I had a feeling there was no use in responding to Miss Evangeline, because she was what my father used to call, “wound up.” She wanted me to listen, so that’s what I did. Without warning, she grabbed my arm. I jumped. She whispered, “Shh. What was that? Did you hear anything, Nettie?” Her grip […]
Lovely Morning
It’s such a lovely morning, above freezing, sunshine, flowers hesitantly starting to take a peek at the world. I wonder, on such a morning, why there’s turmoil and trouble and hatred anywhere? At last, I can breathe a sigh of relief for the robins. When snow and ice covered the ground, those real-life early birds […]

Murder Under a Full Moon
An excerpt from my current work-in-progress, the fourth Ned McNeil mystery: The next day, Pat’s and Jackie’s reactions were similar to Cade’s. “Look,” I said, as Janie set our coffee in front of us. “My curiosity was already piqued, so Tom’s request just gives me a good excuse. It’ll be kind of exciting to […]

A Complaining Santa
Mrs. Claus: Are you feeling better, Dear? How about a nice, hot cup of coffee? Santa (throwing back the quilts and rolling out of bed): Just what I need. The trip was hard this year. Mrs. Claus: Did the reindeer behave? Was the sleigh over-loaded? Did you face a head-wind? Santa: Yes, no, and […]

Taking a Look Back
Happy first day of winter! This is the shortest day of the year. From now on, the days will get longer and longer until June 20, which is the longest day of the year. It’s like the wise old squirrel told the puzzled little puppies in one of my favorite children’s books, “It’s like a […]

It Was Super Moist!
It’s a dark, moist sort of day. The deck is damp, but yesterday it was super moist. As in a Winnie the Pooh book, “The rain, rain, rain came down, down, down.” It happened when I went grocery shopping. Everything was fine as I went into the store. The forecast had said we might have […]

