She sits on her little nest of sticks and feathers and this and that. It’s sort of a hodge podge of building materials, but it suits her and it’s home to those tiny blue eggs she warms patiently, day and night. Robins’ nests aren’t known as architectural wonders. And, although they do their best, mama […]
May 20, 2019
Getting in Touch with an Old Tradition
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by blanche manos · leave a comment (edit) Yesterday, my family and I kept up the yearly tradition of putting flowers on the graves of loved ones. Decoration Day is always the same Sunday every May and has been that way for generations. The beautiful little cemetery lies in northeast Oklahoma, surrounded by trees, gentle hills, and a creek […]
May 19, 2019
Tribal Customs Continue
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Routines are nice as long as they don’t become ruts. Routines are not the same as schedules. A schedule seems rather inflexible and fixed, but a routine is a pattern that gives meaning to a day. Routines are more like tribal customs. In the dim, dark ages that many people have never experienced, those days […]
May 17, 2019
Gone the Way of the Dinosaurs
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They sit on my bookshelf, alone, neglected, and looking lonely. Once they were highly valued, a world of information at my fingertips. They are my beautiful set of World Book Encyclopedias. And, they are as out-dated as the dinosaurs. Why are they out-dated and unused? The internet, of course. Why go to […]
May 15, 2019
Cornered With Nowhere to Run
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An excerpt from the soon-to-be-released Moonstruck and Murderous. Ned has gotten herself cornered. I took a deep breath. I was in a tight place with little room to move. Pushing against the inglenook’s brick wall to give myself leverage, I stood up. The brick under my hand moved. What? Was the mortar so aged […]
May 14, 2019
Idle Thoughts and Sunny Moments
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As the sunlight tips the tree-tops and the grass is damp with dew, When the air is filled with birdsong, then my thoughts return to you. Sliding slowly into the day with a cup of coffee and idle thoughts is nice. No deadline to meet this morning, nothing pressing (except, of course, for editing Moonstruck) […]
