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Hats
Prompted By Hats
/ Stories
Back in the hippie days I acquired a white Stetson 5X Beaver cowboy hat. It had been a gift to a big-headed man. As it did fit me, it was convenient to us both. I flattened the brim, pushed the top out round, and put a feather in it. I had a vision of some…
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Vincent
Prompted By Art and Art Museums
/ Stories
At 53, if someone had asked me who Vincent Van Gogh was, I’d have said, “he’s the guy who cut off his ear.” Shortly after my first divorce, I took a lady on a date to the Getty; see some art and go to dinner. We looked at paintings of famous old dead men and…
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Yard Sales
Prompted By Yard Sales
/ Stories
Each time I see a street fair I think to myself that a clever vendor should have a sign that says: STOCK UP FOR YOUR NEXT YARD SALE !!!
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Untitled
Prompted By Birth Order
/ Stories
Never get in a fight with the youngest kid in his family. It took years to make that deduction. Finally, it came to me when someone said, “My big sister hits harder than that.” I was the oldest in my family. Not only could I not take a punch, but I was afraid of hurting…
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Unkie
Prompted By Aunts & Uncles
/ Stories
Unkie (Aunts and Uncles) My uncle was a sailor in the war. I called him Unkie. My earliest memories of him had him in that dark blue wool uniform with the white cap; the square shoulder flap like a small cape. Since our extended family treated him with such respect, I did too.…
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Fragrant Flashbacks
Prompted By Fragrant Flashbacks
/ Stories
Fragrant Flashbacks I was in my teens—so many things I didn’t understand. So many aspects of life that I did because I thought I should or I did because I was compelled. And I was too close to myself for perspective, so all I could do was respond…
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My Dream Wizard (again)
Prompted By Dreams
/ Stories
4-7-20 Last night, my dream wizard had me working in a voting station. I looked up and a woman pulled her blouse back and flashed me. While that might seem like a nice dream wizard move, this one was different. The woman flashed her scar from a mastectomy. And her blank look portrayed…
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Grandma Anna
Prompted By Grandparents & Grandchildren
/ Stories
In the early 1950’s, my grandmother lived along the highway between Palm Springs and Los Angeles. She raised chickens and sold sold fryers on ice and eggs. Between her wood-slatted hen houses were two eucalyptus stumps. One stump was my haven from the headless chickens that ran flapping and spurting blood. I was Caesar, fascinated…
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Oh, those eggs?
Prompted By Pranks and Practical Jokes
/ Stories
In the early 60’s, I had a morning newspaper route. In five years, only a couple people didn’t pay their subscription. Honor was still a virtue. But one man didn’t pay and then moved. On collection days when I knocked on his door, even with his car in the driveway, no one answered. I was…
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