What is the Ides of March?

To the ancient Romans, the Ides of March was a time for settling debts. For Julius Caesar, it was a time of betrayal and death; but, for us, it simply marks the middle of March and a week before the official start of spring. This ides dawns with gloomy skies and damp ground. A storm […]

A New Day

Spring flowers are peeking up from among the grass and last year’s leaves. Of all the flowers, these first ones are to me among the most beautiful. Buttercups, wild violets, bluets, all are eager to raise their heads and take a look at the big world. I’m sure there are scientific answers to why the […]

An Amazing Story

This isn’t St. Patrick’s Day, but, oh well…the world is pretty and green this morning, so here’s a stretch to the imagination. One soft and misty morning, on a day so fine and rare, My heart felt light as birdsong, without one single care, As I strode through the heather into a forest tall, I […]

The World Around Us

I opened my old, tattered three-ring notebook where I’ve stuffed a lot of past writing sales and found these two poems. Both were written a long time ago to two different Christian children’s magazines of widely differing beliefs. But, you know what? Both magazines’ editors liked poems. Poetry and stories sort of bring us all […]

Discarding and Keeping

Some people who are very dear to me are cleaning out their garage, deciding what to keep and what to throw away. It’s a big job but when they are finished, they’ll have room for more important things. Until then, though, those old, useless things are just taking up space. Their cluttered garage is like […]

Character Conversation

I talk to the characters in my books. They have personalities and minds of their own. Sometimes, it’s a struggle to decide which would fit best in the story I’m writing–my thoughts or my character’s. Usually, my character is right. Me: Ned, I don’t believe you would go off hunting for an Indian message tree […]