Memories of Mary~

Beautiful words and photos shared by Cindy Knoke.

Cindy Knoke

(These herons were photographed in South America and South Africa).

“So heavy
is the long-necked, long-bodied heron,
always it is a surprise
when her smoke-colored wings

open
and she turns
from the thick water,
from the black sticks

of the summer pond,
and slowly
rises into the air
and is gone.

Then, not for the first or the last time,
I take the deep breath
of happiness, and I think
how unlikely it is

that death is a hole in the ground,
how improbable
that ascension is not possible,
though everything seems so inert, so nailed

back into itself–
the muskrat and his lumpy lodge,
the turtle,
the fallen gate.

And especially it is wonderful
that the summers are long
and the ponds so dark and so many,
and therefore it isn’t a miracle

but the common thing,
this decision,
this trailing of the long legs in the water,
this…

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Reedsy Has Launched an Epub to Mobi Converter

A new epub to mobi converter from Reedsy.

How To Ebook

The Digital Readerby Nate Hoffelder

Amazon still won’t convert a user’s Epub ebooks to Kindle format, but luckily there are alternatives such as Calibre or the converter Reedsy launched a few weeks ago.

I got an email from Reedsy on Friday which brought the converter to my attention. I didn’t have a chance to play with it until today, however. The converter has a simple interface; you just drag your Epub file over the window, and let go. You’ll then be prompted to enter your email so the resulting Mobi ebook will be sent to you, and that’s it.

I tested the converter just now. The Mobi I made from an Epub file arrived quickly and looks just as good as the the Mobi I got from from the publisher, although Reedsy’s file is well over twice the size.

All in all, it’s always good to have another option.

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Book Promo – Get ‘The White Piano’ FREE from 28th to 30th June…

A FREE book offer from the 28th to the 30th of June.

Saving Hollywood

Two more stories, one an excerpt from a book by Russell, and a quote from Groucho Markx. I don’t think it’s common for a book to get a quote from a deceased celebrity. If you want more of the same, shoot to the top of the post and click on one or both of the book covers. You can also reblog this post from yours.

What's So Funny?

We just returned from a weeklong, fact-finding mission along the Missouri River. At the insistence of Detective Lowry, we spent one night in the thriving metropolis of Belton, MO.

The purpose of this stop was to locate, and investigate, the home of that dastardly criminal mime known as “Le Petite Velour.” Unaware of our mission, she graciously welcomed us into her abode. While Connie kept her busy with idle chitchat, I scanned the premises for Do-Not-Remove tags. None were to be found. One can only conclude they were squirreled away with the tags stolen from nearby homes and stashed in an invisible box (also stolen)—which I was unable to locate.

Ironically, Ms. Velour’s residence is only a few blocks from the Belton Police Station.

If you’re new to Friday Flash Fiction, the director of this weekly production of 100-word stories is Zelda Rubinstein Wisoff-Fields. If you’d like…

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Walking a Roman Road

Walking a Roman road.

Walking the Old Ways

There’s a quiet stretch of Roman road in Cumbria’s Eden Valley which we often walk, part of the greater Roman road that crosses the Pennines through the Stainmore Gap – in its day one of the most important highways in the Roman Empire.

This stretch of just a few miles runs from Appleby in Westmorland, starting at Fair Hill, where the Gypsies camp at the famous horse fair. Fair Hill now, but it was once Gallows Hill where victims of the Appleby courtroom where sent to be hanged. The farm nearby has the sinister name of Hangingshaw, but whether that comes from public executions or takes the title from its geographical position I’m not sure.

When I say walking the Roman road, we are of course only following the line, the original surface must be a foot or two lower down, hence my frustration in never finding the odd Roman…

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Plenty of fish in the sea

Hilarious.

bluebird of bitterness

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Your Talents Matter

Very true.

Orlando Espinosa

What you have doesn’t matter! What matters is what you do with what you have! Use your talents and don’t let them go to waste! You never know what you’ll be able to create until you use what you have!

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A Walk Among the Dark Age Spirits

Medieval Wanderings among the dark-age spirits.

With my big exam finally behind me, last weekend I was in dire need of some fresh air and a good walk. So with a gap in the seemingly endless rains, we took the opportunity of taking a long wander into the spiritual world of the Dark Ages around a small village with a big history.

Wootten Wawen in Warwickshire is a little historical haven, having been a homeland for people of the region since the late Bronze Age. Its haunting wildwood, lush pastures and meadows gave rise to an early society of scattered farmsteads linked together with a network of paths and a river, and all its ancient peoples have left their marks and mysteries in the landscape across the millennia.

The ancient with the modern: the tumulus in the churchyard

Although not much is known about prehistoric religious systems, it’s widely agreed that there was a strong spiritual…

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Back to the future? …

Sue’s latest news on her son’s garden taking shape.

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

When I left for the north, my son’s garden was already being stripped back to basics. I was curious to see what might have been done by the time I got back. It had all looked fine before the work started… but beneath the surface of the decking, the garden was rotting and had to be ripped out and replaced.

It was a catalogue of errors that was revealed as the process of stripping the old garden back had begun. Possibly the worst ‘oversight’ was the bridge… with none of its supporting posts even touching the ground, let alone being sensibly concreted into place. We had been going to leave it in… but seeing how little was supporting it changed the plans.

The fish, though, seem to like their new ‘open plan’ pond. There is a lot of speeding around and jumping out to see what is going on… or…

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The Actor

Photo Copyright: Ted Strutz

Here we are again and this week we’re gathered near a large marquee, a theater box office. We’ve come together to discuss our original stories for the week. This is the Friday Fictioneer’s group. Our hostess for the gathering is the talented and gracious author and artist, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. The challenge for each of us this week and every week is to write a story with no more than 100 words, not counting the title. It’s supposed to have a beginning, middle, end, and be inspired by the picture prompt for the week. This week’s prompt was provided by Ted Strutz. Thanks, Ted. To read the other stories by group members, just click on the link below, then on the smiling frog. Next, follow the given directions. The link for this week’s stories is as follows:

28 June 2019

Genre: Memoir

Word Count: 98 Words

The Actor by P.S. Joshi

In her Junior year of high school, my daughter tried out for the yearly school play. That year it was “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown,” and she played Snoopy.

A large dog house sat in stage center.

Sayjal blacked the end of her nose and wore her hair in two side ponytails for ears. Some of her time was spent sitting on top of the dog house. People loved it.

I’d never seen her so excited. She’d found her vocation, auditioned for the theater class, and was accepted.

She graduated from college with a degree in Drama.