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A Defining Moment
We all have them from time to time. We’ll be sitting quietly and bam; we’re hit with a sudden profound realization that quite possibly changes forever how we look at the world. Or maybe they are not quite that dramatic. The cause can be something unexpected in a comedian’s routine or a Hallmark card commercial…
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Awesome Sunflower
Last night, just after Bernd got home, the doorbell rang. Our doorbell almost never rings. Bernd said, “What the heck?” It was a woman who said she goes by our house every morning on her way to work. She wanted to take some photos of the Sunflower by the garage and wanted our permission. We…
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Weird Words Part 14
Comflogisticate This is a purposely made up word. It seems that sometime in the 1800s there was this fad for making up nonsense words. Basically this word means to utterly confuse someone. It can also mean to embarrass or show-up someone. One wonders why they thought they needed a word for that. Was it because…
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As Luck Might Have It
Shortly before I finished the manuscript for “As Luck Might Have It,” I went to Kindle Direct Publishing and set up the book. KDP offers a hardcover option these days. I have yet to avail myself of that. So far, I am staying with paperbacks and eBooks. One of the hardest parts about setting up…
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Master Gardner in the Making
Let’s all laugh out loud. The title is so not the case. It’s so far off the mark that it might as well be in another galaxy. But I do hope to one day get better at it. I’m new to gardening. It wasn’t anything that enthused me for a lot of years. I thought…
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Sometimes I Wash the Knife First
I’m a creature of habit. Every morning, I have a routine for washing the breakfast dishes. I do the flatware first because then it’s out of the way, rinsed and in the little cup made for it in the drying rack that sits in the right hand side of the sink. I do the fork…
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Charity
The old woman was hunched over. Her ancient knees rested on a pad made for the purpose, but they still ached. She was wrestling with a clump of grass that had grown up between her petunias and marigolds. She was muttering under her breath about the rudeness of grass in flower gardens. The grass was…
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Heartache
Love is loss. Love has always been about loss. That ache you feel when you look at someone you love deeply isn’t about the love. It’s about the sure knowledge, from that place inside where words have no power and feelings preside, that one day that love will be taken from you. And that’s my…
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Imagination and Creativity
I’ve always had a vivid imagination. As a child I could see and hear all sorts of conversations and interactions between people and animals and even inanimate objects. My hair barrettes had secret lives known only to me. I would tell myself stories about them. Sometimes acting them out, alone in my room. The teddy…
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In the Morning
In the small hours of the morning, when the sun has not yet risen, they come out. Testing the air with tiny noses and furtive paws, small eyes alert for any movement of bug or predator. Sniffing out the best nuts and leaves and flowers and seeds, the mice and voles venture forth. The squirrels…
Maddie's Mom Writes 