Long Stories Short
Short versions of long stories. Some are sad; some are humorous; all are true.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Never trust a mountain to keep a secret
Wednesday, October 01, 2025
From Chaos to Connection
My niece announced on social media that she wrote and published a book. When I read the post, I reacted with quiet jealously. I coiled inside myself like nine-year-old me when my friend stepped onto the school bus wearing the prettiest dress I had ever seen -- clumps of purple grapes and green leaves splashed against an off-white fabric.
I am not proud of those reactions. For now, I will skip over the childhood longings and move on to my niece's exciting, shattering news. Before my readers flail me with a big stick, please know that I congratulated Lori, and that I created my own social media post touting her accomplishment, so my friends could see.
Nevertheless, I felt a twinge of despair, and this is why:
Friday, September 05, 2025
The saddest words ever written or said? It's a matter of perception.
Out of the blue, I needed to read some poetry, which is weird, because I rarely read poetry, nor do I write poetry.
After scanning several of my bookshelves, I held in my hands The Treasury of American Poetry, selected by Nancy Sullivan. I laid it atop the tall stack of books on my nightstand.
That night, I turned the pages to find few lines that held my attention. Undeterred, I plowed through the murk, knowing that in those eight-hundred and thirty-eight pages, I would find, well, I don't know what I expected to find, but when I found it, I would know. Over the next couple of weeks, I touched the poems of Anne Bradstreet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, only to wonder if I could possibly continue on this curious mission.
Then, I hit pay dirt.
Never trust a mountain to keep a secret
O n the way to a family reunion in North Carolina, I diverted to Colfax to pick up some riders. (By the way, if you are not from Colfax...
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I found an old bucket in the woods and planted a mum in it. Over the years, the roots of this plant have been buried under snow, froz...
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About ten years ago, a guy named Dean Potter and a friend, Graham Hunt, put on their wingsuits and jumped off a cliff. The wingsuits enabled...
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After traveling down some back roads and winding through the hills of Virginia, we began climbing a mountain, leaning into one hairpin...