Flash Fiction

End of the Affair Before it Even Got Started

"I won't", he said,

"and you shouldn't"

and he walked away

Frustrated Human--1, Safety Cap--0 (6WS)

one screwdriver, two ratchet wrenches,  two letter openers,  a wicked looking leather awl, and a seriously sharp steak knife later...the cap, by the way, is supposed to look like that,  it looks pretty in the store but you just can't get enough "push down" to make the "turn" work.  what it really needed was a five year old.   

NOW its time to put on the storm doors

Turning Point

there comes a day in mid fall
when the wind is colder than it should be
the clouds are so low you can almost smell them

when the wind picks up
you head back to the house for a sweater
everything looks wilted,  tired,  finished

you know it will rain by evening,
if not before,
a cold slow steady rain

and its a turning point
no matter how warm the days  to follow are
there's that edgy feel to it

that even the small birds sense
and ragged flocks of them begin moving out
into the fields and south.

There's a snow feel to it all
you'd not be surprised to see
a bit of snow mixed with the rain

makes you glad you got the wood covered
and you throw another stick in the stove
just because you can

Half a Conversation Overheard

yes, yes, tomorrow

probably a week

it cant be  helped,  it's where the work is


well, you understood  when we got married
that there'd be times...

yes.  I see

one of the neighbors can take the puppy
until i get back

ill call you when I get home
we can talk then

I think summer is probably over (6WS)

this is what's left outside,  the tatty area is what we started with   this summer ...

and all of that is now in here.   When you open the kitchen door into the shed this is what you see.  Two rows to go, yessah.

and the garden now looks like rats live there, except for the nasturtiums...and one lone about-to-bloom poppy to the right of the nasturtiums...

"I just want to see you be brave"

LJ Cohen posted this at her blog, and its so much fun,  seemed  a shame not to steal it. Thanks, Lisa. 

Now and then everyone needs permission,  if only from  themselves, to dance, to sing, to be who they really are,  and not give a rip who cares.  

Well Lookit What I Just Found (6WS)

Well, silly me.  I've had this blog for four years and counting,  and i just discovered the NavBar search function at the top.  Type in  "bird" and all the posts with "bird" in them come up.  Type in "snow" and the same thing happens (with "snow", of course. Not "bird")

 She is a happy woman, yep.  A bit slow around the sharp corners sometimes, but happy.

Owl Music redux

                           some things deserve a second viewing.

Never Count The Old Tree Out (6WS)

apple trees are notorious for living apparently forever.  This one is (possibly) a  Gravenstein,  a very old very good species.   For the past decade or so we've watched this tree, which had a massive trunk,  slowly get more and more brittle, limbs came off, it looked dead.
Let's wait a bit, I said.   Put away the chain saw ("but.. but...we can use the wood.  it's DEAD")  and give it some time.

This year the few puny branches, like wisps of hair on an old man's head,  became serious foliage.

and on one side:

if you look really closely you can see apples and even the parts that look as if they could be cut off with a pair of scissors now have living branches.  Just 'cause it's old, doesn't mean it's not got value. 

Follow Up to August 10th, moving the beauty bush

                                           
                              It has sprouted in its new home
                                joy and feasting all around

Free complaint dept. day. Feel free to whine

Peeve 3,786

People who see you a half mile across the parking lot and decide to hold the door open for you
forcing you to either break into a brisk trot or let them wait until you're almost there and then they give up and let the door swing shut...

3,787
Traffic lights that try to combine right turns and  pedestrians at the same time.  As the light changes to green,  all the waiting pedestrians cross en masse,  forcing you to wait, and then the light turns red again...

3,788
Ladies' restrooms

3,789
Electric cars that cost more in energy wasted and less value per mile than they could ever hope to amortize or justify by the amount of gasoline used or not used.

3,790
Winter