Free-Floating Stories+

when does craft become art I enjoyed visiting my neighbor’s workshop. Joe’s basement had the cozy smells of pine boards, sawdust, and fresh paint. Every time I went down his stairs, I was transported to our church boy’s club where volunteers helped us trace comic book figures onto ¼ inch plywood to be sawn on … Continue reading Lawn Ornaments

Grandkids can get us thinking “So, how was your soccer game?” I ask my 8-year old grandson. “Good,” he mutters staring out the car window. “Did you score any goals?” “Huh? One.” He shrugs tossing his tangle of summer streaked brown hair. A woman could sit in a beauty shop all day to achieve that … Continue reading Back Flash

A new slant on speed dating Professor Jonathan Stanley took the aisle seat in row 22 of Delta flight 322. Another man sat at the window. He had finally settled his carry-on bag under the seat and buckled-in when a pair of woman’s strap sandals stopped next to him. A quick glance took in trim, … Continue reading Two Negatives Make a Positive

a safari guide gets in the picture Ever heard of the Ngorongoro crater in Tanzania? It’s a 3,000 square mile sunken bowl of an extinct volcano making a kind of enclosed zoo for many species of African fauna. I regularly drive down into this self-contained Eden with tourists from around the world conducting what are … Continue reading Voyeurs and Game Drives

after you catch a rainbow…trout The steelhead exploded out of the river like a submarine missile. Straight up. A chrome plated exclamation point with a pink stripe down its side. Thrashing off water like a wet dog. Thirty inches at least. Ten maybe twelve pounds. And it splashed down right past my orange crank bait. … Continue reading Let Down

A getaway for secret fantasies and cairns He loved going out to The Cabin. That’s what he called his landlocked ten acres snugged between the back of a home on CR 306 and a circling cornfield. It was his getaway place. It took a narrow trail to get to the hill where he had built … Continue reading The Cabin

An American ex-pat recounts the stories and adventures his customers bring to his hotel on the shores of Lake Atitlan in the highlands of Guatemala.  I run a small hotel in Guatemala—five rooms, family style food, small courtyard with tropical birds and an on-your-honor bar tab. My place overlooks Lake Atitlan, if you ever heard … Continue reading Overheard at Posada del Sol

  Set in sunny Mexico, Diego’s Place, is a good story for this time of year. It’s basically an epilogue to my novel Come Saturday, Come Sunday which you can find on this site under Other Books. CONSUELA Oye, Pilar. I know you’re here. Well, I feel you around, anyhow. Can’t help it. I come out … Continue reading Diego’s Place

Some thoughts on why writers write and readers read Most novels pivot on the premise that ‘good conquers evil’ and offer the reader affirmation in that belief. After all, isn’t that the foundation of a happy-ending story in which an evil blankety-blank is finally overcome and gets just desserts? And doesn’t that comport with a … Continue reading Fiction and Faith

Cab Drivers can be good listeners...in Costa Rica too You hear a lot of interesting things when you drive touristas around.  I’m not one of the official Costa Rican cab drivers, the ones with the red cars with the yellow triangle on the door. That’s a tough job, long hours and having to turn on … Continue reading Tico Cabbie