’s in the top right corner of the page. You’ll get no spam, but you will receive the weekly posts in your inbox.

[Drumroll]

Overall Winner: Kerri!

Photosynthesis?
Coffee please, cream two sugars.
As I was saying

Filling one line with only one word? That’s hard core. You get the bragging rights and my eternal respect. Congratulations.

Reality Check Award: Ruth

They give me water
and drink coffee and their teas
can you say unfair?

Tellin’ it like it is. Word.

Purist Award: Sarah

Coffee in hand, they
sit. Stories in heart they tell.
A tree’s memories.

Sarah includes elements of traditional haiku that pay tribute to this classic art form.

Humor Award: Doddering Dad (a.k.a. Joel)

Eternal respect?
Shoulda seen me, I was young
Now just really broad

You’ve always made me chuckle, Daddy. =)

Spirit of Haiku-Off Award: David and Daniel

My name is David
and I drink girly coffee
I smell like a goat

My name is Daniel
I pick my nose in public
Purple platypus

I jealously watch
As they hold their espresso
But I don’t have thumbs

The smell is so nice
I wish I could taste coffee
But I am a tree

David smells so nice
He smells nothing like a goat
He is my hero

These Wonder Twins (they’re so going to love me for that) dazzled with their fierce haiku battle. I came close to snapping my fingers and flashing a dagger a la West Side Story.

So, there you have it.

Until next time, keep writing

Keep haikuing (smile)

Good Morning, Part Deux, Plus a Contest

My good friend Kerri and I chat while we sit in our local coffee house’s side courtyard. It’s a delicious, chilly overcast morning, and the conversation flows as easily as the river water that slips over nearby Tansill Dam. We pause and admire the aged mulberry tree that watches over we temporary residents. Nothing new about the admiration. This thick-trunked tree garners many fans who visit the coffee house, and my membership in that club spans years. Kerri leans back and glances up at the sheltering finger-like branches. She comments before sipping her chai, “You should write something from the perspective of that tree.”

Hmmm. Good idea, friend. And we haven’t had a Haiku-athon (or Haikuapalooza or a Haiku-Off, for Zoolander fans) in awhile, so I think we’re due.  I’ll post mine, and see what you come up with. Please post your 5-7-5 in the comments.  The winner, chosen by a secretive judging process known only to me (ahem), will be announced next Monday. The prize? Bragging rights and my eternal respect.

First, a picture of the trunk.

Here’s mine:

I’ve waited decades

Coffee just out of my reach

Can I have a sip?

Your turn!

Want to know more about this tree? Here you go: Blue House tree article (Thank you, Kyle Marksteiner!)

Good Morning

Like the schedule in the margin says, Mondays are blog days. Normally, the new weekly post appears while you’re catching some shut-eye (hopefully). Today’s will appear a little later.   …But still on Monday, so it counts. [smile]

In the meantime, here’s a picture to brighten your day, pun intended.

Taking Notice

It’s a Grab Bag Monday. Today’s post hails from seven years ago, but the scene it paints still lives vividly in my mind’s eye.

Yesterday David and I took a day trip to Cloudcroft, NM, to see David’s parents. They were there for a few days of relaxation. They chose a great place to do just that; many of us know that Cloudcroft is a beautiful mountain village surrounded by towering pines–a perfect escape from the summer heat.

While there they took us to a nearby campground to see something in particular. The day before, a big thunderstorm unleashed on the area, bringing lots of rain and hail. …And lightning, evidently. We stopped our car nearby what they wanted us to see: In the middle of the campground stood the thick trunk of what used to be a huge pine tree. I say “used to be” because during the storm a lightning bolt whiplashed it, felling the tree and exposing the pale, fleshy lumber inside. A car was also its victim; in that same split second, the same bolt flung an arc to a nearby car and incapacitated it. The aftermath was a pretty impressive sight. Thankfully no one was hurt.

As we drove away it struck me (pun partially intended) how powerful God really is. He is God. His power and glory can be seen all around us, especially in nature. We left that campsite and went about our day. But other things kept catching my notice, from the fragrant wildflower bouquets decorating the edges of the highway, to a photo of a double rainbow my mother-in-law showed me on her camera, to the perfectly round, pea-sized hail cascading outside while visiting The Lodge hotel. Each reminded me of His awesomeness, creativity, and love (yes, somehow the hail even reminded me of His love!). I knew He was there.

Have you noticed that sometimes He wows us with a mighty display of His majesty? Often also it’s the smaller, everyday things we see that He uses to invite us to gaze at Him. I’d love to hear from you:

What about you? When was a time that God used something–maybe in nature, big or small–to remind you of who He is?

Review: George Washington’s Secret Six

Once a month I offer a review– usually fiction, sometimes non-fiction, sometimes movies/TV. Grab your favorite hot beverage (mine’s a mocha), and let’s talk!

Let’s talk spies…again. Specifically, George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution.  (Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager, Sentinel Trade, revised 2014)

Rating: 4-3/4 mochas out of 5

What it’s about: This non-fiction bestseller offers its account of the true-to-life Culper spy ring. General Washington needed crucial intelligence about the King’s army during the American Revolution. The authors walk–at times gallop–the reader through the enlistment of the ring, including spymaster Benjamin Tallmadge. Tallmadge and the spy ring handpick unlikely spies from the sleepy villages of Long Island to the heart of the British stronghold of Manhattan itself. Their collective covert work helps turn the tide of the revolution; the title doesn’t lie.

You might like this if you like: American Revolution history, spy thrillers, the AMC TV series Turn, or Siri Mitchell’s novel The Messenger.

What I liked: Off the bat, the reader understands that the authors researched the stories to the nth degree. That helps the reader settle back and enjoy the read. True, even history can be vulnerable to the storytelling itch of authors, but the reader finds admissions of historical uncertainties when the authors can’t claim something as gospel.

That said, the story of the Culper ring fascinates those even remotely familiar with the American Revolution. We learn of heroes like Abraham Woodhull and Robert Townsend (Culper Sr. and Culper Jr., respectively), who risked and suffered in the shadows to fulfill their missions. We see a faint verbal portrait of the anonymous Agent 355, a female spy who acted with courage in the face of the horrors of war. It’s an insider’s view of the revolution that gives more life and dimension than we all had time to learn in school.

I’m not crazy about: In our secret schools for writers (okay, they’re not so secret), there’s a certain way to write non-fiction/history in long form, like this book. You’ve gotta make it read like a novel. We’re taught to take the elements of fiction storytelling and apply it this scenario: characterization, setting, plot, theme, etc. Tell the truth, but make it an interesting read. Shhh, don’t tell or they’ll kick me out of the writers’ schools. The authors did this well, overall. However, a spot or two suffered from some forced tension that felt thin. …But not enough to prove traitorous.

The bottom line: “I’m telling you, you’ll love it.” I have a particular friend who shall, like Agent 355, remain nameless. Whenever I recommend a movie, she narrows her eyes and shoots me a sideways look and half-smile. I lost her confidence in my recommendations when I tried to sell her on Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. But let the record show: she liked Nacho Libre, and now she even likes my “usual” at our local coffee house.

So, if she is coming around to the genius of my tastes, I can say with conviction (I cannot tell a lie) that I think my fellow history-lovers will enjoy Secret Six.

What about you? Do you enjoy books like these? Do you think you would’ve stepped up to the plate as a Culper spy?

Related Links:

Washington spy letter on display

TV series White Collar’s tribute to the Culper ring  – It’s on Netflix currently.