The Not So Nice Mice

The Not So Nice Mice

A Fable By Blanche Day Manos The hundred year-old barn was home to a cow, a rooster, some hens, and a mule who pulled a plow. The days they spent in working; each one did its best, and when the sun sank from the sky, the animals wanted rest. But, when evening fell across the […]

A Frog, a Toad, and Life

A Frog, a Toad, and Life

A frog and a toad have inspired generations of children and adults.  Although they existed only on the pages of books by Arnold Lobel, these small amphibians taught real life lessons. Frog and Toad were friends and never a day went by that one didn’t go visit the other and, over a piece of cake […]

A Little Cedar and a Big Storm

A Little Cedar and a Big Storm

  Fierce winds tugged at Little Cedar. His scrawny boughs bent and swayed but he dug his roots deeper and hung onto the rock buried beneath the mountain soil. “The wind is so cold,” said Little Cedar. He shivered from his topmost limb to the bottom of his twisted trunk. “It must be nearly Christmas […]

Canebreak ABC’s

Canebreak ABC’s

Canebreak ABC’s Red ants, black ants marching all together, through a canebreak by the river in the lovely summer weather. Many-colored butterflies drift or dream or flit among tall stalks for the very fun of it. A caterpillar wriggles and a cricket creaks a song, surrounded by the river cane, thick and green and long. Dragonflies a-dazzle with […]

A Tale of a Magnificent Tail (and how it got to be that way)

A Tale of a Magnificent Tail (and how it got to be that way)

This is the shortest day of the year. In fact, according to those who know, it arrived at 4:44 a.m. CST. I was awake to welcome this momentous moment. True to custom, as I have every year for a while, I’m going to present the story of Buz the Fox. It’s a Christmas story and […]

Buz, the Fox (Conclusion)

Slipping from bush to rock, Buz followed the shepherds. Every once in a while, the shepherds would pause and point to the sky. At last, they stopped in front of a stable in Bethlehem. They spoke and someone  inside the stable answered. Then, the shepherds slowly stepped inside. Did Buz dare get closer to these […]