Yesterday afternoon, as I went to the mailbox, I glanced up the hill and there they were, white and shiny even from a distance. Several pop-up mushrooms or toadstools graced my neighbor’s yard. Of course, my trusty camera and I couldn’t pass up this chance. For some reason, mushrooms remind me of Ireland. Why is […]

The Not So Nice Mice
·A Fable By Blanche Day Manos The hundred year-old barn was home to a cow, a rooster, some hens, and a mule who pulled a plow. The days they spent in working; each one did its best, and when the sun sank from the sky, the animals wanted rest. But, when evening fell across the […]

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 […]

A Little Cedar and a Big Storm
·Fierce winds tugged at Little Cedar. His scrawny boughs bent and swayed but he dug his roots deeper and hung onto the rock buried beneath the mountain soil. “The wind is so cold,” said Little Cedar. He shivered from his topmost limb to the bottom of his twisted trunk. “It must be nearly Christmas […]
A Leprechaun in My Pocket
·Warning: Best read with tongue in cheek. An Amazing Leprechaun Story This is a reprint of a story I told a few years ago. A fantastic tale of a stowaway in my pocket. Is it true? Well, I’ll let you be the judge. And, by the way, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I took a warm, […]

Severe Logizomechanophobia
It is very hard to write when someone is staring unblinkingly at me. Why does he dislike the computer? Where is the mystery-loving dog who is supposed to be a warm companion as I spin spooky tales of terror? But, no. Only stares and now and then a deep-throated whine or a poke with a pointed […]