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The Hunt
The following story was published on Jan. 17, 2024 on The Raven’s Perch, an online literary magazine. theravensperch.com The Hunt Today is the day I go hunting for a moose. One year ago today, I watched the spirit of my grandmother pull itself free from her mangled earthly body. She always called that body a gift, a temporary vessel that allowed her to experience life, though towards the end it became more of a prison. “Take me home,” she said. “Where is home?” I asked. She had been living in a nursing home for a few years, which was difficult…
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What do You Collect?
Declutter and simplify. Those words are thrown around everywhere right now. There are people who make a living showing us how to declutter, simplify and organize. I’m not one to jump on a fad wagon, but the urge to get rid of things has been pretty strong lately, especially things that I have been storing for a long time and haven’t even looked at, let alone used. You know, those beautiful nick-nacks that I plan to display when I have company, but rarely come out of the box. How about the duplicate items that “I might use some day”? I…
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Creating a Self-Watering Planter
I am so pleased this self-watering planter worked! There are so many different ideas when it comes to building a self-watering planter, but they all head in the same direction: Having a well at the bottom of the planter with a wick to draw the water up to the plants’ roots. I pooled different ideas from my research and created two self-watering planters that have produced lots of lovely flowers. The first design problem I faced was finding a planter with enough depth to plant gladiolas that was reasonable to purchase. Most large planters were way out…
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Creativity a part of survival
Creativity. Life has a way of crowding out creativity. But what is life if not creative? Survival. Survival at the mercy of our society’s structure. But there are those who don’t survive very well without following the creative impulses, whether they lead to inventing, or organizing, or creating beauty through words, color or structure. I am one of those people… When life crowds out the ability to create, I withdraw inside myself and move toward being a hermit, which causes other issues inside of me. Spending time with people has always put deposits into my emotional bank, and moving…
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Finding permission to be called a writer
I am a writer. It is that simple. I AM a writer. How can I call myself a writer when there is little current evidence of my craft? That question often plagues me and holds me down like a wrecking ball resting on a pile of broken walls. I also transfer that question into others, though I have no idea if they really feel that way. How can you call yourself a writer? You don’t write every day, you don’t get paid for what you do write and your book isn’t selling itself? Those critical questions open the door to…
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Strengthening the crackling veneer
Have you ever felt broken? Like someone else is living in your body? I have, and I think the other person’s name is Meno Pause. Meno has more depressed days than I ever had, is less tolerant of others and is so fragile that little things crackle the veneer that holds her together, sending her into a room alone to get the shaking under control. She also has trouble thinking, would rather be alone and often avoids gatherings. She is the opposite of who I am in so many ways… Meno Pause has been living in me for…
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